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Hard Rock Cafe

Leah C. Salterio

Rare does an entertainment venue invite young bands to perform on their stage and display their talent. Mostly, the artists in their line up are established and popular bands who already have their own following.Hard Rock Café launched Universiteen last year, an experimental event that featured 10 Gen Z bands on its stage for the first time.“We did the first Universiteen last year,” Hard Rock Café director for operations Clint Brian Peck told ABS-CBN News, noting that many of the participating musicians were students juggling academic schedules. “The young and new musicians had classes in their respective schools. They were not able to stay up late. Majority were really college students,” he said.Peck described the program as an effort to open the venue to emerging talent. “That was an activity of Hard Rock Café we created for the young musicians who are students,” he said, adding that discussions about bringing it back had been ongoing. “We were talking a few months ago and it was suggested that we revive Universiteen this year.”He emphasized that the initiative reflects the brand’s broader commitment to inclusivity in music programming. “We are not closing our stage and feature just the well-known artists or established bands,” Peck said. “We want to open our stage to the young generations, the young performers. All the great bands around once came from young musicians who dream to perform in a live stage.”<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1779670040964att.eu5kUwDJ7cki_byQgB18yeEnWhH_u3Jtvq6-7tiOTiA.jpeg" style="width:633px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/>Clint Brian Peck, Hard Rock Cafe director for operations </div>Part of that effort also involves making performances more accessible to younger audiences and student performers. “We want to give back as part of our mantra, ‘Love All, Serve All,’” he said. “We want the young bands to feel they are welcome at Hard Rock also.”This year, the venue adjusted its programming to accommodate student schedules, moving performances to earlier time slots. “We changed the schedule this year and featured bands in the afternoon,” Peck said. “We opened the venue to the teenage generation. Artists and musicians in their 20s, as long as they have a band, can join.”There are eight bands who took centerstage at Hard Rock Glorietta this year for Universiteen 2.0. In the coming days, the bands can perform at Hard Rock Conrad in Pasay City and even at Hard Rock Clark in Pampanga.“The intention is Hard Rock wanted to open its stage for the younger musicians and performers,” said Peck. “We are opening all stages of Hard Rock Café to the young musicians. At least, the platform will be open for them and Hard Rock can be an establishment if the bands want to perform in a live stage. “The bands perform in other locations. We invite them. If there are students, we can schedule them to perform on a weekend, depending on their schedule. They can perform late afternoons until our regular band starts [at 8 p.m.]”Hard Rock Café said it studied today’s music scene to identify emerging performers, particularly among Gen Z and millennial artists. Some of these acts were directly invited to join the program.The initiative is intended to position Universiteen as a launchpad for young, local talent seeking their breakthrough in the music industry.“The campaign right now is ‘Support local, Support OPM (Original Pilipino Music)’,” said Beck “We want to make the new bands part of the music at Hard Rock. Music is our universal language. Our soul and our heart. Music is what Hard Rock is all about. Hard Rock is a space where music, creativity and passion come alive. A venue where local talent gets the spotlight he/she deserves.”The parents, friends, classmates and the families of the band members were “very happy” seeing their son or daughter singing and performing onstage. “I got goosebumps earlier seeing the parents beaming with pride when their children performed onstage,” said Beck. “I was overwhelmed when I saw the young artists perform.Waki, the lead singer of Waki and The Winstons, is the son of Cooky Chua. The Sonnets led by Migo Bergado and 25 Abbey with Ronan Bergado are the children of lawyer Rey Bergado, who was with InnerVoices, a Hard Rock band.“There are also the Next One, Hey June, Better Days and Grace Note. We don’t limit the young artists. If they really want to be in the line-up of Hard Rock musicians, that’s great.“The young artists have no definite schedules yet when they can actually perform at Hard Rock Café. They can perform weekly or thrice a week depending on their schedules. We can feature three bands a week in the afternoon. We want to invite the young musicians.”Beck keeps the faith that Hard Rock might discover future generation of artists with the line-up of artists they have now. “We can’t tell, but one of the bands we have might be the future Paroka ni Edgar or Eraserheads. Anybody can create a big name soon.Through the years, Hard Rock was able to introduce bands that originated from the venue. It is important for them to discover and introduce new bands. “That’s part of our tradition,” Beck said. “It runs in our blood. In each Filipino family, the love for music is part of Hard Rock tradition.“We support the young generation. We want to support their dreams, like any parent dreaming for their child to make their dreams happen. That’s what we’re doing right now. We are not just a restaurant venue, but we also support the community.&quot;<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1779670189944att.lNlNdN5wvB816XDxwhwtOfR2mSyyJNQR_-SDZCM8lQM.jpeg" style="width:633px;display:block" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/>Migo Bergado of The Sonnets <img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1779670098785att.67l4iV1zyw4cYkLPmAqFtVIfieX1BJ70QKplJcJJrdU.jpeg" style="width:633px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/>Waki, lead singer of Waki and The Winstons </div>Hard Rock does not intend to “own” the bands even if the artists started with them. “As long as they can perform onstage, we don’t want to limit them as artists,” Beck said. “We want to boost their confidence.“It is important to see that they love and enjoy what they are doing. We want to be part of that. At least once in their life, they performed on the Hard Rock stage.”Hard Rock launched a QR (quick response) code for interested bands who want to sign up and join other young performers. “We’ve been receiving a number of bands who want to sign up right now,” said Beck. “Hard Rock is known for its well-known bands and artists – from Parokya ni Edgar, Chito Miranda, Ice Seguerra, Jaya.“True Faith will be performing on May 29. K Brosas just launched her concert in a Mother’s Day event. It was fun. It was the first time she did live entertainment again in a venue like Hard Rock.”At present, Hard Rock has 25 bands who signed up for Universiteen. “We will feature the bands maybe starting at 5 p.m. because our regular band starts at 8 p.m.,” said Beck. “At least the young crowd doesn’t have to stay up late. Most of them are students.&quot;We can feature the young musicians from the north who can sign up with Hard Rock Clark. There are lots of talented musicians from Pampanga or Bulacan. Hard Rock Clark opened last year.”In the coming months, Hard Rock has prepared a lot of events that will feature OPM artists. They will feature an April Boy Regino tribute, as the second generation of artists will perform his songs in Manila on May 28. The second generation, April Boy 2, is now creating a name in the music industry.

Hard Rock Café launched Universiteen last year, an experimental event that featured 10 Gen Z bands on its stage for the first time.

Hard Rock Café launched Universiteen last year, an experimental event that featured 10 Gen Z bands on its stage for the first time.

Gen Z bands take over Hard Rock Cafe in Universiteen 2.0

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Gen Z bands take over Hard Rock Cafe in Universiteen 2.0

Leah C. Salterio

Published May 25, 2026 12:15 PM PHT

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