Lolita Carbon played for a full hour and a half in a full-packed cramped space perhaps no bigger than Araneta Coliseum's bathroom.The place iscalled Taumbayan, a bar so plebeian in inspiration it is cooled only by electric fans, some of which were borrowed.
But nobody seemed to mind the heat, overwhelmed instead by the warmth Lolita brought with her songs and stories.
For those who were born in the post-Marcos period, Lolita Carbon is THE voice of the seminal trio Asin (earlier Salt of the Earth).Asin defined the folk-rock music in the late 70s and early to mid-80s, and Lolit is its voice.
It is that distinctly husky soundthat first warned us of environmental degradation ("ang mga batang ngayon lang isinilang, may hangin pa kayang matitikman? May mga puno pa kaya silang aakyatin, may mga ilog pa kayang lalanguyan?") long before DENR did, if ever it did.It is her throaty cry that will always haunt the OFWs yearning to be home (Bayan ko, nahan ka? Ako ngayo'y nag-iisa. Nais kong magbalik sa iyo, bayan ko..) and will score a lover's search for images to describe love (Tulad ng tubig sa batis hinahagkan ng hangin. Pag-ibig ang ilaw sa buhay natin…).
At a certain point, I think it was after Himig ng Pag-ibig, Eugene Domingo screamed : "Tama na, hindi ko na kaya!" Eugene was standing on her chair to get a better glimpse of Lolita, and was ecstatic throughout. Andoy Ranay described the gig "busog!"Peter Serrano, who admits to hearing Lolita live for the first time, loved the classic Asin songs while Dante Nico Garcia enjoyed the revival of Sinisinta Kita.
Chino Alcuaz reserved seats a day before, and came with his mother and father(naku may mga sososyalin sa Taumbayan!) , and the Aguilos's came in full force.
As encore, Lolita did For Once in My Life , and Bituin gamely and promptly took the other microphone for an impromptu duet that drove the audience wild.
Lolita was accompanied on the guitar by JazzAlmonacid who made various sounds with his guitar, one time plaintive, then moves to agitated strumming and then contemplatively plucking.
Bituin described the night awesome. I think it is an understatement.
changes after changes we are more or less the same. -paul simon-
