JOSEPHINE Vander Gucht and Anthony West of Oh Wonder
Sometime in her set that involved a lot of running and head-banging, Lauren Mayberry, the lead vocalist of the Scottish band Chvrches, jested that the muggy Manila air had inadvertently given her hair body.
“It was nice and temperate at first, but once I started moving, it was a different story… It seemed like the humidity and dust were all on my head!” she said, tousling her damp locks, before thousands of fans who trooped to Aseana City’s open grounds in Parañaque City, for the recent GoodVybes Festival—a musical event dominated by indie rock and electro-pop bands.
That didn’t stop her from blitzing through the repertoire in the same sprightly fashion. Singing favorites like “Gun,” “Leave a Trace,” “Recover” and “The Mother We Share,” the sweet-voiced Mayberry, so secure and light on her feet, twirled around and pranced from side to side, her sudden body jerks and head dips preceded by quick little shuffles.
Mayberry, who seemed more at ease than she did when she first performed in the country in 2014, hopped on boxes and flung the microphone cord in the air. One moment, she was whacking the percussions in “Empty Threat,” and on the next, belting out while lying down.
Passion Pit—the night’s main act—was originally set to play in Manila on August last year but had to cancel, because the group’s front man, Michael Angelakos, was recovering from pneumonia. This time, at last, the diehards finally got to “Take a Walk” with the popular synth-pop band from the United States, which dished out a generous set of 16 songs.
Looking at Angelakos’ pronounced mouth movements that nearly approached Steve Tyler level, one would think that he was heaving ferocious growls. But what came out, curiously, was a muffled, high-pitched sound.
Angelakos sang mostly in his distinct falsetto, whether he was taking on a danceable, arms-in-the-air anthem such as “Carried Away,” or a feel-good, whimsical tune like “Where the Sky Hangs.”
PASSION Pit’s Michael Angelakos
Passion Pit, however, sounded best when it dialed down the tempo and brought out the funk, as in the sultry “Constant Conversations.”
Infectious energy
“Thank God we came to this country!” Angelakos said, feeding off the audience’s infectious energy.
Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan, the quirky singers of the Canadian indie pop group, Stars, dispensed lush lamentations that had revelers swaying gently to the beat—“Dead Hearts,” “Your Ex-Lover is Dead.”
Meanwhile, the British alt-pop duo, Oh Wonder—Josephine Vander Gucht and Anthony West—filled the air with an ambient and dreamy cocktail of sounds.
“It’s nuts that you know our songs!” said Gucht, who confessed that she had never thought that she would be playing gigs in the United Kingdom, let alone in Asia.
The festival, mounted by Vybes Productions and TV5, started two hours late, forcing the local rock band Kjwan, which was supposed to play on the same stage as the aforementioned groups, to be moved to the smaller, but more intimate Beat Tent, a few hundred meters away from the main.
CHVRCHES lead vocalist Lauren Mayberry
Nevertheless, the swaggering lead vocalist Marc Abaya—amid the night’s prevailing heady swirl of burnished synths and digital beats—brought the house down with Kjwan’s trouncing musical artillery that included “Pintura.” “Thank you for checking us out,” said Abaya who, at one point, doused himself with water, much to the delight of the ladies.
The hitch in scheduling ultimately affected the rest of the local acts set to perform on the Beat Tent.
Talented young musician BP Valenzuela, in particular, had the hard luck of being onstage the same time as Chvrches. Still, although a chunk of her audience rushed toward the main stage, Valenzuela soldiered on and put on a good show for those who stayed.
Other acts that performed in the festival were Malaysia’s Tenderfist and other Filipino talents, including Assembly Generals, Brisom, She’s Only Sixteen, Moonwlk and Shadow Moses x Ninno.
Over at the DJ Tent, DJ Samantha Nicole, Brigada Pelvis Resley & the Sex Offender and Mulan whipped up dance parties. DJs Darius, Busy P and MYD, on the other hand, kept the crowd going until the wee hours.
E-mail apolicarpio@inquirer.com.ph