Man On The Side: Thanks for the music: Fête De La Musique 2015

I was trying to figure out when I attended my first Fête dela Musique when I remembered I wrote about it in my old blog. Luckily, that relic is still online. Here’s an unedited snippet of that entry, dated June 28, 2005:

“In a way, the Fête is a lot like cable TV; you get over a hundred ‘channels’ but in reality, there are only a handful of programs that appeal to your taste, only a few that you really want to watch. Everything else you either don't understand or don't really like and, therefore, isn't worth your time. Still, you gotta admit, having cable is way better than regular TV precisely because you get all those choices. And that's why once again, for the third year in a row, I found myself in the middle of a massive crowd who turned out for the year's biggest music festival.”

That means I’ve been going to the Fête almost every year for the past 12 years. That one in 2005 was held in El Pueblo in Ortigas. There was one year it was held in Eastwood City in Libis; another year it was at the Fort Strip in Bonifacio Global City, and last year it was held in three stages across two cities: Manila and Makati.

This year’s edition, held last weekend, was spread out a bit more, in space as well as in time, just like last year. Fête dela Musique 2015 was a two-day affair that saw over 200 acts playing in several venues around Makati (Saturday) and Manila (Sunday). (It was actually three days, if you want to be technical about it, as there was an official “kick-off” Friday night that featured a French indie folk band called My Name is Nobody).

In 2005, I moved from one venue to another throughout the evening, swimming through the crowds to visit different stages and check out several bands. As much as I would have loved to do that this year, just thinking about the drive from, say, Greenbelt to Burgos tired me out (hey, I’m 10 years older!).

It was too bad because it would have been great to spend time at the Mod stage, where Nameless Heroes, Ian Penn, Hilera, and Dragonfly Collector were playing. The Rock Stage would have been nice too, with Reklamo and Dicta License, as were all the DJ and House music sets at 71 Gramercy, Time and Black Market.

But after checking the schedule I decided to just hightail it over to A Space Acoustic near Greenbelt 5 where (no surprise) the Acoustic stage was. I made it just in time to catch Reese Lansangan. There was something fresh and whimsical about the twentysomething artist; she reminded me of Regina Spektor and Imogen Heap.

Her songs were unusual, too: there was one about being a grammar Nazi, one about the movie Mean Girls, where she quoted actual lines (“Is butter a carb?”), and one about stalking somebody online. It was her amazing cover, though, of the Imogen Heap song “Hide And Seek,” complete with effects pedals which she manipulated with her hands, that shut everybody up.

She made me glad I chose to go to Fête despite the rains and the long drive from Quezon City.

Thankfully, she was only the start of an evening well-spent. The next act was a melodic rock group from Los Baños called LIME, followed by indie rock veterans Maya’s Anklet. Afro’d frontman Sud Ballecer of the band that bears his name brought some sexy, funky grooves to the proceedings. Not a few heads were bopping across the small art gallery-slash-music space that by then was crammed with people nose-to-shoulder.

Lucky for everyone there because rock legend Basti Artadi played a special set that evening. What else can you say about this guy? Supported by “the nice ones,” Wolfgang’s main man performed two originals (including one called “Last Goodbye,” which they wrote after watching the documentary “Give Up Tomorrow”), and two covers: one from Vampire Weekend, and an explosive, off-the-hinges rendition of The Who’s “Baba O’Riley.” I rarely ever say this about live shows, but man, you had to be there.

It was getting late (not really, it was only about 9:30 p.m.), but I had planned on driving to my parents’ house in Cavite to celebrate Father’s Day. I couldn’t leave, though, without catching the lovely Julianne Tarroja. If pure talent was wrapped in a beautiful, graceful exterior, Julianne would be her name. The first local artist signed by MCA Music, she came out with her debut album “Grateful” in 2007.

It’s been eight years, but she has lost none of the charm, the mad guitar skills, nor the amazing, almost unreal vocal chops. Her songs are what you can put on to splash some color into an otherwise gray day. It’s music that is hopeful and inspiring without being grating. I was happy to find out she is launching an album full of all-new material this week.

I was a good way to end this year’s Fête. Needless to say, I was playing her album, Grateful, on Spotify all throughout the drive home to Cavite. — 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.