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Saturday night in neon lights: The first Good Vybes Music Festival
Up to six different music festivals are happening in the country in just the first half of 2016, not to mention a whole slew of one-off concerts featuring international artists over the next few weeks. At some point, you’d have to wonder if there’s enough of a market for them here, even for a country as music-obsessed as we are.
The first one out the gate this year is also the newcomer. Good Vybes is from the same folks that brought us such memorable shows as cut/copy, Charli XCX, and Disclosure, and this is their first attempt at a proper music festival. Notwithstanding a few negligible hiccups, I’d say it was an undeniable success, and more than proved that if you invite them (artists), people (audiences) will come.
Much of the credit goes to a pretty strong lineup. Festivals live and die by the artists, and what Good Vybes got right was to get an impressive mix of grizzled veterans and relative newcomers—all of whom have solid followings in this country—for a decidedly fun and fresh festival atmosphere.
The venue itself (Aseana City open grounds) is a fixer-upper; dust and dirt ain’t no friend to bums and designer shoes. It’s a good thing the weather held and rains didn’t come, otherwise we’d have had to contend with mud and lots of it. Organizers could also have added a bit more variety to the food and drinks options, but what was available was par for the course at any music festival.
Which brings us back to the reason people pay good money to hang around a dusty field for eight hours or more: the bands. Three stages hosted a total of 20 artists throughout the half-day festival. The DJ and Beat Tents featured local acts as well as international turntable-ists, including a valiant, ear-shattering set by local heroes Kjwan, which prefaced the evening’s big guns.
Look up! Our first headlining band to take the Live Stage is Stars and the good vibes here at #GoodVybesFest just keep rollin' in!
Posted by GoodVybes Fest on Saturday, February 20, 2016
Stars played at around 7 p.m., an hour later than scheduled, but there were no complaints. Three years since their roof-shattering Manila debut, Torquil Campbell, Amy Millan and the rest of the Canadian indie-pop superstars fulfilled their promise to come back. I was at that show in 2013 and still consider it one of the best concerts in recent memory, so to see them again, this time in a much bigger stage in front of a massive crowd, was something truly special.
Festival organizers promised full sets for the headline acts, and audiences were not disappointed. Stars began their 60-minute lovefest with Manila with “Hold On When You Get Love And Let Go When You Give It, ” and quickly followed it with “Ageless Beauty.” Over 16 years as a band and they sounded as fantastic ever, particularly the two vocalists, who channeled energy and emotion in every word.
“We are so honored to be playing with all of these great bands tonight,” Campbell said. “You’re in for a great night.”
“I hope it ends in sex,” Millan quickly added, tongue firmly in cheek.
The band kept it snappy with their uptempo songs before downshifting with the night’s first hugot moment. “Did anyone bring their ghosts with them?” Campbell asked. For those in the audience familiar with the Stars script, it was the cue to “Dead Hearts.”
“Put your fists up,” Campbell asked the crowd, and for a while, hundreds of fists that perhaps represented old loves and heartbreaks raised them in an emo “salute,” a visual display of solidarity with a truly phenomenal band.
As much as Stars were amazing, it was a high point that was only going to get even higher. British duo Oh Wonder was up next and no one but the most obsessed of fans knew what to expect. It was only when they were announced as part of the lineup (and after one of the Good Vybes organizers professed to being a huge fan) that I started listening to them. Josephine Vander Gucht and Anthony West said it was their first time playing in Asia, and they undoubtedly picked up a few thousand new fans after their explosive set that night.
Mixing indie-pop, electronic, alternative and even traces of R&B, the duo performed practically all of the songs on their self-titled debut album, including fan favorites “Livewire,” “Drive,” and “Without You.” If you’ve never heard them live, think of uplifting downtempo tunes with gorgeous male-female harmonies that come together to signal wonderful possibilities. They’re the musical equivalent of the evening’s first delicious cocktail.
“You have all these grand plans for 2016,” the lovely Vander Gucht said. “Remember to be you. Everyone else is everyone else, and you’re you, and you know the best way to be you. Take risks and don’t play it safe.” It was good advice from a band that took a DIY-approach to releasing their music, and has now generated enough buzz that their live shows are one of the hottest tickets anywhere in the planet. Good Vybes attendees, then, should consider themselves fortunate. It may be an exaggeration, but they’re one of the bands that make you feel like your life is infinitely better after the privilege of seeing them perform live.
As much fun as Oh Wonder were, Chvrches took things a step further. I have now seen the Scottish trio three times live (twice before at Laneway in Singapore), and the intensity they bring to their performances is consistent and infectious. They were one of the highlights at Laneway just three weeks ago, and it was no different this time around, except the set was longer, and if possible, vocalist Lauren Mayberry was even more jumpy and spirited.
“I just saw my silhouette on the floor,” she said, likely in reference to the sweat that left an impression after lying down. “I don’t know what’s going on with my hair. It’s like Beetlejuice meets A Flock of Seagulls.” How can anyone not fall in love with somebody that precious and badass?
Ninety sweat-soaked minutes later, plus another 30 minutes of set-up, the clock was at 11:45pm and it was finally Passion Pit’s turn onstage. After a canceled show in the country last year, ostensibly due to health reasons, Michael Angelakos and the rest of the Massachusetts-based band finally made it to Manila. With the festival hitting the ten-hour mark, nobody seemed to be showing any signs fatigue. If anything, the band’s presence injected electricity into the air, even more so than all the other artists that came before them.
Angelakos’ falsetto is an acquired taste, for sure, but Passion Pit’s playful, joyous songs aren’t hard to love. One by one, the band plowed through three albums’ worth of material: “Little Secrets,” “Lifted Up (1985), “Cry Like A Ghost,” “It’s Not My Fault, I’m Happy,” “Dancing On The Grave,” and “All I Want,” and many more.
“I haven’t slept in 48 hours,” Angelakos said at one point. “But I love you guys so much.” Needless to say, the crowd’s reaction was like a giddy schoolgirl hearing her crush profess his love to her for the first time. I’ve been to my share of festivals here and abroad, and I have never moved, danced and screamed like that ever. My only complaint is that they didn’t perform my personal favorite, “Seawood Song,” but during “Carried Away,” “Take A Walk,” and the big encore and finale, “Sleepyhead,” it was the most fun I can remember having at any music event.
On the way out, all I could think about, besides getting a drink for my parched throat and a warm bed for my tired legs, was that the first Good Vybes Music festival certainly lived up to its name. — BM, GMA News
Paul John Caña is a magazine writer and live music geek. He is also co-founder of libreto.org, an online collective of writers and artists. Email him at pjcana@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter and Instagram @pauljohncana.
