Music review: Wanderland 2014 was wondrous in all but sound tech

Full disclosure: I missed Wanderland 2013 at Globe Circuit Grounds in Makati. I was told that part of its success was not only Temper Trap coming on board, but also an enthusiastically received set by Up Dharma Down. People actually danced to “Turn It Well,” the opening track to their 2012 record “Capacities,” as they should.

This year, I had the chance to attend this event, which featured some acts both foreign and home-grown. (I deliberately chose that word for a reason, which I will note later.)

It was a very hot afternoon, with a brief spell of rain that folk-pop performer Lucy Rose talked about during her set, and a somewhat cooler evening. Such sartorial choices were not the last thing people noticed, but for some reason I was hardly paying attention to what people were hearing. This was, after all, a music festival.

The team behind Wanderland are good event organizers. They managed to create enthusiasm for Wanderland to the point that there were a lot of early arrivals at the afternoon sets.

While there were the flower crowns that became the target of last year's comments, the dominant headgear of choice were hats.

Chocolate Grass started the show on a relaxing note, but early on, we saw what turned out to be the biggest concern of the night. Set-up times were at some points absurdly long, and some bands ended up sounding worse than others.

That said, two multi-instrument ensembles for put on their best efforts that night. Ransom Collective’s big stage debut, despite the tech troubles, had some beautiful material, and I imagine what it could have been like if things were much better on the former front. And Radioactive Sago Project, being the veterans they are, pulled off playing some of their greatest hits (or segments thereof) without monitors.

Much has been said about the Royal Concept’s set, the one that got everyone dancing, and I must join the chorus of praise for their performance. However, the two discoveries for me were Lucy Rose and Woody Pitney, both of whom play in the kind of folk-pop idiom which was, in many ways, my entrée into the local independent music scene. Apart from seeing probably as many Nord keyboards on stage as I could spot in a well-stocked music store, Rose and her band had material which showed not only their craft but the heart that went into bringing the songs to life. Pitney’s work reminded me a bit of the work of the lesser-known Australian folk-pop singer Gabriel Lynch, who has been here twice on much smaller tours, and this was music that I liked for its emotional honesty and engaging sound.

It is indeed noteworthy that, as an event, this was a big success. There were a lot of other things to keep people excited or interested, most notably the food booths that were placed near the shores of the Pasig. There were drinks on the offer and a tent put up by a sponsor that not only offered air-conditioning (a much-welcomed perk) but also some musical performances. Of course, that same sponsor offered free phone charging, something much needed given the amount of social media activity produced by smartphones on site.  

What was not successful, though, was how things turned out for some of the performers.

Brian Sombrero, one of the musicians who performed that afternoon, posted a lengthy note on his Facebook page that, while expressing gratitude to the festival organizers and the audience, raised concerns about how the festival treated home-grown acts differently. While the foreign acts got customized tags with picture ID, local bands were given generic tags that merely said, yes, “Local Band.”

He paid particular attention to the sound, singling out the technical supplier for criticism. “Their people couldn't figure out why we had no monitors, took them a long time to make things work and were even impatient,” he said. He later added, “Am glad that there are people who noticed how things were.”

I think that it would be impossible for Wanderland not to invite Filipino performers to play next year. There is an expectation that a festival organized in the Philippines should give our performers a shot, and I am glad that there are those at Wanderland who have given these acts an enthusiastic welcome.

However, the challenge for any music festival in this country is to treat every musician, whether visiting or home-grown, with the same basic respect and decency befitting whatever they can offer.  
That, and probably an excellent marketing blitz for the next ones. — VC, GMA News