SUMMARY
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MANILA, Philippines – Now in their second year, MADFest showed improvement by leaps and bounds over their inaugural event, entertaining crowds with a long lineup of great acts.
Some say experience is the best teacher. This year, the organizers outdid themselves with a local line-up that was jam packed with outstanding well-known bands.
The festivities started at 3 pm and continued through to the following Sunday morning until 3am, with DJs spinning until the wee hours of the night.
There was never a dull moment, the sets were short, fast, and furious, staying almost right on the pre-planned timetable, just minutes off, which is almost unheard of at these festival events. Each band performed for 15 minutes or so, basically 3 songs – not much time. I’d prefer to see half the bands but twice the amount of time, 30 minutes each.
The opening set of the day was by Run Dorothy followed by BP Valenzuela. Run Dorothy’s music is skilfully crafted, a rock band with vocals by Dee. It was their first time on the big stage, and although the crowd was sparse this early in the day, it didn’t matter, as they filled the space with their energy.
BP is another young act, and at only 19 years old, she’s talented beyond her years. She doesn’t perform with typical instruments, rather with an ensemble of gadgets, machines, synthesisers, and laptops.
A singer/songwriter with a distinctive vocal sound – think Natasha Bedingfield meets Regina Spektor – not surprisingly, she also doubles as a producer. Her music doesn’t follow the usual verse-chorus-verse format but has a soothing stylistic melody, and seems to create a need to hear more.
Next up was CRWN x Jess Connelly, Curtismith, Sud, and Triple Fret.
Ransom Collective, Autotelic, Miro Valera, and Flying Ipis were next in line. Ransom Collective produced a full sound and mixed it up with their folk indie flare. Autotelic picked up the pace with their version of synth-pop rock.
Deng Garcia turned it up a notch on lead vocals with the 4-piece band, Flying Ipis. In 2012, their song, “Sssikreto” struck a chord with the local scene and they’ve been rocking ever since.
As the sun began to set, Mayonnaise took the stage, then Quest with Portable Sound, Taken by Cars, and Imago. Sarah Marco, lead vocalist of Taken by Cars, soothed the crowd, together with the band’s brand of ’80s new wave, a throwback indie sound.
Mayumi Gomez of Imago commanded the stage with ease, had the crowd singing along and keep the music flowing.
Then the rock started to drop with local legends Kjwan, Urbandub, Franco and finishing up with Parokya Ni Edgar. Marc Abaya of Kjwan was right on the money with his usual outlandish bravado, clowning around with his bandmates on stage.
At one point, he covered the eyes of his guitarist, Boogie Romero to test him – like typing without looking at the keys. Can he still play blind? Of course he can, and he does.
Urbandub did not disappoint with their consistent high-energy performance with John Dinopol on guitar catching some air.
Franco followed suit, maintaining the energy of the festival. Franco Reyes was smooth as silk, and you can’t get much more rock & roll than this band’s set-up: 3 guitars and a drum set.
Chito Miranda of the award-winning group, Parokya Ni Edgar took the stage and the fans went wild.
They lit things up, literally with a pyrotechnics display and confetti cannons, with their rap-rock style and humorous stories with a satirical tone, they roused the crowd to a hysterical level.
If you haven’t caught any of these bands live, you’re missing out. Choose any on the list, listen to their music or go see them live, you won’t be disappointed.
NixDamnP took over the DJ desk while the techs set up for the main act, well thought out, as far as logistics go.
Soon, it was time for Nico and Vinz to take the stage.
They first broke into the music scene in 2009 and garnered international success in the U.S. in 2014, with their hit single “Am I Wrong.” It’s a catchy song with a beat they’ll sway a skyscraper. It has an uplifting message about following your heart, and it topped the charts in a total of 41 different countries.
The banter in-between tracks was insightful and interesting. Vinz Dery shared some family history, that they both grew up in Norway’s capital, Oslo, immersed in African music. Vinz’s parents are immigrants from Ghana, while Nico is the son of a Norwegian mother and his father is from Ivory Coast.
He told of how the two bonded, and their journey in music so far, “We thought it would go a little faster than it actually happened right, remember this is 2009 and we were like, ‘By 2010 the whole world is gonna know who Nico and Vinz are!'”
He modestly continued, “2010 came, nothing happened. We worked 2011, 2012, it took us 4 or 5 years to get our music off the ground, but right now we’re in Manila baby!” As the uproar in the crowd settled down, he finished with, “What I’m saying is… always keep pushing.”
When singing, rarely did they stay still for any amount of time, no mic stands here. You couldn’t miss their brilliant smiles from any vantage point of the festival. A solid hour of entertainment with some energizing and uplifting music.
What stood out though, was how much they were enjoying themselves, you could actually hear a sense of jubilation in their voices. I’d rack this on up in the win column with well organised grounds, comfortable venue, quality sound, outstanding local bands, and a headlining band who are on the rise.
Keep and eye out for this duo, their innovative sound, and a kind of urban pop swagger will take them places. Odds are, they’ll continue producing some great music and the next MADFest will be even better. – Rappler.com
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