Emo Night Manila Raises Three Cheers for Counterculture Anthems

It's only natural for the emo/ alt kids to revisit the Black Parade and anthems that shaped their rebellious personas.

While most of kids of the early to mid-2000s emo movement are all grown up and are whether they like or not, upstanding members of society, Emo Night Manila seeks to resuscitate the mosh pit warriors in hibernation.

Esquire Philippines got to witness this love letter to all grunge-toned and black eyeliner sporting folk who unaplogetically head-banged and lost their voices to the greatest hits of bands such as My Chemical Romance, Paramore, Panic! at the Disco, Wheatus, System of a Down, among other groups.

We also got to chat with the mind behind Emo Night Manila, who desperately wanted to build that time machine to the soundtrack of her youth, and of many other emo kids with careers.

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Emo Night Manila founder Sarah Spooner in her element during a DJ set

"It doesn't matter who you are, what your job is, your background. People come here and are unified for the music," Spooner said.

All the renewed rage for emo music saw a revival with the birth of the When We Were Young music festival, which started in 2017.

The Las Vegas music festival featured bands of the pop-punk, post-hardcore, metalcore, and alternative rock variety.

Think of bands we already mentioned like MCR, Paramore, but add Avril Lavigne to the mix, Pierce the Veil, The Maine, Mayday Parade, Turnstile, among others.

It isn't like emo ever left the public consciousness or pop culture as bands such as MCR and Fall Out Boy still sell out arenas worldwide and still put out albums to varying degrees of critical reception.

Just try to listen back to tunes such as MCR's "Helena," and "The Ghost of You" from the group's iconic Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge LP. Paramore's soaring "All I Wanted" from their beloved Brand New Eyes record, and Turnstile's entire Glow On album are cuts you should definitely dunk your ears into if you want to get into the emo spirit.

For Spooner, her personal emo phase, reached a fever pitch when she lived in the island paradise that is Boracay.

"So for me to be the princess of darkness while living in paradise was such a contrast," she reminisced, recalling her time being an emo kid in Boracay.

"But I really, it was My Chemical Romance was number one in my life."

It was no wonder the album that she holds near and dear to her heart is that aforementioned My Chemical Romance project, which is held at a very high standard when it comes to influential post-punk music.

"The love for the genre has not died. It just went to sleep and hibernated," she told us.

"We have people from all walks of life that come to our events. And we can see the friendships forming from the regulars, the solo goers who come and then find each other."

Scenes from Emo Night Manila this year last Dec. 6

With many diehard emo kids, who are now mostly career people, still flocking to Emo Night Manila every year in the heart of Poblacion in Makati, it begs the question: why does this genre or cultural subgenre still resonate with adults?

Think of the gig like a portal to a simpler time circa 2006 maybe, when those unmistakeable piano notes from "Welcome to the Black Parade" ruled bedrooms and radio waves.

"Just like when you were a teenager feeling your teen anxieties and problems, you can be here at emo night as an adult and let out that rage as well," Spooner enlightened us.

You can imagine a cathartic burst of unadulterated screaming that goes on during this giant emo karaoke session.

"I think nowadays with the pressure of inflation, and this overwhelming feeling of survival, we do find, especially also with the corruption that we're seeing in our country, and the anger that it brings upon us, there's a lot to be angry about," the Emo Night Manila founder added.

There was not a shortage of gigantic Dr. Martens boots, vintage band shirts, and studded belts and bracelets in Apotheka in Poblacion Makati earlier this month.

Emo Night Manila involves a bunch of DJ sets from fellow emo fans and Spooner hersel, who says she's still learning the ropes when making a killer emo mix.

"Even though we have grown up, and maybe you don't consider yourself to be emo now, there is still that inner, that little part of you that loves the music," Spooner reflected

"So when you come here, you do get to release that side of yourself. And then go back to your day-to-day.

Emo Night Manila in full swing

The untethered expression of alternative fashion is also a driving force of the event, which is a relatively uncommon space within the usual party/night life scene within the Poblacion area.

"You are transported to 2006, back to your teenage days, when you were full of angst, and you just wanted to belt out your favorite songs," Spooner said.

"That's one of the things I love about Emo Night, is that there's not many spaces in Manila for you to dress alternatively. But here, it's free for all."

Compared to the emo kids of the Western world, Filipinos are crazy about the unifying experience of belting out anthems, transforming the shindig into a full-blown concert.

This really puts the sterotype of Filipinos being into karaoke into a different lens, well, a alternative counterculture-tinged lens.

Spooner likened the conventional Manila party spots as a pseudo popularity contest, which Emo Night Manila steers clear from.

"I will say, the majority of people are millennials who have grown up. They have their full-time jobs. Some of us are starting families," she said.

A dreamlike scenario for most emo fans is to party with MCR frontman Gerard Way during an event like Emo Night Manila, and Spooner's Black Parade heart has one wish for the singer if he ever swung by.

"I would want him to witness the authentic and raw emotion that comes from Pinoys singing at the top of their lungs with the full range of talent that they have," she said.

"Because undeniably in the music scene, we are one of the most favorite, commonly favorite crowds of musicians when they tour here."

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