Jaehwa Bernardo

Two Door Cinema Club performs during LaLaLa Fest Manila at the World Trade Center in Pasay City, August 21, 2026. Jaehwa Bernardo, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

At LaLaLa Fest Manila, there's music for everyone

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1787365135497photo_2026-08-22_10-18-05.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Two Door Cinema Club performs during LaLaLa Fest Manila at the World Trade Center in Pasay City, August 21, 2026.<em> Jaehwa Bernardo, ABS-CBN News</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA -- Filipino concertgoers jammed to live music into the early hours of Saturday as LaLaLa Fest, a music festival originating from Indonesia, made its Manila debut, bringing together an array of artists from the Philippines and abroad across a variety of sounds.</p><p>Whether it was &quot;hugot&quot; lines delivered in varying shades of Pinoy rock, the breezy, upbeat tunes of veteran indie favorites Two Door Cinema Club, or the stunning vocal harmonies of R&amp;B-pop group FLO, there was something for every type of music lover who trooped to the World Trade Center for the event, which kicked off Friday afternoon.</p><p>Filipino-American singer Steve Lacy served as the final performer at the 10-hour event, taking the stage past midnight in a black shirt and jeans. The Grammy-winning artist started strong, opening his set with his breakout single &quot;Bad Habit,&quot; which had the crowd singing along.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s actually such an honor to be playing here for you tonight. I don&#x27;t know how many of you guys know but my father is from here,&quot; Lacy said, noting that he even invited family members to the show.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s a really special show for me,&quot; he added.</p><p>Prior to Lacy, Two Door Cinema Club delivered a set largely composed of tracks from its hit debut album &quot;Tourist History,&quot; including the well-known single &quot;What You Know,&quot; as the Irish indie rock outfit celebrated the record&#x27;s 15th anniversary.</p><p>The band also performed hits from outside the album, such as &quot;Next Year,&quot; &quot;Changing of the Seasons&quot; and &quot;Are We Ready? (Wreck).&quot;</p><p>The British trio FLO was another highly anticipated act of the evening. Performing in the country for the first time, the group told the crowd they &quot;can&#x27;t believe we have fans here.&quot;</p><p>FLO impressed the crowd with their gorgeous vocals as they powered through tracks such as &quot;Cardboard Box,&quot; &quot;In My Bag,&quot; &quot;The Mood,&quot; &quot;Therapy at the Club&quot; and &quot;Leak It.&quot;</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>LOCAL ACTS</strong></div><p>The love for local acts was undeniable, of course, as the crowd reveled in the music of OPM favorites Ben&amp;Ben, whose set included &quot;Lifetime,&quot; &quot;Leaves&quot; and the jubilant &quot;Ride Home.&quot;</p><div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=476&amp;href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Freel%2F4361533647490541%2F&amp;show_text=false&amp;width=268&amp;t=0" width="268" height="476" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div><p>Kapamilya singer Maki, who brought energy and vocal firepower, brought out James Reid during his set to perform their recently released collaboration &quot;luck.&quot;</p><p>There was no shortage of tunes about love and longing that the audience sang along to during the sets of other local bands: Fitterkarma played &quot;Kanibalismo&quot; and &quot;Ang Pag-Ibig ay Kanibalismo II,&quot; Dilaw delivered &quot;Uhaw&quot; and &quot;Janice,&quot; while Over October offered &quot;Ikot&quot; and &quot;Bitin.&quot;</p><p>Also part of the lineup were Australian singer Matthew Ifield, who sang a cover of Elliot James Reay&#x27;s &quot;I Think They Call This Love,&quot; and Irish singer Dermot Kennedy, who, accompanied only by a piano and his guitar, showcased his raspy vocals on songs like &quot;Power Over Me&quot; and &quot;Refuge.&quot;</p><p>Thai band Kiki opened the festival, energizing the crowd with upbeat tunes that blended funky and dreamy sounds with laid-back vocals.</p><p>South Korean act HOA delivered rock reminiscent of The Beatles, while Indonesian singer-songwriter Isyana Sarasvati cranked up the decibels with her operatic vocal delivery set against heavy metal music.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>EXPOSURE</strong></div><p>For Mikyla Larin, 20, the festival offered an opportunity for local acts to gain exposure among foreign artists, while giving the local crowd a chance to discover artists from abroad. She cites Steve Lacy as an example, as some listeners may have discovered the singer through his song &quot;oh yeah?&quot; featured in the recent film &quot;Spider-Man: Brand New Day.&quot;</p><p>&quot;Pero as a low-key na nakikinig sa kaniya dati pa, nakakatuwa na mas marami pang makakapakinig ng iba niyang songs,&quot; Larin told ABS-CBN News, referring to Lacy. </p><p>Some festivalgoers even traveled from outside Metro Manila, including Meekz Castro, who came all the way from Tarlac City.</p><p>&quot;I&#x27;m an avid listener of FLO. It&#x27;s their first time performing here in the country so I took the chance to go,&quot; the 21-year-old said.</p><p>Lyn Medallo, a 19-year-old college student who regularly attends local gigs, said she looked forward to seeing the festival&#x27;s foreign acts.</p><p>&quot;Since some artists are from abroad, some of them, alam ko naman. I&#x27;m very excited din since first time ko makakanood ng [artists] from other [countries] since puro local nga napapakinggan ko live. I&#x27;m very interested and curious and how they do concerts,&quot; Medallo said.</p><p>The Manila edition of LaLaLa Fest, presented by Wilbros Live, coincides with the festival&#x27;s 10th anniversary since its launch in Indonesia.</p>

<p>Filipino concertgoers jammed to live music into the early hours of Saturday as LaLaLa Fest, a music festival originating from Indonesia, made its Manila debut, bringing together an array of artists from the Philippines and abroad across a variety of sounds.</p>

Filipino concertgoers jammed to live music into the early hours of Saturday as LaLaLa Fest, a music festival originating from Indonesia, made its Manila debut, bringing together an array of artists from the Philippines and abroad across a variety of sounds.