W A N D E R L A N E
Welcome one and all to the land of indie hipster and flower children!! AKA Laneway Festival and Wanderland Festival!
So yeah, I've been meaning to blog about these 2 events for quite some time now and I've been delaying it for so long because I could not just find the right words to briefly describe 'em. (Or mostly because I could not find the time to do so!) I'll try to do my best though, so here goes nothing!
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During the first half of the year, I was lucky enough to have attended 2 of the much awaited music festivals in the South East Asia, specifically in Singapore and my home town, Manila. Living in another country not to far from home, has its perks and one of them is travelling back and fro for the weekend.
The first festival was the St. Jerome's Laneway Festival which was held early February. I was pretty psyched out about this event since I missed last year's one because of, let's just say, someone had a pretty good time the night before! (LOL!) I was also pretty bummed that I did not get to watch some of the artists who performed at the early part because I had work (BOO!) For the first time in 4 years, the event was held at the meadows at Gardens by the bay, though the place was pretty huge, it got jam-packed especially towards the middle til the end of the festival. I have never seen a large crowd of music savvies of different races gather for one common thing, ever before. The place also was a perfect place to create that "festive" ambiance, with the mini hill and all!
(1) The "hill" that I was talking about. The mats that Heineken was giving out, was pretty rad, too bad we didn't buy enough beer to get one! (2) Burning our burnt skin under the scorching heat of the sun. Hello, Cheskita.
My favorite favorite act was of course Of Monsters and Men, they were just amazing. I literally wanted to cry when they played all their songs that I thought I would only get to hear over the radio/youtube/8tracks/spotify. But no, I got to hear them live, and they sounded just like what they sounded like over the radio. Another favorite act was Gotye. Everyone was hyped up when they played "Somebody that I used to know" especially when Kimbra suddenly sang with them. Their tandem is just so cute, they can make cute and talented babies, really, just saying! :)
Some of the other bands who performed were Alt-J, Japandroids, King of Convenience, Cloud Nothings, Divine fits, Polica, Real Estate, Tame Impala, Yeasayer
The second festival that I went to was the first ever Wanderland Music Festival in Manila, Philippines. It was the first time ever in Manila that we had a festival such as this, and every Manilenyo was overly excited about it. It was like THE event of the summer, not kidding. I flew all the way from Singapore, just so I could attend this festival, that's how big it was. It was held at the circuit in Makati city, the formerly Sta. Ana race track. The place was also huge, but the turn-out of people was not as big as many as expected, I guess because the tickets were so damn expensive. But nonetheless the event was a success. It was more of a carnival-ish/high school fair-ish feeling. There were a lot of booths that sells mostly over priced stuff! to complete the vibe, there were inflatables for everyone to enjoy, too bad they did not include carnival rides, that would have completed the experience!
(1) Reunited and it feels so good! I missed you two so much!!! (Cheska, MIA!)
There were both local and international acts who performed during the festival. It was sad though that people weren't that psyched about the local ones, but yeah, I would rather hear them in intimate venues like pubs/bars. It was too big of an event for local artists (no offence meant) But it's an experience!
The whole place got pretty wild when Neon Trees started to play, their lead singer just knows how to start a riot. I mean, who in the right frame of mind would throw a pair of DMs to the fans, and yeah, also his socks (good thing it was not me who caught it!) He.is.just.wild! He even went crowd surfing! Temper trap did not fail as well, they were A-MA-ZING! as in, his voice was just so, angelic! When they started playing "Love Lost" I got lost in his voice. (no kidding!)
(1) Neon Trees' Tyler Glenn. Yes, I was this close to the stage. (2) He could start a revolution if he wanted to! Fists up! (3) A blurry photo of Temper Trap singing Love Lost
The best part about this festival is seeing a lot of familiar faces. Friends whom I have not seen in ages. It was like returning back to high school, which I miss a lot. I guess it's not the event that matters, it's still the company! :)
A bunch of high school batchmates that I hunted down during Wanderland. St. Paul, Pasig 2007 represent!
(1) My best panoramic capture of both events
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