Like the pandemic was a thing of the distant past
The year is ending and the live performance scene is bouncing back.
Over at 19 East, the crowds are back, often filling the venue which has been renovated to accommodate more people. Most of the top and respected bands and solo acts are booked at 19 East, which has arguably the best sound system in the metro.
A recent, one-off gig featured the Apo's Jim Paredes and Boboy Garovillo reuniting in honor of the departed Danny Javier.
The Fort Strip, and a bar called 78-53-86.
Bars and clubs with just piped-in music are also full. The Fort Strip at BGC, for instance, was teeming with a noisy weekend crowd — as if the pandemic was a thing of the distant past.
One good spot to chill, with vinyl records playing in the background, is a bar called 78-53-86 on the second floor of Fox Square Building, 53 Connecticut Street, Greenhills, San Juan.
On the night I dropped in, the Bill Evans Trio's album, Waltz for Debby, recorded live in 1961 at the Village Vanguard in New York, was spinning on the turntable.
It totally relaxed me.
