Photos by Clang, Rommel Balawang, Toy Perez and Panda Choco Photography
THIS year’s Fête at the Park amazed the June 16 crowd at the Rizal Park Open Air Auditorium as it brandished a lineup of 14 artists from 10 different genres. Sound checks started as early as 3 p.m., and as soon as the riffs of guitars, beating of drums and rising of vocals were heard from the outside, people immediately started trooping to the venue.
With the event proper slated at 4 p.m., the auditorium itself was remarkably already half-full before anything even started. Considering that for the past few weeks and days that led to the event, the weather had been less than fair with constant rain showers looming. It was then surprising that the date was blessed with a sunny morning and early afternoon.
“Fête” officially went underway with the singing of the Philippine National Anthem. Afterward, hosts Pia Marie Paulican, Djan Dwaine H. Canary and Paul Martin Ross warmed up the crowd with their introductory spiels and small talk.
Shortly, upstarts After Life jump-started the musical performances of the event proper with much energy. Coming all the way from Caloocan, their heartfelt love for music resonated with the crowd.
Splendio Tritus followed suit and immediately had the audience’s attention. Consisting of four siblings ages 11 to 17, the quartet connected with the crowd easily as they swayed with their beautiful original songs and a cover of Nobela by Join The Club. The band, as usual, gave out a wonderful and engaging performance.
Pasada took the stage thereafter and performed their trademark brand of world music, combining the genres of reggae, jazz, rock and funk with a touch of traditional Filipino music as only they can. The band flaunted their melodious combination brought about by their different instruments. The crowd was gripped with their unique sound.
Not Informed subsequently did their thing, and they lit up the stage with brimming amounts of hyperactivity and energy. They delivered an earnest performance as they easily got the crowd’s attention through their lighthearted and spirited energy.
Angelic rock star Jana Garcia took to the stage next and instantly hooked the audience’s ears with her easy-flowing voice. Hers was too sweet and peaceful to listen to, that the audience could do nothing but groove to her beat and sing-along to her songs.
At that point in the event, the auditorium became noticeably full as the venue was almost brimming to the rafters with onlookers. With that, however, the weather worsened as the event went along. The rain started off as a mild drizzle, but soon evolved into a heavy downpour later on in the night. Weather conditions limited the people who might have been interested to watch the event, but at the same time discouraged the people already inside the auditorium to leave.
Gin Rum and Truth (GRT) held the stage next, along with the attention of the audience, with their noticeable mystique. They delivered their solid and intense music with ease as each skillful guitar solo was matched with air-breaking vocals.
Calebral climbed up next and performed four steady and rigid songs. The crowd’s attention didn’t get lost as they perfectly timed their sounds to the beat. The people in attendance roared during their set as members of the audience were engaged with their music.
Bonifacio Republic then took to the stage as they constantly performed with their hearts out on their sleeves. With their music, their message fell on willing ears as they sang of societal problems that people often offer a blind eye to. The band rocked the crowd with hard-cutting lyrics and rough guitar riffs to encapsulate their performance.
Black Wolf Gypsies were next and showed their rough-and-rowdy style of rock and roll. Never failing to pique the interest of the crowd, the group delivered a high-octane, high-energy set that was a trademark of theirs. An impromptu emergency performance was then delivered by Yok Tano, Alquin Eledana, Inigo Mortel from GRT, with their friend Ron Murillo from Good and Bad. The four managed to deliver a whole, unpracticed set as the crowd cheered them on.
Rebelde played ecstatically, and they excited the crowd with their loud and firm rendition of metal music.
Typecast, “Fête’s” main headliner, expectedly stole the show, as they played their hit song Will You Ever Learn and engaged the crowd with their music. They had everyone completely enamored by delivering a classic performance.
Ang Bagong Luto Ni Enriquez followed suit and enjoyed their time on stage with their rousing segment.
Sucketseven rocked the crowd with their intense set as they performed with noticeable strength. They landed heavily with their melodies and commanded the audience’s attention towards them.
Voice of Tranquility ended the night of musical performances as they sustained the event’s energy at a high even toward the end. They finished the event strong with their usual powerful and heavy set of songs. Throughout the event, the hosts constantly interacted with the crowd, asked trivia questions and played games with their public. Luckily, the audience was responsive. Furthermore, to bolster their attention, the musical performances were accompanied by the trademark fountain show of Rizal Park.
“Fête” was presented by Sound Experience Manila, in partnership with the National Parks Development Committee (Labs Kita, Sabado) and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (Arts in Public Spaces program). It delivered in combining and contrasting the various genres of music as brought together fans from each musical genre for further appreciation of OPM.