DRAMA, rock and roll. Musicians, sexy stars, models, lurkers—welcome to the 15th NU107 Rock Awards, baby!Looks like those with a hangover from the bungled Eraserheads reunion in August have something to rave about, well, Ely Buendia fans, at least. The former Ehead’s band, Pupil, emerged as the big winner in the NU107 Rock Awards last week, with five major awards: Album of the Year for “Wildlife,” Best Music Video Award for “Monoblock,” Producer of the Year with Jerome Velasco for “Wildlife,” Drummer of the Year for Wendell Garcia, and Artist of the Year. Not bad, if you consider that their album launched recently was completed in less than a month. “Wildlife” is Pupil’s second work and marks the debut of their new drummer Garcia. Short and concise, the 12-track album is said to be a “celebration of unforeseen circumstances.” Singles “Sala” and “Set Me Apart” topped the NU107 charts. Ten-year-old band Sandwich got three awards: Song of the Year for “Betamax,” Best Live Act and Best Album Packaging by Inksurge.com for their fifth album “marks the Spot.” Sandwich is a band best experienced live—their fans danced and sang along that night. The judges’ names were not revealed until the awards proper: Inquirer Entertainment writer Pocholo Concepcion and Inquirer columnist Conrado de Quiros, Allan Madrilejos, FHM editor in chief; Meann Marcial, Hard Rock Café marketing manager; Katrina Tuason, Rogue Magazine; Robin Rivera, record producer; and Richard Calderon, former label manager and Nokia consultant. Rico Blanco won Vocalist of the Year Award. The controversial musician recently left his longtime band Rivermaya to go solo, and came up with the album “Your Universe.” It features collaborations with Buddy Zabala of The Dawn, Archie Lacorte of Bembol Rockers and Cynthia Alexander. His song “Yugto” contains fierce lyrics and has two music videos. Guitarist of the year was LC de Leon of Reklamo, the band that goes by the shoutout “complain for change, magreklamo para sa pagbabago.” Now this award is certainly nothing to complain about.
The Out of Body Special was named Best New Artist and rightly so, the group was featured in Time Magazine as one of the “Asian Acts to Watch in 2008.” Niño Avenido who won Bassist of the Year really got the skills. Listen to their songs “Soundcheck,” “Give It” and “Sexy Beast” from the “Is Love” album and you’d know why these guys who seamlessly mix rock, funk, soul, RnB and jazz deserve the recognitions. Bembol Rockers won the In the Raw Award. Make sure to catch the band’s “Boogie Mo” black-and-white video so superbly done in vintage fashion that it’s as if you could smell the pomade on the members’ hair. Actor Bembol Roco does a cameo. Crowd favorite Urbandub bagged the Listener’s Choice Award. Their newest album “Under Southern Lights” is their finest work to date. Cuts “Guillotine,” “The Fight is gained steady airplay not just on NU107 but other stations as well. San Miguel Corp. was given the Hall of Fame award for its support of music events, Twin Lobster from St. Scholastica’s College was voted Smart/U Rock College Band of the Year, and Faspitch was given the Nokia IAC Award. Energetic performances by The Dawn, Bamboo, Sandwich, Radioactive Sago Project, Markus Highway, Rico Blanco, Urbandub, Razorback, Greyhoundz and Pupil made fans jump and rock hard at Silvercity in Pasig. The theme: “The Supreme Rule.” It sure was a super gig and another milestone for Pinoy rock and roll. | 
