I think the whole charm of the Blue Rats is, as BB oftentimes puts it, how we never play the same tune the same way twice. Why is that?
The real answer: "Because we always screw up.... and it's always in different parts of the song!".
But seriously, you guys are too kind. Objectively, I think every version of the Rats had its weaknesses as well as its strengths. But one particular aspect has held through every phase -- the ability to talk things through and resolve issues pretty squarely. The formula is just really simple: make room for everyone else, don't get too uptight, never assume that you know it all, and just have fun. 'Yan lang naman e.
Ok -- to continue...
As the new millenium unfolded, the band found itself with a nice ratio of younger folks to old goats -- about 50:50. Tricie, Cow, Miguel, and David on one side, and Tom, Joe, Johnny, and A.L. on the other. Good balance, good chemistry (for some guys, literally
) But as for millions of our kababayans, the lure of going overseas soon became real for most of the younger Rats.
The first go was Dave. As he prepared to wrap up his affairs at home -- including the obligatory despedidas with the Rats, the remnants of Razorback and Wolfgang -- the band had to find a replacement gunslinger to fill the rotation. Enter the the dude with the quickest draw, biggest bullets, and the some of the shiniest pistols in town..... Joey Puyat.
As part of the Mexicali Blues Band, Joey was familiar to everyone in the band as both bands had played alongside the other in several venues in the mid 90's. He was one of those legendary figures (ex-Mother Earth, etc.) who played with just about everybody of note from the mid 70's onward in the diverse fields of jazz, fusion, blues, and pinoy rock. In short, the guy could (and still can) play anything outstandingly well, and playing alongside the guy was either: 1. a free guitar lesson, or 2. a jaw-dropping excercise in confusion/wonder/amazement in trying to guess which bodily orifice he had just pulled that solo out of. In short order, he was baptized into the "order of the rodent" and suddenly, it became really important who played what kind of guitar or amp so that solos could clearly be heard above the wall of sound. Thus began the Rats' "era of the tonehound".
Gigs continued at Hobbit through 2002, when Tricie received notice of being accepted into an academic program Downunder for the following year. With only three of the original Rats remaining in the lineup at this point -- Joe, Tricie, and A.L. -- there was no doubt that Tricie had become the true face and voice of the Rats. By unanimous agreement, she was the one Rat that was truly irreplaceable in the "rock" version of the band. It was clear that the moment she left, the era of the Blue Rats as it was known for -- head on/freewheeling jams, tear-your-head-off decibel levels, homebased in Hobbit, no rehearsals, etc. -- would likely come to close. Some band members began making plans for the post-Tricie holocaust...
• Miguel, Johnny, and Cow started laying the groundwork for various bands -- "The Experiment", DRT, and GipsySuns.
• Joe became more deeply involved in his church.
• Joey played out at various guitar events/festivals and talking of Mother Earth reunions.
• Tom began sitting in on gigs around town, most notably with the newly invigorated Wally Gonzales Bluesband.
• Tricie worked on a demo to bring with her Downunder.
• A.L. ....... [-( .......
But all through this, the gigs continued at Hobbit and Republic of Malate (pre-fire) as usual -- just waiting for Tricie's D-Day with the band. Some memorable occasions:
• The re-birth of the 80's band Overdrive: first public gig in almost 20 years was one set back to back with the Rats at A.L's outrageous surprise 40th b-day celebration at Hobbit -- probably 150 people all wearing AL "masks". Masterminded by Apa -- then I think just starting on #8.
• Fun all-acoustic gigs at Sanctum with Miguel bumming out and killing his fingers on the K-hon. "The Rolling Stones Guy" showing showing up dressed like Keef in leather pants and his navel showing under a mid-riff and blazer combination.
• The first Earth Day concert at The Beacon School. Instant Rockstar status. Easily the school's favorite local band.
• The Jaguar Cars Launch at the Peninsula Hotel Ballroom. The band had to learn the Jaguar ad campaign song "A Little Bit of History Repeating" by Shirley Bassey with the Propellerheads. Scared the living s**t out of the matronas in the front row. Saw a few with their fingers in their ears.
• Tricie's incredible farewell gig at Republic of Malate. Loud and Proud. Anyone have any pics of that?
And so the axe came down on an era. Trice left for Aussieland, only to return once in a while for the occasional vacation over the next few years. When she did, the Rats would arrange for a short series of gigs before she'd take off again. Eventually, Miguel would take off too and Johnny would join Overdrive. The other Rats spent some time on their own personal projects/jams. More on that in the next episode. Let me leave you with some pics from one of Tricie's "vacation gigs" -- the first one from 2003 (I think) during a thanksgiving dinner, and the second after 3 sets at Dreambar in Makati in 2004. Migs, I made this kupit from your bluerats/groups site (please note the color of Johnny's clothes):
'Til the next post....... nagiging libro na ito.
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