The Fete de la Musique 2018 Experience

07/19/2018 03:19:53 PM

It's that time of the year again. The fans are flocking the bars of Makati, hearing live music for free and booze is quite virtually unlimited everywhere. And good times are rolling from afternoon 'til dawn. 

For those who aren't much aware, the third Saturday of June has been set for the annual music extravaganza called Fete de la Musique. And now on its 24th year, FDLM in the Philippines are on its largest self yet with 39 stages situated around Makati City on 23 June 2018, plus another set of main stages slated around Intarmuros, Laguna, and Baguio by the following week. 

And just like what I did in 2017, yours truly took an entire afternoon and evening to hover the city, talk to some of my affiliates in the scene, and witness some of the acts rock the stage and let the spectators be amazed.

Clock ticked at 4:00 PM, and I was waiting for some of the FDLM stages to open. By then, I storm by the dreampop stage at WOKBY, a hangout place situated just adjacent to the more-popular Alchemy. Saw my good buddy Janlor Encarnacion, who has been the official documentation guy for the said stage. Furiousa's event just started an hour ago, and  they are on the verge to deliver on of the underrated gigs held during this bug day. 

And while the second band was setting up, I presented myself to Rick Olivares, a known daily writer who also hangs around to cover a lot of stuff for the online and broadsheet media, as well as for his own blog. We had a brief chat for a while regarding how the Pepe Smith Rock Fest has been a failure of sorts – and why we should stop pointing fingers for a post-gig jury session. 

Meanwhile, Rob and The Hitmen was at H&J Sports Bar to do their soundcheck. They were the first band to perform for the Blues-Soul-Funk stage at 5:00PM. It's quite unfortunate that I have to leave before the said time, too, just to catch my other favorites – all in the middle of a heavy rainfall.

I reached The Woodman's End Pub only to realized the New Wave Stage was on a delay. And while my itinerary says I should be at Social House by 5:45 PM, all I can offer to my favorite titos of Paranoid City is a series of pre-gig shenanigans instead of catching their performance live. Yikes.It didn't even help that Saturday traffic hit my nerves for too much as getting out of Burgos-J.P. Rizal Intersection took us nearly 20 minutes. Damn, son. 

But somehow, the set times on Warner Stage were a bit delayed, either. Stereodeal, a known alternative rock trio, was supposed to play by quarter-to-six. And frankly, this is the band that I wanted to watch the most for this year's Fete de la Musique. While frontman Adrian Arcega and manager BJ David were spearheading the campaign, I was one of the many people who shout the clamor for the chance to get them in (hey, after all, they are part of the roster of the signed talents of Warner Music Philippines, too).  When Arcega told me thru Facebook they will be playing in half-an-hour, all I can do is to be on gangway mode – yup, even in the middle of that horrendous traffic.

It was near skyfall at 6:15 in the evening. I arrived at the Social House with a bit of anxieties in my head. I have probably missed a chunky moment of my life. But boy, I was wrong. The then-quartet was on stage making their prelude rituals to their first song “Hush.” 

Funny. As I waved my hello to Arcega, one of the hosts approached me “Sir, pakisabihan kami kung handa na po sila.” I replied, “Ay, sorry, hindi po ako manager nila.”

That made me think for a second: should I take that similar role someday?

Nevertheless, I enjoyed my stay at the Warner Music Stage; watching how these guys made their presence felt even for a brief 15 or 20-minute set. I also witnessed how charming Cheenee Gonzalez as a frontwoman, from her set of originals to even her cover of Sarah Barailles' “Love Song.” Hilera was probably one of the noisiest during the evening with Buwi Meneses of Parokya Ni Edgar taking over the bass guitar duties. And so was BRISOM. 

The night was young and yet I am partly drunk after drowsing myself to two bottles of Pale and five glasses of GSM Blue and Primera Brandy. That didn't even stop me at all as I hitched my way back to Poblacion to check out the other stages. 

I wasn't wrong: the district has been lively as fuck. Alchemy Bar is packed to its outskirts, WOKBY was jampacked, and I missed the set of The Strange Creatures. Fuck it. On the other side, the loud and rowdy-sounding Hernandez Brothers turned the stage into a street party of its own. H&J was rocking when I went back there five hours later.

I stayed at Commune for a night of laid-back vibe, and Jai Hernandez has been onstage. I aslo bumped to Paul Pajo (the main man behind Sonic Logo.TV), Isabelle Velasquez of Extrapolation, and aqua-drummer Jean Paul Zialcita for a while. This place may have embodied the chill vibe unlike their neighbors, but at least they hold its ground for their lite and acoustic kind.

By the near-late hour, I swung by The Cabin at 420 at A. Venue Mall, and there I saw the likes of Issa Rodriguez, Join The Club, and the second band I personally prefer to see for this edition, Veronica and I. And in between the changing-guards, I dropped by the A.Venue main stage for a bunch of 'what's ups' to Joel Ellorin and Marc Abaya, just after Kjwan performed there.

It's just too bad that I missed We Are Imaginary's set when I got back at WOKBY, as well as Meleena's at Commune. Sigh, the hardest part of being a stage-hopper. With the DreamPop stage living the prime of their lives, it was quite hard for me to withstand the heat. I wound up sharing a beer of Red Horse with WAI's Khalid and TSC's Jon for a few minutes before gracing my not-so-French exit. And I was about to pour my second bottle of Johnny Walker when Valine Aquino (organizer of Fete's Freshman Stage) alerted me that Bita and The Botflies are hitting their stage next.

Shit. I'm nearly 2.5 kilometers away, and would spend a good 18 minutes for travel.  And it was then 1:00 AM. Not another woe, please.

But being an adrenaline kind of guy, I couldn't afford to do a let-go, either. And just before 1:20 AM, I managed to hit my final destination – saGuijo, and the final act I prefer to see. Yes, I'm talking about that quintet of creepy blues. So much for being a journeyman. I'm virtually exhausted after watching their set and sent my ass outside for a breather till the wee hours.

Despite the delays, the sudden rainfall and heavy traffic around the city, Fete de la Muqisue has turned the streets of Poblacion into a street party. Celebration of good times is practically everywhere. Some streets are even virtually closed to traffic because people -- locals and tourists -- flocked the bars and sidewalks to hear whatever these stages has to offer, from funky blues to dream pop, to even louder and wilder than the world.

At least, for nearly 11 hours, I still managed to be a witness to ten of these 39 stages, even if I only slipped by a few number for quite a shirt. It's just too bad that hangover just beat the shit out of me for nearly two days. But hey, it was worth it.

I don't give a damn doing a repeat by next year or so.

Author: slickmaster | © 2018 The SlickMaster's Files