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Manila’s first throwback music fest a live mixtape that crosses generations

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Tarra Quismundo, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/entertainment/02/11/playback-music-festival-2018-021018.jpg"/><figcaption>American rock band Vertical Horizon rouses the crowd at the Playback Music Festival at Circuit Makati Saturday night. <em>Tarra Quismundo, ABS-CBN News</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA—It was a night of nostalgia that brought back unforgettable anthems of the 1990s.</p><p>Local and foreign acts that rose to fame some two decades back took an estimated 5,000 concertgoers through a time machine of tunes that spoke of love, heartbreak, triumph and hope. </p><p>Held at the cool, sprawling grounds of Circuit Makati, the first Playback Music Festival was a live mixtape of hits from the MTV era — songs that, for a generation, marked life&#x27;s milestones and would forever be remembered.</p><p>It also introduced twentysomethings among the crowd to the decade&#x27;s biggest hits.</p><p>Behind the music were acts handpicked from the time: local bands MYMP, Moonstar88 and Rivermaya, and international artists Stephen Speaks, Leigh Nash of Sixpence None The Richer, Vertical Horizon and Blue.</p><p>Despite some audio feedback issues during some of the performances, the crowd partied like it was 1999.</p><p>MYMP opened the show before sundown with an easy-listening set of both originals and covers. The crowd could not help but sing along with beloved heart songs &quot;Especially for You&quot; and &quot;Tell Me Where It Hurts.&quot; </p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">MYMP renders audience fave &quot;Tell Me Where It Hurts&quot; at Playback Music Festival, happening now at Circuit Makati <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PLAYBACKMF?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PLAYBACKMF</a> <a href="https://t.co/0uHNPmzR8t">pic.twitter.com/0uHNPmzR8t</a></p>— Tarra Quismundo (@TarraQuismundo) <a href="https://twitter.com/TarraQuismundo/status/962265506379005952?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 10, 2018</a></blockquote><div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script></div><p>Moonstar88, the band that entered the music scene the latest among the night&#x27;s featured acts, serenaded the crowd with their hits &quot;Migraine&quot; and &quot;Torete.&quot;</p><p>With the crowd warming up, the band delivered bonus covers of Pinoy rock classics. Its rendition of the classic &quot;Ang Huling El Bimbo&quot; was especially nostalgic with Eraserheads original member Buddy Zabala on hand laying the bass.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">WATCH: Moonstar88 plays one of the most memorable &#x27;90s hits &quot;Huling El Bimbo,&quot; with original Eraserheads member Buddy Zabala on the bass <a href="https://t.co/gNUuuCFOqU">pic.twitter.com/gNUuuCFOqU</a></p>— Tarra Quismundo (@TarraQuismundo) <a href="https://twitter.com/TarraQuismundo/status/962280390474924032?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 10, 2018</a></blockquote><div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script></div><p>Rivermaya, the band that broke into the Philippine alternative music scene at its height in the &#x27;90s, rocked the stage with their most memorable songs. </p><p>The upbeat &quot;Ulan&quot; and &quot;Awit ng Kabataan&quot; lit up the crowd, while haunting ballad &quot;Himala&quot; got most everyone singing along. </p><p>As the audience thickened, Stephen Speaks took the stage and brought it down with a mellow set, the trio&#x27;s sound complemented by frontman Rockwell Ryan Ripperger&#x27;s work on the loop pedal. </p><p>With the full-band performances that preceded, Ripperger called his group&#x27;s hour an &quot;acoustic interlude.&quot;</p><p>Apart from more recent solo tracks, Ripperger delighted the audience with the familiar. There&#x27;s the piano-led hit &quot;Out of My League&quot; and arguably the band&#x27;s biggest single in the Philippines, &quot;Passenger Seat,&quot; to finish the set. </p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Stephen Speaks performs its biggest hit in PH &quot;Passenger Seat&quot; at the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PlaybackMusicFest?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PlaybackMusicFest</a> <a href="https://t.co/hVIa6UlJAK">pic.twitter.com/hVIa6UlJAK</a></p>— Tarra Quismundo (@TarraQuismundo) <a href="https://twitter.com/TarraQuismundo/status/962318765605109760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 10, 2018</a></blockquote><div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script></div><p>&quot;You know I won&#x27;t disappoint you,&quot; Ripperger told the cheering crowd, expectant at the major dose of nostalgia coming its way. </p><p>Sixpence None The Richer&#x27;s Leigh Nash, garbed in a colorful dress that matched the night&#x27;s color pop theme, followed up with a set that brought together sentimental and cheerful tracks both old and new. </p><p>She opened with the Cranberries hit &quot;Dreams,&quot; an ode to Dolores O&#x27;Riordan, the Irish rock band&#x27;s vocalist who died last month. </p><p>&quot;I hate that Dolores O&#x27;Riordan is gone . . . it breaks my heart but I wanted to pay that little tribute to her,&quot; Nash told the crowd after her opening song. </p><p>Nash&#x27;s treat for the enthusiastic crowd was her untarnished voice, a tone that can go from playful to haunting with her unique falsetto riffs. </p><p>It was that special ingredient that turned hits out of the songs &quot;There She Goes,&quot; a fun anthem, and &quot;Need to Be Next to You,&quot; which she obliged the crowd after last performing it 17 years ago. She missed some lyrics but no one seemed bothered. </p><p>What also stood out was Nash&#x27;s brightness onstage: she danced in pauses between songs, was persuaded to throw her towel to the audience, and tried making a paper plane out of a sheet where she had written lyrics of a new song penned during her brief Philippine trip (it mentions Manila). It crash-landed on the edge of the stage, drawing laughter from the crowd.</p><p>&quot;Please let me come back and see you again. I love you!&quot; she told the adoring crowd.</p><p>Nash ended with her most recognizable song &quot;Kiss Me,&quot; which had the crowd singing along.</p><p>After a long interlude, American rock band Vertical Horizon brought the stage back to life with a flawless flurry of familiar tracks, &quot;Finding Me&quot; and &quot;I&#x27;m Still Here.&quot;</p><p>Upon the prodding of some fans in the crowd, frontman Matt Scannell let the audience sing him a happy birthday, with minutes to go before the date ended. </p><p>He thanked the crowd with a line in Filipino: &quot;Masaya kaming makasama kayo ulit.&quot;</p><p>He unleashed more of his Filipino lines to encourage the crowd to sing along with one of the band&#x27;s greatest hits, &quot;The Best I Ever Had.&quot;</p><p>&quot;Sabayan niyo kami. Kanta kayo!,&quot; Scannell said, which the audience heeded throughout the song. </p><p>&quot;Mahal namin kayo!&quot; he said after the song. </p><p>In the middle of the set, a treat came onstage for Scannel: a birthday cake. </p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">In the middle of the set, concert organizers bring out birthday cake for Vertical Horizon frontman Matt Scannel <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PlaybackMusicFest?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PlaybackMusicFest</a> <a href="https://t.co/vKbo7K9fxO">pic.twitter.com/vKbo7K9fxO</a></p>— Tarra Quismundo (@TarraQuismundo) <a href="https://twitter.com/TarraQuismundo/status/962358001171509248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 10, 2018</a></blockquote><div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script></div><p>He revealed his wish: &quot;Some halo-halo.&quot;</p><p>The band ended its electrifying set with &quot;You&#x27;re a God,&quot; bringing the house down.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Vertical Horizon performs &quot;You&#x27;re a God&quot; at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/playbackmusicfest?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#playbackmusicfest</a> <a href="https://t.co/gg1MQu1O3l">pic.twitter.com/gg1MQu1O3l</a></p>— Tarra Quismundo (@TarraQuismundo) <a href="https://twitter.com/TarraQuismundo/status/962362677514321920?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 10, 2018</a></blockquote><div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script></div><p>British group Blue brought the crowd to its feet, as soon as they came out on stage. </p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">British boy band Blue brings crowd to their feet with cover of Elton John&#x27;s &quot;Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word&quot; at the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PlaybackMusicFest?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PlaybackMusicFest</a> <a href="https://t.co/lcsRd32aKp">pic.twitter.com/lcsRd32aKp</a></p>— Tarra Quismundo (@TarraQuismundo) <a href="https://twitter.com/TarraQuismundo/status/962366391029448704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 10, 2018</a></blockquote><div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script></div><p>While one member experienced trouble with his microphone, the performance went on, with the boys busting out the moves on stage.</p><p>The band performed some of its biggest hits, including &quot;All Rise&quot; and &quot;If You Come Back.&quot;</p>

<p>It was a night of nostalgia at Circuit Makati that brought back unforgettable anthems of the 1990s, thanks to bands handpicked from the time.</p>

It was a night of nostalgia at Circuit Makati that brought back unforgettable anthems of the 1990s, thanks to bands handpicked from the time.

Manila’s first throwback music fest a live mixtape that crosses generations

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Manila’s first throwback music fest a live mixtape that crosses generations

Tarra Quismundo,

ABS-CBN News

Published February 11, 2018 01:29 AM PHT

|

Updated September 07, 2018 12:19 AM PHT

Read More:

Playback Music Festival

Stephen Speaks

Leigh Nash

Vertical Horizon

Blue

Rivermaya

Moonstar 88

MYMP

concert

Circuit Makati

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