DURING the day, C. Palanca Street in Makati City is grey. Located in the the country’s Central Business District, the street is dotted with high-rise office buildings and condos. But you’ll also find bars and cozy restaurants in between office buildings. Of course, you won’t miss the “jollijeeps” parked strategically in street corners. At lunch time, you’ll find yuppies in semi-formal office getup, standing next to each other, enjoying a cheap meal. It’s fastfood on wheels, some describe the jollijeeps.
But as the sun sets, you’ll find the same yuppies in their disheveled office dress gradually filling up the street’s now famous bars and restaurants. Here you’ll find joints like 6 Underground featuring famous and indie Pinoy bands. I remember watching Orange and Lemons in another bar called Gweilos, just next to 6 Underground. Gweilos is where I first witnessed upcoming Pinoy band and Baguio-based Spaceflowers play their “danceable” tunes, and where I interviewed an all-girl band called Wake Up Your Seatmate. A stone’s throw away, you’ll find the defunct 6 Underground, which was literally located in the basement of the Glass Tower building in C. Palanca Street.
I was nice to hear that after 6 Underground closed, a live album is scheduled to come out soon, PhilMusic. com says. The live CD includes recordings of live performances of various local artists at 6 Underground.
Excerpt:
“Take me down, Six Undergriound…” For what seemed like a Camelot-like brief shining moment, the basement of the Glass Tower in C. Planca Street in Makati relived its glory days as a music haven for folks looking for something off the beaten path. Through the decades the venue had been many things — the jazz joint Cafe Alvarado in the 80s, the legendary rock dive Kalye in the 90’s, and a bewildering array of ersatz Irish pubs.
Named after a tune by trip-hop band Sneaker Pimps, it was revived in 2005 as 6 Underground, a venue that sought to relive the glory of the Kalye days, while combining the bar/club concept with a full fledged recording studio that ended up documenting a number of fine live performances for posterity.
To this day, C. Palanca remains a haven for people who want to listen to a lot of undiscovered local artists/bands.
Source: Erwin Oliva