Two music festivals shine the spotlight on the talent and diversity of Original Pinoy Music.
For the next set of weekends, these local music festivals will be celebrating the musicality and versitlity of our OPM artists.
HUEniverse Music Festival
John Prats, Angelica Panganiban, Sam Milby, and the team behind Bright Bulb Productions will be staging their first-ever music festival this September 28 at The Filinvest City Events Grounds.
The HUEniverse Music Festival is the production house's biggest project to date. Inspired by music festivals abroad such as Fuji Rock Festival held in Japan and Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival held in the United States, John envisions the same kind event for the Philippines that promotes local music and spread positive vibes.
As John told the press at the September 5 media conference, "Sabi ko nga, may mga music festival na tayo, but siguro yung vision namin for HUEniverse, that's why it's hue, so different colors.
"And universe, once you enter this concert area, this open ground, we want to bring them to sa ibang universe. Everyone is united, everyone is equal, especially ako, yung direction ko sa lahat ng artist to spread positivity...
"That's why when you leave the HUEniverse, you go ahead and spread your colors in this universe. Hanggang sa paglabas, yung vision namin, bawat manonood positive sila. Ma-share nilayung positive vibe ng music festival.
"Iyon yung challlenge for us, but iyon yung vision ng HUEniverse."
Musical acts to be featured in festival include Autotelic, Spongecola, the Ransom Collective, Agsunta, Allmost, Mark Oblea, Claudia Barretto, Moira dela Torre, and many more.
Angelica Panganiban candidly talked about her experience attending music festivals that inspired her to come up with the HUEniverse music fest.
The ABS-CBN actress attended the three-day Fuji Rock music festival, the largest outdoor music fest in Japan that is held in July annually.
"Nung nakapunta ako ng Fuji Rock—kasi tatlong araw siyang camping—so, maliligo ka talaga...pipila ka sa liguan. Yung banyo mo, common toilet lang din. Walang kuryente. Kapag umulan, basang-basa ka din...
"For me, hindi ako napagod or [nasabi kong] hindi ko na uulitin...Mas ginanahan ako na parang, ‘Sana may ganito sa atin.’
“Kasi perfect—lalo na yung weather sa Pilipinas—sa mga music festivals na ganyan. Kasi to think doon, may typhoon pa. Inuulan kami pero talagang dire-diretso yung show. Isang bundok yun ha, hindi namin naikot in three days.”
This prompted Angelica to get together with her friends and colleagues to mount their own event.
"Kinuwento ko kay John na ang ganda nang nakita ko.
“May mga 15 [concert] stages na nandoon...so, parang eto nga [Hueniverse], isang start siya para...sana..Yun naman yung ultimate dream...makarating dun na hindi na kailangan yung mga Pinoy hindi na kailangan makapunta ng ibang bansa para lang maka-experience ng ganito. So, ang sarap mangarap na pwede itong mangyari sa Pilipinas.”
Pinoy Playlist 2019
Back for its second edition, the Pinoy Playlist 2019 brings together over a hundred artists from across generations and across genre in one venue.
This year's music lineup is curated once again by its founders National Artist for Music Ryan Cayabyab, talent manager-writer Noel Ferrer, Bonifacio Art Foundation Managing Director Maria Isabel Garcia, and singer/songwriter/producer Moy Ortiz.
Artists included are Ebe Dancel, Imago, Bullet Dumas, The CompanY, Martin Nievera, Itchyworms, Joey and Clara Benin, Mojofly, Baihana, Ryan Cayabyab singers, Cookie Chua, Noel Cabangon, 4th Impact, the ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra, and many more.
Staging the first edition last year, Moy revealed at the August 30 media conference that they were a lot of "blood, sweat, and tears."
"I provided the tears," The CompanY singer quipped.
He revealed that there were "initially a lot of resistance from a lot of the talents" during the first year, especially because this is the first music festival of its scale.
But its debut year gave the founding team hope that the Pinoy Playlist is an event worth the effort.
Moy continued, "This is not to discredit other music festivals that have happened, you know? Even in the '70s, '80s, '90s, and this decade.
"But I think what makes Pinoy playlist different is that its inclusive. It is not age-centric, it is not genre-centric.
"Sometimes, personally speaking, there is a music festival and it's obviously geared towards the youth market. You feel that that is not your tribe and you're not part of that.
"We sought and really aimed to make this inclusive across genres, across generations, so what we can offer to the country is show them this beautiful mosiac or this banig that we call Filipino music and all its forms, styles, its purveyors.
"And I think we were able to show that last year."
The Pinoy Playlist Music Festival is inspired by the Java Jazz Festival, which is an annual music festival held in Jakarta, Indonesia.
There will be multiple stages set up and all musical acts will happen simultaneously, giving attendees the freedom to choose which performance they want to listen to.
The Pinoy Playlist 2019 will be held from October 11, 12, 13, 18, 19, and 20 at the BGC Arts Center.
At the media conference, GMA-7 artist Nar Cabico gave a sample of what's in store for the music festival.