Now it can be told on big screen

The much-ballyhooed concert that nearly got called off after a major sponsor was reprimanded from supporting the show, is now a movie.

Who would have thought that the historic, one-night reunion concert of The Eraserheads, one of the country’s most successful bands in the ’90s, will even hit the big screens?

It shall go down local music history as that singular moment where four estranged band members — Ely Buendia, Raimund Marasigan, Buddy Zabala and Marcus Adoro — came together for one spectacular musical reunion last Aug. 30. The performance drew in more than 50,000 people at The Fort Bonifacio Open Field.

The E-Heads’ recording label, Sony BMG Music, was quick to the draw and immediately released the unplugged CD of the concert. The album was digitally enhanced and was out in the record stores in early November.

The Fab Four recently made history anew as the only OPM band to immortalize their performance on the big screen, a feat never before achieved by any local band or artist.

The Eraserheads reunion concert is now being shown simultaneously in Metro Manila and Cebu City, clashing with the much-heralded vampire film, Twilight, based on the bestseller by Stephenie Meyer. However, executives of Sony BMG Music are confident that The E-Heads concert-movie will still draw the crowds to the theaters, especially fans who failed to watch the show last August.

True enough, during the premiere of The E-Heads concert-movie at SM Megamall, fans displayed the same euphoria that they had at the Fort Bonifacio Open Field — starting from the countdown all the way to the last song in the first set.

The reunion concert came on the brink of not pushing through after Philip Morris was faced with a legal impediment that forced the tobacco company to pull out from the show.

RA 9211, otherwise known as the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003, strictly prohibits tobacco companies from sponsoring any cultural, sports and artistic events of individual or team athletes, artists and performers. Philip Morris avoided health issues with the Department of Health that’s why it turned over the concert to a different major sponsor which saved the day for The E-Heads.

The producers — Francis Lumen and Sony BMG — reportedly shelled out a whopping P40-M for the E-Heads concert and made sure it would boast outstanding production value, with state-of-the-art sounds, lights and stage. The audience was so thrilled with the eye-popping spectacle onstage that included the fabulous display of lights and pyrotechnics.

Ely, who was present in the premiere with fellow members Marcus and Buddy, was visibly pleased when he watched the reunion concert on the big screen for the first time. “The lights onstage were amazing,” Ely gushed. “I didn’t get to see that, of course, while we were performing.”

Of course, it will be remembered that the show had to be cut short after the 15-minute intermission, since Ely had to be rushed to the hospital due to severe chest pains because of his heart problem. The band no longer continued the concert, announced Ely’s condition and apologized to the thousands who trooped to the venue.

Smart Buddy helped relive the glorious moments of the E-Heads reunion concert by being the presenter of the movie. All of the 15 songs rendered in the concert have been documented for the big screen release of the show.

The repertoire lists Alapaap, Ligaya, Sembreak, Hey, Jay, Harana, Fruitcake, Toyang, Kamasupra, Kailan, Huwag Kang Matakot, Kaliwete, With A Smile, Shake Your Head, Huwag Mo Nang Itanong and Light Years.