BLUE RATS....95'-present.a decade of blues

[blues2death]

The way I see it there's no real venue where you can go and just jam.  I advise that you go to the gigs of whoever... The Blue Rats, Firebottle, Snakecharmer, whoever... make friends and before you know it you'll get to jam.  All that's asked of you is that you play along with whatever all of you are familiar with and that you know what you're doing.  A jam may just be a jam, but it's also part of the show, and nothing ruins a good show better than a bunch of musicians who aren't on the same wavelength.  See you at the gigs!   

+100000!

[lefty]

 8-)http://bluerats.multiply.com/

[blue buddha]

Resurrecting this thread to add other characters to the jam record.

In early November, the ubiquitous Joey P. turned the big Five-Oh(!) and 200 people invaded the Hobbit House on that deadly Saturday night to surprise Mr. Fingers. 

And surprised he was.... with jammers from the past and present joining the Rats to turn up the noise level. Among them: Harry Tanjuatco, Colby de la Calzada, and Johnny Alegre joining Dr. Ted to crank out a very weird version of Hoochie Coochie Man and a crankin' fusion tune, Deltaslim on bottleneck, TeleTubby makin'it cry, the legendary Walter Wirth and that growling SG, Raul Banzon tootin' his horn.... and others I can't seem to remember in the haze of the evening. What a night.

Then a surreally wonderful 3-tune gig last Sunday at the World Trade Center for the E-Telecare event... Check this out: The Rats doing Johnny Winter's "Baby Watcha Want", Jimmy Reed's "Bright Lights, Big City", and Louis Jordan/BB King's "Let the Good Times Roll" with Joey Quirino and Tots Tolentino! Holy Moley -- sounded like the the Rats of 1995 complete with keys and a sax (and what keys and sax players to boot!). Close to 3,000 pax came to watch their CEO and one of their own crank it out with the Rats. It appears that this gig will lead to something interesting in the near future.... so keep your ears to the ground. 

[blue buddha]

By the way, who in world are you guys who have visited this thread 22,000+ times?!! Seems incredible for an essentially unknown, unsigned, and relatively obscure band without much of a mass following.....

Just curious. 

[deltaslim]

By the way, who in world are you guys who have visited this thread 22,000+ times?!! Seems incredible for an essentially unknown, unsigned, and relatively obscure band without much of a mass following.....

Just curious. 

Who else but other essentially unknown, unsigned, and relatively obscure blues artists without much of a mass following... who'd like to follow in your footsteps? 


For pure blues entertainment and longetivity, Blue Rats are legends!  And like I said at Hobbit House, it's either you have many good friends, or you've accumulated them for keeping on for so long...  (ie, being old!). 

Thanks sa jam!

[blue buddha]

I think you're right.... it's a function of being old!!!

It's you we have to thank for the jam and indulging all of us -- diyan lang yata nakakita ng bottleneck slide yung dad ni Mr. Fingers! Hehehe. 

[big monkey]

Ever try saying "Blue Rats" when you're really drunk?  I did and my friends really had a blast! "phware! hhhanep yun geg ng BwwwoooRhats! Hhannggg galeng galeng nahang BwwwoooRhats!"
Just for kicks mga chief. No offense intended. I really dig the Blue Rats! Wish I could find more time to catch them on stage.

 

[blue buddha]

Wehehe. No possible offense.... you and your friends have just unwittingly and rather belatedly discovered the reason the bLuE ratS are called the bLuE ratS, and why the name is spelled "bLuE ratS". 

Paminsan ay nakakpaliwanag ng isip ang isang case ng beer... o dalawang stainless.

Daan kayo ...

[kedysanchez]

Resurrecting this thread to add other characters to the jam record.

In early November, the ubiquitous Joey P. turned the big Five-Oh(!) and 200 people invaded the Hobbit House on that deadly Saturday night to surprise Mr. Fingers. 

And surprised he was.... with jammers from the past and present joining the Rats to turn up the noise level. Among them: Harry Tanjuatco, Colby de la Calzada, and Johnny Alegre joining Dr. Ted to crank out a very weird version of Hoochie Coochie Man and a crankin' fusion tune, Deltaslim on bottleneck, TeleTubby makin'it cry, the legendary Walter Wirth and that growling SG, Raul Banzon tootin' his horn.... and others I can't seem to remember in the haze of the evening. What a night.

Then a surreally wonderful 3-tune gig last Sunday at the World Trade Center for the E-Telecare event... Check this out: The Rats doing Johnny Winter's "Baby Watcha Want", Jimmy Reed's "Bright Lights, Big City", and Louis Jordan/BB King's "Let the Good Times Roll" with Joey Quirino and Tots Tolentino! Holy Moley -- sounded like the the Rats of 1995 complete with keys and a sax (and what keys and sax players to boot!). Close to 3,000 pax came to watch their CEO and one of their own crank it out with the Rats. It appears that this gig will lead to something interesting in the near future.... so keep your ears to the ground. 

Sayang, I missed the event. Belated bday greetings to the Senor. History in the making yan, what with all those big names in blues playing together.

Haven't caught you these past few months, but hope to see you in one of your December gigs.

Keep the music playing, my friends.  More than 22,000 people are listening.

[blues2death]

happy bday kuya joey! hopefully makarating ang pagbati ko coz i dont have your number or email addy.

the saga continues for blue rats members, jammers and friends who frequent the gigs....

parang nagiging kiss nation na ang rats a! but of course mas talented ang rats kesa kay ace frehley.....no flaming kiss fans! i love some kiss songs din but ace wont hold a candle to my kuya joey's incendiary playing, that guy can throw firebolts from his ass! 

[blue buddha]

b2d, ipaaabot ko kay mr. fingers yung greeting mo kung di pa nito nabasa dito. Sana nandito ka 'nun -- enjoy ka talaga. Medyo na shock si kuya nang sumipot yung epa niya.... front row pa! Ika nga, "...you guys are good ha --  very loud -- but you and Andy should find a better place to play.... how can you play with all that smoke in here?!". Hahahaha!  Napatememe yata si kuya. 

Last night, dopedeeva, mr. fingers, 3beers, and I played at the wake of 3beers' brother who passed away from a long illness. Played all acoustics to give him a nice send him off to the pie in the sky. As we were ending up the bluesey stuff, dumating si Noel Cabangon. Lintek -- 2-and-a-half hour extension jam on the fly!  Did four of Noel's own great originals, then naglabasan na ang Jimi Hendrix, Neil Young, CSN, Jim Croce, The Band, James Taylor, Everly Brothers, Bob Dylan, Beatles, Jackson Browne, George Harrison, Sting, atbp -- parang stream of consciousness medley na walang katapusan. Lumitaw talaga yung long-buried na pagka-hippie namin. So intense was this jam na naputulan ng middle strings(!) si Noel ng dalawang beses on two different guitars (buti marami kaming dalang gitarra as usual). Reminded me of Bosyo na laging nabubutasan ng kick drum head sa tindi ng sipa -- kay Noel from that intense rhythm of his right hand. grabe talaga.... what an inspiring musician. You could sit there for two and a half hours straight (no breaks) and never tire of that amazing voice and musicality. Pati yung mga songs na nababoy namin sounded good! Saya. Lots of people unexpectedly stayed to listen. Reminded us all of what music should always be about. 

[deltaslim]

b2d, ipaaabot ko kay mr. fingers yung greeting mo kung di pa nito sabasa dito. Sana nandito ka 'nun -- enjoy ka talaga. Medyo na shock si kuya nang sumipot yung epa niya.... front row pa! Ika nga, "...you guys are good ha --  very loud -- but you and Andy should find a better place to play.... how can you play with all that smoke in here?!". Hahahaha!  Napatememe yata si kuya. 

Last night, dopedeeva, mr. fingers, 3beers, and I played at the wake of 3beers' brother who passed away from a long illness. Played all acoustics to give him a nice send him off to the pie in the sky. As we were ending up the bluesey stuff, dumating si Noel Cabangon. Lintek -- 2-and-a-half hour extension jam on the fly!  Did four of Noel's own great originals, then naglabasan na ang Jimi Hendrix, Neil Young, CSN, Jim Croce, The Band, James Taylor, Everly Brothers, Bob Dylan, Beatles, Jackson Browne, George Harrison, Sting, atbp -- parang stream of consciousness medley na walang katapusan. Lumitaw talaga yung long-buried na pagka-hippie namin. So intense was this jam na naputulan ng middle strings(!) si Noel ng dalawang beses on two different guitars (buti marami kaming dalang gitarra as usual). Reminded me of Bosyo na laging nabubutasan ng kick drum head sa tindi ng sipa -- kay Noel from that intense rhythm of his right hand. grabe talaga.... what an inspiring musician. You could sit there for two and a half hours straight (no breaks) and never tire of that amazing voice and musicality. Pati yung mga songs na nababoy namin sounded good! Saya. Lots of people unexpectedly stayed to listen. Reminded us all of what music should always be about. 

wow - inspring anecdote, BB. a case of music rising above the gear and vagaries of gigging.  that's what it's all about.

pls extend my condolences to 3beers and family.

[lefty]

By the way, who in world are you guys who have visited this thread 22,000+ times?!! Seems incredible for an essentially unknown, unsigned, and relatively obscure band without much of a mass following.....

Just curious. 

um, er, I think I hit this thread about 300+ times hehehe

[lefty]

b2d, ipaaabot ko kay mr. fingers yung greeting mo kung di pa nito nabasa dito. Sana nandito ka 'nun -- enjoy ka talaga. Medyo na shock si kuya nang sumipot yung epa niya.... front row pa! Ika nga, "...you guys are good ha --  very loud -- but you and Andy should find a better place to play.... how can you play with all that smoke in here?!". Hahahaha!  Napatememe yata si kuya. 

Last night, dopedeeva, mr. fingers, 3beers, and I played at the wake of 3beers' brother who passed away from a long illness. Played all acoustics to give him a nice send him off to the pie in the sky. As we were ending up the bluesey stuff, dumating si Noel Cabangon. Lintek -- 2-and-a-half hour extension jam on the fly!  Did four of Noel's own great originals, then naglabasan na ang Jimi Hendrix, Neil Young, CSN, Jim Croce, The Band, James Taylor, Everly Brothers, Bob Dylan, Beatles, Jackson Browne, George Harrison, Sting, atbp -- parang stream of consciousness medley na walang katapusan. Lumitaw talaga yung long-buried na pagka-hippie namin. So intense was this jam na naputulan ng middle strings(!) si Noel ng dalawang beses on two different guitars (buti marami kaming dalang gitarra as usual). Reminded me of Bosyo na laging nabubutasan ng kick drum head sa tindi ng sipa -- kay Noel from that intense rhythm of his right hand. grabe talaga.... what an inspiring musician. You could sit there for two and a half hours straight (no breaks) and never tire of that amazing voice and musicality. Pati yung mga songs na nababoy namin sounded good! Saya. Lots of people unexpectedly stayed to listen. Reminded us all of what music should always be about. 

tindig balahibo.. RIP Manoling Roxas..

[Jaco D]

Wow, can't believe JP is that young.  Seems like I've heard his name in local fusion circles going back as far as the mid-seventies.  He was hot, damn hot (and he could only get hotter with age)!  If I remember correctly, in the mid-eighties JP had this driver-cum-roadie who lugged JP's amp and guitars from the car to the stage, and back at the end of the gig.  When Mr. driver-cum-roadie entered the joint, you can bet your bottom dollar God wasn't far behind.  Double B, does JP still have his sidekick around?

[blue buddha]

JP started really early and has been around the block in every possible way! Which is why he's equally comfortable playing just about anything -- the guy can do it all exceedingly well (well, maybe not classical...). But his playing has indeed gotten hotter and much more exotic when wants it to be -- he's a veritable encyclopedia of licks, phrases, and chord substitutions. There are times that we just go on autopilot in the middle of a tune to listen to what he pulls out of his backside. 

And yes, "the dude" is still there.... although he's not the same dude from the 80's. Frankly, as some of us get older, our ability to manhandle 60 to 70-pound monsters up and down stages truly diminishes even as we become crustier and more insistent on getting the tones we like from the gear. 

[BAMF]

By the way, who in world are you guys who have visited this thread 22,000+ times?!! Seems incredible for an essentially unknown, unsigned, and relatively obscure band without much of a mass following.....

Just curious. 

(gulp)

[dopedeeva]

OMG! 22,000+ hits nga! Let's make it 30 then

Watch out for the Rats come January. Packed month.

Happy Holidays everyone!

[blue buddha]

Merry Christmas y'all.

Here's a gift from Joe Ingarra who alerted me to it, something from 1997 that someone uploaded on to youtube -- shot from a TV screen:

It's from the infamous Radyo Bandido gig and features a funky Rats lineup:

• Tricie singin'
• blues2death rhythming it out
• Tony Neri on keys
• Eggpie funkin' out
• Joe tootin' his horn
• 3beers slidin' (note the shaved sideburns)
• and rare footage of Edmund Fortuno doing his impersonation of "Animal" on the skins... check out his game face! Gotta love it.

Sound is terrible, but you get the idea. Ahhh youth..... lots hair.

[Allan Roy]

it was nice watching the rats circa 97........and the  pleasant surprise  treat was a rare footage of Bosyo on the drums..... nice one............ catch you guys on January 10 for  the RJ Undergound Radio Event show with The  Jerks at the RJ Bar......... I am sure that it will be a great  show with  two of the best live acts in the Philippines  playing side by side...... In the meantime.... Happy Holidays to everyone.....

[blues2death]

3 beers.....

im sure your bro has found his peace....condolence po kuya butch

[blues2death]

i saw that youtube vid a couple of months ago....

scary leopard guitar strap .....blue buddha's idea lol...i still have it stashed somewhere.

[BAMF]

Andy, kelan ba next gig nyo ? JP's pedal is overstaying na in my shop, he might be missing it badly. Tagal na tapos neto.

My number has changed, JP (and you hehehe) have not been replying to my texts from the new number

[blue buddha]

Jan. 10th yata ang next namin -- back to back with The Jerks at RJ on Jupiter St. in Makati. Daan ka.

PM mo sa akin ang new number mo -- I don't think I've gotten a message from you in a while. Not sure I have your new one -- think I've been sending gig spams to your old number.

[chorobs]

-way back 96 guys saw you sa puerto galera.. glad your still kickin and rollin.. more power.. more music..