A New Venue for Local Filipino Bands and Understanding Live Music
Playing gigs for local Filipino bands in Winnipeg has always been a challenge. This is primarily due to the lack of venues to play regularly at and also for the seeming scarcity of Filipino music listeners who have the ear for live music and the patience to listen to new, original music.
Kabayan Bar & Grill (64 Keewatin Street)
So, for both local Filipino bands and enthusiasts of live music, rejoice! Winnipeg has a new Filipino-managed venue that hosts live bands on weekends (Fridays and Saturdays): Kabayan Bar & Grill, located on Keewatin Street near Notre Dame Avenue. The recently opened nightspot is a good opportunity for local Filipino bands to showcase their skills, talent, and music. I hope that the manager/s of the venue would be patient enough to support these local bands regardless of their music styles until the Filipino community catches up and develops the ability to appreciate original live music.
Many music lovers always expect that bands could easily perform whatever song they request from them. They fail to realize that members of bands are not like jukeboxes or karaoke machines that could churn out flawlessly whatever song they want them to play with just a combination of numbers and letters on the controller. They are ignorant to the fact that for a band to be able to play properly a song in a live setup, members have to spend countless hours to study their respective parts and for the whole band to practice together. This should not be the case. For our community to produce and develop good bands and original music, we should let bands grow and flourish on their own accord. We should let bands choose the music—whether covers or original—that they want to play.
Music is music whatever the type is. And live music could be very expensive. So when it’s free, take advantage of it and be grateful for it. Stop requesting too much. Just sit back and relax, while drinking your bottle of beer or sipping your glass of iced tea. Enjoy whatever kind of music the band is playing. And, no matter how busy you are chatting with your friends, don’t forget to clap your hands and say yeah after every song.
Bands that have already performed at Kabayan include Fhamathou, Traffic Jam, Fhazzmado, and members of Immortal Sacrament, Ethnica, Transfusion, and haLf man haLf eLf.