Saturday June 06, 2008

Well nothing much to say and post today, but this is how Saturday ended...
Ah well, hope this guy wakes up at least in the right side of his bed..Have a nice weekend!

Skaramouche and Coffee Island Break

June 5, 2008 It was supposed to be a slow and boring night, being Thursday. But guess what? Penguin as it is, you would not know what will happen right?

For starters we had the band Coffee Island Break giving us a dose of ska/reggae music. This was in preparation for the set of Skaramouche, a Swiss band (yup!) on tour of South East Asia, including the Philippines. The band happens to be just staying in a nearby hotel. It was their first night in Manila, Philippines . Fortunately for us locals and Penguin habitues we were probably their first close encounter with a Filipino audience . They will play in different venues and province outside of Manila, like Cebu and even as far as Cagayan De Oro in Mindanao. I also found out that they will also play at the Fete dela Musique on June 21, 2008. I have not heard any announcement yet about the details of this annual, match anticipated music fest. But who knows probably this year it is top secret?

Spreading the Gospel of (Cosmic) LOVE Thru FUNK

May 29th - We featured the band Cosmic Love and Dub Reggae GoodLeaf. Both bands are veterans of the gig circuit playing here at the gallery and at the Saguijo Bar in Makati. The 6 man Cosmic Love playedsa heavy dose of funkadelic with their interpretation of classic Stevie Wonder song 'Higher Ground' to modern rock composition of Kula Shaker.

Goodleaf played their mostly original dub/reggae inspired tunes from their latest CD release

The Smell of Hemp at the Gallery

Yes. We have Hemp in the Gallery.. Well not the smoking kind BUT yes they do a mean smoking set each they played at the gallery. This was taken from last Saturday, May 31 2008 set. First to play was the Makiling (without the Ensemble) with a fiery Celtic/Flamenco inspired playlist. Later Bunny and the rest of the Hemp guys did their set with a mix of reggae and dub music.

This got the audience dancing and screaming for more (beers??) or whatever. Including some odd Penguin regulars like Eghai Roxas, showing 'D muvs'
















Another 'hermit' pop out of nowhere that night, straight from the sugarland, visual artist, regular and now you see now you don't Nuni Alvarado....

For those who don't know, Mr. Alvarado's work can be found at the entrance of the gallery, right side leading to a soon to be opened craft and coffee shop.

Jazz is ALIVE and KICKING

Contrary to nay sayers and doomsday prediction, Jazz music is still ALIVE and hopefully packs a mean kick in the A&*. The new sound of Wahijuara, led by guitarist Junji Lerma and the rest of the guys gave an aural wall of sound (?) last May 30 at the gallery.
Wahijuara (meaning Soul Sauce) current line up includes: Francis de Veyra on bass, Arwin Gonzaga on drums/percussions and 'horny guys' (guys on the horns ie: trumpet and saxs) Richie Gonzaga and Anthony Morris


The group played their first and only set which was followed by Radio Active Sago Project. Early that day I read somewhere that the group was already disbanding. This prompted me to make a panic call to Junji for a confirmation. Only to find out it was just one of those nasty rumors. Ahhh

Weekend Characters

Guess who visited the gallery last Friday ? May 30... Dropping by to jam with Radio Active Sago's Lourd de Veyra. None other than guitar legend Noli Aurillo.

New Look.. but Still the Same Old Bar..

Finally..
After months of inactive and pure laziness on my part, I decided to 'ressurect' the old Rock Ola Cafe Blog and got the name of Penguin Gallery.
I have been planning to change the blog name to it's appropriate name which is really the Penguin Gallery in honor of the bar/gallery's original name.

What is Penguin Gallery/Cafe really all about?

For those who spent their adult years during the later part of the 80's and 90's, Penguin gallery/bar/cafe is one of the original and last hangout of bohemian life in Malate, Manila (Philippines). Through the years the face of Malate Manila has been transformed from a favorite hangout of artists, writers, etc poseurs to it's current state of videoke bars, and lately Korean bars of all size and shapes. Together with some old resto and bars, like Cafe Adriatico, Oarhouse and the Hobbit House (which moved to another area somewhere in Mabini) the Penguin Gallery help defined the local art scene in Manila.

This blog is all about the Penguin Gallery. Her ups and downs. Her door is still open to all. She is still the same and yet different. There is a constant change in being the same for the last 25+ years of existence. This blog is all about her story.