orchid + oceania

[lifted without permission from somewhere]

"when the seas rose, genetics codes were smashed." those are the first words of the comic book Orchid, written by the nightwatchman tom morello, illustrated by scott hepburn. morello tells how an apathetic lumpen, the namesake of the comic book, begins to care during a hopeless time in a dystopian plane. in this volume, the epic tale unravels at the meeting point of environmental destruction and corporate greed, revealing morello's insight on politics and economy, and revisiting a portion of the narrative's history for a glimpse of how orchid's nightmare of a reality was brought about. Orchid comes with a musical score for each chapter, adding more effect to morello's concept and hepburn's visual storytelling. disclaimer: again, i am not an evil advertiser, but rolling stone says that morello brings class consciousness to comics. looking forward to the 2nd and 3rd volumes.

[cropped and arranged from images in #SPoceaniaTour]

further adding to the wrought havoc care of the nameless monsoon is the smashing pumpkins' Oceania concert here in manila. [manila bulletin: "no time to drown: billy corgan meets rain-soaked manila"] though the sound system does not quite hit the right spot making my live recording seem like a sunn o))) track or some other drone metal album, the globe visual effects thing at the center of the stage feels heavenly, not in the christian or any other religion kind of way, but in a relaxing kind of way with those cosmic themes that reminds me of tool album designs, lovecraftian cosmic horror, new age, transcendence, birth, death, stellar lunar solar things, sacred geometry and so on. aside from other matters that need not be mentioned, XYU and Zero made the night better. ending this post with the setlist:

[lifted without permission, found through nicole fiorentino's tweet]

from oceania: quasar * panopticon * the celestials * violet rays * my love is winter * one diamond, one heart * pinwheels * oceania * pale horse * the chimera * glissandra * inkless * wildflower | then: space oddity (david bowie) * x.y.u. * disarm * tonight, tonight * bullet w butterfly wings * soot and stars * luna * today | encore: zero * ava adore * cherub rock * 1979 * stand inside your love * muzzle * black diamond (kiss)

i saw her there. from afar. but it's worth the er seeing. below is a moment. nope. not my vid. thus, not my shrieks. still, thanks, uploader. updated 08102012 added: fave found vid & fragment of the night: x.y.u. - disarm - tonight, tonight.