Back to Wanderland

It was almost 6 p.m., the last of the sun’s light was just about to fade away. On stage, Lewis Watson, a young British singer-songwriter, was playing the sort of folk-inflected pop tunes popular with today’s youth.

He couldn’t have possibly asked for a better time to perform; his earnest and wistful sound went well with the skies’ dull, whitish gleam.

The audience, too, had begun to thicken, as fans who purposely avoided the blistering afternoon heat trickled into the Globe Circuit Events Ground in Makati City.

In daylong music events like the third Wanderland Music and Arts Festival, standing out can be a tall order for promising, but unknown acts, whose chances of making concert-goers stop in their tracks depend on a mere chorus or two.

But the mild-mannered Watson didn’t have difficulty attracting a sizable crowd; his repertoire, which included enchantingly breezy songs like “Halo” and “Into the Wild,” proved to be accessible.

The local pop-rock band Hale, back after five years of inactivity, spent much of its time onstage reminding everyone just how big the group was in the mid-2000s. Hale dished out a series of hits like “The Day You Said Good Night,” “Broken Sonnet” and “Kung Wala Ka,” prefaced by Adam Levine’s “Lost Stars.”

Nervous Champ

“I’m nervous,” admitted front man Champ Lui Pio, who likewise sang a few cuts from Hale’s new EP, “Time and Space.” It was an acid test for the band’s latest material, which was warmly received by fans.

The most significant improvement in this year’s festival was the installment of the smaller “Locally” stage, which eliminated the otherwise inevitable lulls between acts on the main stage.

Various EDM artists such as Similar Objects, BP Valenzuela and CRWN kept the energy high by dispensing a heady mix of thumping beats and shimmering synths, while the next major performer did equipment check.

Dan Layus, lead vocalist and only remaining original member of the American band Augustana, like the two previous performers, wasn’t the most dynamic of showmen, but was nevertheless a potent vocalist.

He regaled the crowd with a mix of syrupy pop-ballads and mid-tempo anthems with a country flair, and prompted loud sing-along sessions with “Ash and Ember,” “Stars and Boulevard” and “Just Stay Here Tonight.” The highlight, however, was “Boston.”

The Wanderland population, as in previous years, was composed mostly of the young and stylish. The most eager of the bunch stayed near the deck, dancing and singing along with whoever was onstage. Behind that throng were those who preferred to enjoy the music while lounging around, sipping booze, cuddling with lovers or huddling together with friends.

Outdoor camp

And then there were those who just couldn’t stay put, constantly roaming around the sprawling venue.

This year’s festival was fashioned after an outdoor camp; scattered all over were tents, picnic tables and benches, and wooden wildlife figures.

Young talents June Digan, Kris Abrigo and Tokwa Peñaflorida mounted live art exhibits. Nearby was a tent that housed a twig-painting booth and stalls that sold assorted trinkets.

There were also game stations—archery, jousting, a mechanical bull, etc. And if these activities left you exhausted, you could lie on hammocks, doze off in tepee replicas and sit in front of makeshift bonfires.

The artists who performed earlier—Austin, The Strange Creatures, Sinyma, The Jungle Giants, Kate Torralba and Youngblood Hawke—were acts you would come to expect from Wanderland.

This year, the organizers, Karpos Multimedia, decided to spice things up a bit by incorporating EDM and hip-hop into the main lineup.

Massive dance floor

Andre Allan Anjos of the indie-electronic pop Remix Artist Collective (RAC) turned the venue into a massive dance floor, with his trippy reimagining of well-loved tunes like Lana Del Rey’s “Blue Jeans” and Phoenix’s “Armistice.”

The festival’s headliner was the American rapper Kid Cudi, whose brand of hip-hop is infused with a slew of other musical genres—rock being the most obvious. The vigorous performer (Scott Mescudi in real life) ran, leapt, thrust his hips, dropped a couple of F-bombs and bicycle-kicked his way through a set chock-full of bangers: “Erase Me,” “Revofev,” “Going to the Cemetery,” “Memories,” “Pursuit of Happiness.”

Throughout his set, Cudi let out a barrage of chunky, hard-hitting beats; syncopated, almost dissonant percussive sounds; and a smattering of rip-roaring guitar riffs. The cheering fans, now at their loudest, pumped their fists and volleyed the energy back to the rapper.

The crowd enjoyed every bit of it, and so did Cudi. He roared: “To step foot in a country you’ve never been to and see the love and support from people you’ve never met, seeing them sing every word … this is what it’s all about for me!”

(apolicarpio@inquirer.com.ph)