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At Fête de la Musique, music always knows no borders. You quite literally just have to be there to enjoy the show.
MANILA, Philippines – The 31st edition of Fête de la Musique in the Philippines takes on the theme of “Un Monde,” or “one world,” in an attempt to show that music can and always will be one of the most viable catalyst out there for human connection.
This sentiment clearly resonated true at the music festival’s main stage celebration on June 21 at the Ayala Triangle Gardens, and it had manifested in the sheer audience turnout that night. There was a total foot traffic count of 14,527 — the highest that any of the music festival’s iterations has ever amassed.
The reasons are rather obvious. A total of 12 acts came together to headline the show, representing more than a handful of different genres and taking audiences to all these sonic lanes, one after another.
More than that, however, perhaps it’s because Fête de la Musique has always prided itself in making all of its productions free — regardless if it’s the main stage being mounted in large open spaces, or the pocket and destination stages in smaller venues across the country’s regions.
And despite the rain, it was still music that had shone through in all its forms until the very end.
It was Filipino percussion ensemble Brigada who kicked off the main stage festivities, playing their Afro-Brazilian beats to the steadily growing crowd at the Ayala Triangle Gardens.
Solo artist Janine and indie band The Ridleys, meanwhile, had each brought a different kind of folk charm to their respective sets. Janine’s signature powerful vocals had enchanted the crowd anew, while it was The Ridleys’ stories about love that captured everyone’s attention.
Coming to us from Japan was Ito Kashitaro, who had gotten the crowd to sing back to him despite his songs being in Japanese — an endearing indicator that the art really is a universal language.
French trio Emile Londonien, meanwhile, had come all the way to the Philippines to share their jazz house music to members of the Filipino audience.
When it was Armi Millare’s turn to get behind the mic, she did so calm as ever, addressing the audience in her laidback tone and pleasantly cool demeanor. Those listening to her for the first time (if there were any of them in the crowd, it was probably scarce) likely would have been taken by surprise the moment she began to effortlessly belt out cult favorites like “Oo,” “Tadhana,” and “Unti-Unti.”
Up next was a collab stage between Bras Pas Pas Pas Pas and Leanne and Naara, whose lively jazz and soul-infused set had really gotten the crowd to unapologetically move. The band and female duo had even happily obliged when the audience had asked for one more song.
In the succeeding collab stage, Tarsius (Diego Mapa and Jay Gapasin) and 2023 main stage headliner ena mori had kept the energy going, but this time, through dreamy electronic sounds.
James Reid was the penultimate act of the night, bringing with him his new pop and R&B songs from his jgh EP, along with his viral 2015 hit, “Randomantic,” walking up and down the space between the barricades to interact with fans.
Capping everything off was Ely Buendia and The Methodists, who had given the crowd a mix of Eraserheads classics, as well as some hits from the OPM icon’s Method Adaptor album.
At Fête de la Musique, music always knows no borders, whether that’s physical or monetary.
You quite literally just have to be there to enjoy the show. – Rappler.com
