By Danielle Gabriel
YOUTHFUL vibe was in the air, as music fans of all ages came to sway with the acoustics, head-bang to rock songs and dance alongside tribal beats during the 22nd instalment of “Fête de la Musique.”
Celebrating music in its many forms, Fête de la Musique featured more than 200 acts performing in different stages around Makati City and Intramuros.
A. Venue Mall parking lot, one of the main stages of the music festival, catered not only to adolescent indie fans and longtime followers of Original Pilipino Music artists.
Families with toddlers and babies were also present in the event, filling the stage with not just college buddies stalking their favorite acts or couples unwinding, beer-in-hand, but also little tots taking in the beats and bass while dancing to whatever music is playing.
Artists from the independent music scene opened Fête, taking in a crowd despite the sun still up.
Electronic music artist BP Valenzuela fueled the audience with mixes, beeps and beats that got them tapping their boots, Chucks and sandals. The synths partnered with Valenzuela’s dream-like vocals and lyrics is an equal-parts concoction setting the music fest to soft but feel-good start.
“I am not used to playing this early, when the sun is up. It is nice. It is exciting when I heard I was going to play in the main stage because it is such a diverse stage,” Valenzuela said.
The 20-year-old artist played songs from her latest EP, The Neon Hours, serenading the crowd with poetic hits like “Even If You Asked Me” and “Building Too,” and performed a chill-out version of Drake’s “Hotline Bling.”
Fans attribute Valenzuela’s steady rise to fame to her literary lyricism and laid-back and lightweight vocals, noting her “unique” style in music.
“Iba kasi ’yung music niya from the usual nadidinig natin na puro birit na lang lagi. May kakaiba,” Hilary Galvez, an electronics engineering student who came to watch Fête with BP Valenzuela fans she met online, said.
Rapper RH Xanders upped the testosterone level and hip-hop mood in A. Venue with psychedelic verses dipped in a laid-back flow that provides a rest from the usual tongue-tripping rap songs.
Six-man indie folk band Ransom Collective hit the stage next, setting the audience back into a foot-tapping and body-swaying frenzy.
The band’s mix of rhythms from the acoustic guitar and violins and perky tambourine percussions were enough to take the people’s mind of the light drizzle that tried to join the band’s performance.
Playing their hit songs “Fools” and “Settled,” Ransom ignited the souls of music lovers in the main stage as the Mumford and Sons-esque group rallied the audience to move left and right in tune with the lively beat.
“Very youthful ’yung vibe nila. And syempre local band, so [support]. Their quality is really good and you can dance to it and very youthful and energetic ’yung vibe,” Kristina Silan, who works at the German-Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said when asked about the band.
International acts are not to be sidelined in the annual music festival, as French YouTube artist Nathan Zanagar rocked the stage with original English and French songs that showcased his flawless vocals, including an impeccable falsetto that awed the crowd.
Zanagar was also keen on throwing a few dance moves here and there during his performance, as he harnessed his inner Mick Jagger. The 23-year-old also got the Fête attendees cheering as he performed classics, like Prince’s “Kiss” and “Purple Rain” along with Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide.”
Zanagar said he was amazed with the kind of reception he received in the country and was looking forward to a lively crowd.
“I have been here six days and I was impressed by how nice people are. Everybody was so nice and so welcoming, and listening to the French songs even though they do not know what it means, I am very honored,” Zanagar said.
The French artist performed his latest song, “Le Jeune,” which was released this year in France and internationally, talking about youth and the hopes found in whatever age one is in.
“It is a song about youth and how it feels. It is not just for the 17 year olds but for 10 to 45, 90 year olds. From what I have seen in my world, it is tough out there, but still, the song says there is the good and positive, that we are going be okay, we are going be alright,” Zanagar explained.
The night’s joyful atmosphere became more evident as Adinkra Lumads Djembe Community brought percussion and tribal music to a whole new level. Showcasing ethnic instruments, like the West African Djembe drum, Adinkra Lumads gave indigenous peoples music pride by incorporating chants and other local verses in the performance.
On top of the celebratory music that got even foreigners jiving and spilling their drinks while dancing, the country’s leading poi and flow arts group Planet Zips & Flow Arts Philippines also gave the crowd more reason to stick to the main stage and bring their families and kids along to witness the performance.
Other performances in A. Venue stage were Brass Pas PasPas featuring Bituin Escalante and Kat Agarrado, Assembly Generals, Pupil, Gabby Alipe and Tarsius.
Fête de la Musique was organized by Alliance Française de Manille, the French Embassy and the Tourism Promotion Board, in partnership with B-side Production.
1 comment
Very nice event I hope I was there! Anyway great celebration…