Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost: A Look Through a First Time Wanderer's Experience
Lyn Estrella
8:34 AM
Last Saturday - May 17, 2014 - was the second installment of the annual Wanderland Music and Arts Festival in the Philippines. With both local and international bands like Chocolate Grass, Brisom, Techy Romantics, the Wanderband 2014 winner The Ransom Collective and even Franco capped off the local lineup - as for the international set of bands, Woody Pitney, Lucy Rose, The Paper Kites, Last Dinosaurs, Architecture in Helsinki, Royal Concept and Coachella pioneer, The Drums.
A couple of months before Wanderland 2013 has been announced, I chatted up with a friend from a well-known music production - opening the topic that I wish they could somehow bring St. Jerome's Festival to Manila. It was to my surprise that a week after that conversation, Wanderland was announced.
I arrived in Circuit Makati at around 1pm, considering that I came from Quezon City which was a bit far from the venue. As I quickly met up with a friend and his girlfriend, it dawned to us on how hot it was then. Even as we entered to the grounds itself, we were welcomed with an array of umbrellas and even a couple of people who were apparently selling umbrellas. The heat didn't bother us as much though, since it was also windy back then. We roamed around for a little bit and checked out what else the Circuit grounds had in store for us "Wanderers". There were various food stalls, game booths and other artsy fartsy stuff which really fitted the event.
Even if it was already 1pm, Chocolate Grass was still on stage. I remember my friend saying that the band was pretty good. The vocalist was giving off a sort of blues feel with her vocals and it was really visible with the way she sang on how good of a performer she is.
After half an hour, two of my high school friends met up with me and I had to part ways with my other friend and his girlfriend. I haven't seen Erika (but I call her Barts because of her surname, Barretto) since our high school graduation ball which was 3 years ago and the last time I saw Patricia (but I call her Herbie since her surname is Herbolario) was during my friend's debut, which was around last February 2013. You can call this a mini reunion for the three of us.
We laid our mat during Brisom's set and by this time the heat was close to unbearable. Everyone brought out their mats, umbrellas and sun block for protection from the piercing heat. Brisom's vocalist even said, "Ang gaganda ng mga payong niyo." which of course, he joked. By the time Techy Romantics' set started, the crowd evidently started to file in. More umbrellas and people under mats were more evident now.
After Woody Pitney's set, we decided to roam around the Circuit grounds once again. It was then The Ransom Collective's set, but we really felt bad on how long it took them to set their equipment up. There were even tech people who took over the mic, and started relaying numbers to their fellow tech crew to maybe let them know that such equipment isn't in good shape. I'm no expert with tech stuff in this kind of field, but that's what I understood during that time.
Upon roaming around the grounds, there was this section where there were huge masterpieces of various artworks. We immediately took pictures of each one posing with these pieces, since it was really creative.... and huge.
The crowd really started singing when Franco hit the stage, and who could blame them. This guy is a legend in the OPM scene, remarking that he's sure most of us use "herbal medicine" as an intro to his first song. I'm not a fan of his band, but the reggae tunes they produced were pretty smooth and not that hard to like.
When Lucy Rose took over, the sun was now replaced with more clouds and a darker sky. Everyone started hoping that it wouldn't rain, but it did anyway - on a lighter note, it didn't rain that hard and it only lasted for a couple of minutes. Herbie was able to get a chance to meet The Royal Concept, while Barts was able to chat with Dan Koyama of Last Dinosaurs. I was glad that they were able to meet them, even though it started pouring during this time. But even though it rained, it didn't stop us from fully enjoying the festival.
(From left to right: Herbie and Barts)
After Lucy Rose, it was The Paper Kites' turn and by this time Herbie ushered us to go near the stage since the rest of the bands after The Paper Kites will be the headliners. The crowd near the stage was still thin so it was a good opportunity for us to get a good spot. It was funny because our friend Barts was telling us how crazy it was during last year's Wanderland was especially during Up Dharma Down's set, saying that there were a bunch of couple making MOMOL publicly. We also did a bit of strategizing if ever the band members of Last Dinosaurs would roam around the grounds after their set, saying that we'd run to a certain direction so we could meet them. I considered it as a good past time while waiting for The Paper Kites to start their set.
It was during The Paper Kites' set when it was already night time. People started taking off their flower crowns and started prepping for some real concert fun. It was also during this time when our former high school teacher arrived, finally completing our little Wanderland group.
After The Paper Kites was my most awaited band of the lineup - Last Dinosaurs. I could go on on how much I love this Aussie band. I've seen them play when they came here last November, and to be honest I still felt the excitement seeing them for the second time around. I've discovered their music around January 2013, and told myself that when they come here I'll do whatever it takes to see them live. I'm so blessed that that wish was granted, and here I was - seeing them for the second time.
The Last Dinosaurs' set would've been spot on if the sound system was perfect. During their first two songs, the sound quality didn't really meet with the festival's standards and they were all pretty much annoyed with it. Sean Caskey (vocalist), most especially. He was so pissed at the tech crew that he even muttered "Fuck," beneath his breath. It was pretty painful to watch, but we couldn't do anything as fans. Although mid-performance, things started to look up because they weren't as pissed anymore. I think that what kept them going was the lively crowd and being the nice lads they are, that's already enough for them to put on an almost great show. Even after performing, they came down the stage and gave everyone in front a hand - showing their appreciation. Me and my friends even got to hold Sean and Dan's hand! Dan went to the further left side of the stage, leaving him with only a few fans to shake his hand so I took the opportunity to tell him how much of a good show they put on. Barts even fangirled a little bit after holding Dan's hand after. Hihi.
After their set me and Barts decided to buy water since we were getting dehydrated from all the jumping and screaming. Water costed around 30php but it was well-accepted considering that we were at a venue with really known sponsors and such. Barts wasn't feeling well during this time so we went to the medic's tent for her to rest. The staff were very accommodating, giving full attention to those who needed them. There was even a K-9 dog there, so we played with it while Barts was taking her much needed rest. After this, Globe's Wonderful All Stars was done with their set and people started filing in like crazy since it was The Royal Concept's turn next.
Just like what happened to The Ransom Collective earlier, it took The Royal Concept a longer time to have everything set up and in good shape. The vocalist, David Larson, even apologized to the crowd for taking too long before they could perform. But guess what? The wait was all worth it.
I admit that I wasn't a huge fan of The Royal Concept - knowing only 2 songs from them. But after their performance, I could say that theirs was the best set of the evening - even after witnessing The Drums' performance.
It was then Architecture In Helsinki's turn to take over the stage, but me and my former high school teacher, Miss Kristine decided to eat first. We had a pretty long day, especially since I was literally only feeding on liquids ever since the festival started. We were able to spot a couple of celebrities during the event too, like Jake Cuenca, Richard Gutierrez, (I think, or it could be his twin, Raymond. I couldn't tell really.) Georgina Wilson and Pia Magalona. I've heard that even Allison Harvard attended, but we weren't able to see her when we were there.
It was already 1am and we were still in Circuit Makati. We were very much tired then, but we wanted to finish the festival despite our dying feet. And besides, it was The Drums' turn now - the main act of the festival. I listened to The Drums even back in my high school years but slowly started to drift from them when I started college. My friend, Sab, wasn't able to attend Wanderland since she isn't much to the indie scene but really like The Drums nevertheless. So when it was their turn to play, I set my phone to unlimited calls and called her up, live streaming their performance so she could hear them live - even if it's only through the phone.
Although I only memorize 2 songs from them, it was still a joy to watch them play especially with Jonny singing around playing with the mic, and Tom Haslow being a complete behaved boy on stage. Me and my friends kept on muttering on how cute he looked on stage though.
The festival ended at around past 2am. They even did an encore of two songs but we were really tired so we just went home mid-"Down By The Water".
Bottomline is, Wanderland was such a unique and different music experience compared to the previous concerts I've been to. You get home tired but the body pain was all worth it because of the music, people, and activities you got to enjoy to and with. It was my first time and I'm surely coming back to next year's Wanderland.
What an experience this has been. It's been only 5 days since, but it's like I want to rent a time machine so I could go back to May 17. Music will always be a good medium to bring people together, and will always be there even after a million years. Oh, that's me partially quoting a Last Dinosaur's song. Til then, music junkies and hipsters alike! See you all again in Wanderland Music and Arts Festival 2015.
Credits to my friends Barts, Herbie and Miss Kristine for letting me borrow some of their photos! Love all of your shots.
