March 29, 2024

TGIF (Thank God it’s Friday) sounds so good at 18 BC Music Lounge along Legarda Road. It is where you go to listen to your kind of live music – acoustic, reggae or pop/rock. It is also a night to catch one of Baguio’s favorite bands, The Edralins. This is the only establishment licensed to operate till the wee hours of the morning along this road. The owl in you will be pleased.
Sound bites begin at around 7 p.m. on any day here. An acoustic duo fills the lounge with contemporary or popular music for the first set. This music can go well with dinnerhere where food is good too. Different singers on the different days of the week begin the acoustic set that help people wind down with from a busy day at work. The guitar accompanies a diva whose repertoire includes both old revivals and latest compositions of Filipino and international artists. These singers come back for a second set later in the evening to mellow the air.
The Reggae music fills the room a little more and puts more rhythm and tempo for a livelier air at 8 p.m. The audience for the genre begins to fill the tables and chairs and more bottles and glasses clink. One begins to move with the beat and sing-a-long with the familiar Jamaican rhythmicmusic popularized by Bob Marley. A younger crowd or the 40ish and above make their way to the bar for this and move on to other bars after their fill.
At 9 p.m. rockers and rollers have their kind of rock band music. On some nights, hard rock music is enjoyed by the head-banging audience. Guns and Roses or Bon Jovi music spills out here. But the loudest singing crowds enjoy The Edralins here on Friday nights. An hour is filled with some of the Beatles songs, popular Filipino music or rock favorites by this band who don’t slow down at any point but keep everyone gyrating. This hour is not meant for the weak hearts and ears. Some customers prefer to sit outdoors to filter out the throbbing music and return inside when softer music plays again.
Outside this remnant of President Manuel Quezon’s old house is a verandah perfect for group chatter. When energy still flows after midnight, the BC or basso contino still crescendos inside the lounge. A merry mix of people who drop by for their kind of music frequent the place. There are some groups too who sit outside actually have meetings or soirees. Conversations can be loud or even rowdy under the evening skies. But Baguio’s night air can be chilly for the unprepared.
This is where Friday nights can be fun for those who like live continuous music for almost eight hours. Enjoy the basso contino on any day actually at the 18th century or old house façade of President Quezon but let it begin on Fridays.