Ben&Ben bassist to keep performing after onstage accident; organizers slammed for ‘negligence’

Bassist Agnes Reoma (second from the left) with Ben&Ben bandmates. Image: Toni Muñoz & Toia Avenido

Despite being severely injured recently from an onstage accident, there is still no stopping the “#bravestrong” bassist of Ben&Ben, Agnes Reoma, as the musician said that she will continue playing.

Reoma assured fans that she is now recovering from the accident that occurred during a gig at Don Bosco Makati last Saturday, Jan. 25. She fell through the stage after a hole opened up while she was jumping to their performance of “Ride Home”.

“I just want you all to know that though I got multiple abrasions and bruises, I’m safe,” she said on Twitter last Monday, Jan. 27. Reoma, however, admitted that she is still in pain and currently taking severe pain relievers.

“Haha I thought I knew pain pero iba pala pag nabalatan ka [nang] solid and nabugbog at the same time,” she noted.

(I thought I knew pain but it is another thing to be badly skinned and beat up at the same time.)

The bassist added that simply going to the bathroom causes her a lot of pain, but she is still thankful for not sustaining any fracture although her “lower body needs some time to heal.”

“Thank you for the prayers and the kind words. I need to heal but I can still perform. I’m still able to do what I love most,” she said. “Still glad and lucky to be alive. See you guys sa shows! Love you!”

An injured Reoma and the rest of the band were still able to perform in Iloilo on Jan. 26, the day after the incident.

‘Negligence of organizers’

Reoma revealed that before they started performing, the band requested to have the stage replaced as it was in poor condition.

“Nung soundcheck pa lang, our team saw that the stage was acrylic and had cracks so they already requested to have it changed but obviously it didn’t happen,” the bassist said.

Reoma noted how lively Ben&Ben usually performs, with “energy and all,” and that they always “jump and run around the stage.”

“It was negligence on the part of the organizers that caused this incident,” she stressed.

The organizer, A-List Nitram Entertainment, and Don Bosco Technical Institute – Makati released a joint statement yesterday, Jan. 28, saying they are taking full responsibility for the accident.

“Don Bosco Technical Institute and A-List Nitram Entertainment will definitely follow through with this matter until Ms. Agnes Reoma is fully recovered and healed,” the statement read. They added that the stage supplier will cover all medical expenses for Reoma’s treatment.

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The band’s keyboardist, Patricia Lasaten, also yesterday called out the organizers via Twitter for using the term “accident.”

“Alam niyo (You know), an incident caused by negligence shouldn’t be called an ‘accident’,” she said, quoting a tweet with the joint statement.

“Kayo na bahala ano itatawag niyo dun (It is up to you what you want to call it). No one should ever be made to experience this kind of pain.”

Ben&Ben recently bagged the Group of the Year and the Urban Performance of the Year awards for their song “Pagtingin” from radio station Wish 107.5’s music awards on Jan. 19. NVG

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