It was already Saturday morning and I was growing desperate. I still didn’t have my ticket and I was tweeting like a madman just to score some tickets from the last ticket giveaway Karpos gave out that Saturday morning. My phone rang and it was an unregistered number. It was Jessie and he was asking me if I’m going to Wanderland. I said I wasn’t because I didn’t have a ticket. He asked me if I wanted to go. My voice was already shaky and I asked him if he was going to give me a ticket. When he said yes, it felt like I asked someone to marry me and said yes. My reaction was the same as it was from Chloe’s sister from that viral youtube video where Chloe’s sister had a Disneyland surprise from her parents.
I was already out on my way to Circuit Makati when my friend Gabe asked if we could go to Circuit together with his bro and two of his friend. Since it was my first time driving to Circuit and I didn’t know how to get there, it was a nice thought to be lost in the city with your friends so I agreed on leaving for Wanderland at 4pm.
So I went on to meet Gabe outside their village and we went on to their house so he and his bro could freshen up and get ready for the festival. I was anxiously waiting for the brothers inside Gabe’s room while asking my friends who were already in the festival which bands were already playing. I was relieved to know that Franco hasn’t started playing (because it was Franco first before Lucy Rose) and I thought I would still have time to catch Lucy Rose’s set.
It was already around 4:30pm when we left Gabe’s house and we had to meet Gabes friends somewhere. It took us a good 20 minutes to fetch his friends and we went on to go to the festival at around 5pm. It was 5:30 and we were texted by our friends that Lucy Rose was already setting up. We were still in Tambo, Coastal and I was anxiously driving, driving as fast as I can, just so we could make it in time before the end of her set.
It was only 5:45 when we were already in Makati. I was relieved and I thought we were gonna make it because it only took me 15 minutes to get to Makati. I thought if I kept it up we would get there before the end of Lucy’s set. I made a right turn to an unknown street and we got lost there. I thought that was where we would turn right. We had to ask directions from anyone we could ask from because we were clearly lost. It was already past 6pm and our friends was telling us that The Paper Kites were already setting up.
It was after a few songs from The Paper Kites when we got to the venue. I spent a good 5 minutes looking for a parking spot and another 5 to get from the parking area to the entrance of the festival because it was that far!
When I got there I waited for a few minutes for Jessie to get my tickets. Once I was in, Gabe’s brother and I parted and we both looked for our friends who were already inside. I looked for my friend Junessa and we met at the carrousel area and I asked her if she has already eaten because I was fucking hungry. I freakin wanted to eat. So I went on to look for food, and that was when we met Ingrid. I was busy enjoying my food when I realize that Iwasn’t able to enjoy The Paper Kite’s set. I wasn’t even able to get pics of their set.
Anyway so after the set of The Paper Kites, Junessa, Ingrid, and I met with Rice and her friends. Rice’s friends went on to look for food and Rice stayed with us. A few moments before Last Dinosaur’s set started Gabe met with us and introduced us to John Dee Uy, the manager of Wanderland and the owner of Karpos Multimedia.
After meeting John, we all decided to come closer to the stage to watch the Last Dinosaurs. In all honesty, I was quite disappointed with their set. The band was great, they were all better than their recorded material except for one. The vocals was quite off. I’ve seen a few live videos of the band playing in small clubs and bars and they were good. I made myself believe that the singer was just not used to big crowds and that he was drowned by the noise on stage because everyone was not wearing a monitor. I still think that they are a great band. It was just a little bit disappointing that their set wasn’t as good as I expected it to be. Perhaps they were all nervous during their set because it was a really big crowd.
After Last Dinosaurs’s set our group wandered around the festival area looking around the food stalls, the game booths, and watched a the artists work on their installations. These were the moments when I question myself: Why do I even call myself an artist? The art was amazing, I failed to get the name of the artworks and their artists though.
While we were wandering off around the festival, it was already time for the Wonderful All Stars, a set of prominent OPM bands gathered by Globe. I wasn’t sure which bands were in it but the only one I could remember was Radioactive Sago Project (or at least Lourd De Veyra was there singing). During their set everyone was hungry and we looked around again for food, then we settled in a spot in front of River Island’s booth.
When it was time for The Royal Concept’s set, I realized that I have been missing out. TRC was amazing. Though their setup took up quite some time, the wait was definitely worth it. Their set was great, one of my favorites in the festival. Even though I did not know a single song from them I was dancing along with their songs and with the crowd. It was fun and it was amazing.
Next up was Architectures in Helsinki. Rice and her friends rushed to the crowd and left her things with me in our spot because I told her that I’ll just stay in our spot and listen from there. I did not know the band and when I tried listening to them for the first time in YouTube, I wasn’t that all into them. But when I saw them in their flashy clothing and they started playing the first few notes of their song That Beep, Gabe and I rushed to the stage. It was amusing watching them in colorful clothing while playing their really catchy song and they even had a dance for it. After dancing along with a few of their songs I got exhausted and I decided to go back to our spot and Gabe caught along with me. We were both exhausted and a little bit sleepy and we saw these two dudes doing a dance what seems to be a pop-locking dance moves (or whatever you call that idk dance, man) and they were amusing to watch. The dance was quite trippy when you watch it while AIH were playing. I swore that the next time AIH comes back to the Philippines I would have my own dance moves and I would dance along AIH while they were playing.
The last band to perform, and the band headlining the festival, was The Drums. Their set up took quite some time, almost or more than na hour actually. We were all quite exhausted and both Gabe and Junessa were already lying down on the grass, sleeping.
The Drums did a very fancy entrance, playing a modern rendition of The Blue Danube Waltz before they came out of the stage. It was a spectacular show. Tho I wasn’t quite that into them. When the lights from the stage came out people went rushing to the stage to dance along with their music. It was what everyone had been waiting for. I spent most of the time during their set, sleeping so I couldn’t say much about their set. The first few songs that I got to hear was good so I must say that they were a good bunch live.
This blog post could be a bunch of jargons because I didn’t have photos of myself but I did. Well I have one:
You can’t see the background tho because it was too dark for the film to catch all the light from the background (and I’m pretty damn sure we’d have to do a long exposure to catch all the light on the background and on myself without blasting myself with the flash). I’m also not the vain type and like enjoying every moment of my life without using my smartphone or distracting myself by taking pictures of what the hell is happening.
Pahabol: Also thank God I did not get lost on my way home, and thanks to my friends who hitched a ride with me for gassing up my car. U da bes.
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