Two jam-packed days of fun and exciting performances were presented to us by the Wanderland Music and Arts Festival with this year’s theme, “Neighborhood,” held on March 9 and 10, 2024, at Filinvest City Events Grounds, Alabang, Muntinlupa City.
Since 2013, Wanderland has continued to give us an annual event that gathers local and international artists to showcase their talent in music and the arts. This year, 22 artists performed on days 1 and 2 of the event, including Jack Johnson and Thundercat as the headliners, and five locals exhibited their skills in live art.
DAY 1: MARCH 09, 2024
Debuted last year as a local band from Manila, Bird. starts off the festival with positivity and self-love with their songs such as Weekend and TT (terrible things).
All the way from Busan, South Korea, is the indie rock band Bosudong Cooler. They performed one of their singles, ‘Kill Me’, as well as their upcoming album, titled ‘Sitting on a Chair.’
We were completely impressed by the half Japanese and half Filipino Ena Mori as she sang her famous songs such as King of the Night, SOS, and Runaway Holiday! from the album Don’t blame the wild one! But wait, there’s more. She surprised her fans when she announced her upcoming single entitled ‘Heartache Generation’.
Gabba, brings us an awesome performance of rock and pop music. Gabba Santiago – better known as half of Degs and Gabba is a Filpino multi-instrumentalist playing all parts of the song in a sparse industrial setting.
The performance was followed by the young jazz singer Jose Miguel, who serenades us with his latest song, ‘5 Star Overthinker.
Beenzino is a famous South Korean rapper who absolutely hyped the audience with one of his performances of ‘Travel Again’.
“I was kind of nervous because when we see up there, we see the stage; it may have 3 to 4 people, but now seeing this? Salamat! ”Beenzino
We’ve already ‘Fallen’ for Lola Amour as the Filipino rock band sings their hit song ‘Raining in Manila’, as well as the first and live performance of their new single, ‘Namimiss ko na’.
SETLIST: Dahan, Maybe, Valerie, Namimiss ko na, Pwede Ba, Fallen, Raining in Manila
The Australian duo Cosmo and Patrick, also known as Cosmo’s Midnight, is on tour along with their special guest, Asta. Everyone is having a good time while grooving and dancing in their performance of ‘Talk to Me’.
Parcels surely made the crowd feel the warmth and love when they sang ‘Theworstthing’ from their album Day/Night.
Way back in 2020, we were saddened by the announcement by Novo Amor that he could not participate in the Wanderland Music Fest 2020, but seeing him perform live this year is indeed worth the wait.
SETLIST: Opaline, Utican, Decimal, Halloween, No Plans, State Lines, Carry You, Keep Me, Anchor, I feel better, If we’re being honest, Repeat until death, From Gold, Terraform
People have all been anticipating this year’s headliner as they witnessed the soft rock and acoustic pop singer, Jack Johnson. Everyone at the festival melts when they hear that he has always wanted to perform and visit the Philippines.
What a nostalgic feeling because he plays his famous songs, including ‘Banana Pancakes, ‘Better Together, and ‘Sitting, Waiting, and Wishing’ that were released 19 years ago! It was a great night to end the first day of Wanderland Music Fest.
DAY 2: MARCH 10, 2024
The overwhelming emotions are not over, as we got to see another astonishing artist on Day 2 of the festival. Let’s start off with our Bicolana singer-songwriter, DWTA, with her enchanting and magical songs ‘Padaba Taka’, ‘Delikado’, and ‘Santigwar’, which in Filipino is called “Pagtatawas”.
Next on the Karpos Stage is Party Pace, which brings a dazzling pop rock performance. Another local act, Paolo Sandejas, makes us feel at home while playing ‘Sorry’. Cloudriver, a Taiwanese pop artist, made his way to showcase his indie pop music.
It is an incredibly memorable experience when Grent Perez knows how to enjoy and have fun on stage. There were no dull moments when he sang, such as ‘Clementine’, ‘Cherry Wine’,Ego, and many more!
“We started back in 2014, and we broke up for about four or five years. This song is going viral on TikTok. I haven’t seen them in four or five years, not once, so we decided to talk, and we realized we didn’t want to pass up on the opportunity. We wanted to give this thing another try,” said Luke Olson, lead vocalist and guitarist of The Walters.
It is a heartwarming story he shared with us, as they were about to sing “I love you so,” which was released in 2014.
I can feel the fans were excited and eager, including myself, for the South Korean singer, Hwasa. She lit up the stage with her hits like ‘I love my body’, ‘Don’t’, ‘Twit’, ‘Chili’, and our all-time favorite ‘Maria’. The crowd went wild as she surprised everyone when she played the medley songs of Mamamoo! It is literally a jaw-dropping experience to see Hwasa perform.
On the other stage, Jeff Bernat prepared solemn and passionate melodies when he showed some of his songs, including ‘Cruel’,Still’, and ‘Call you mine’. He also gave a snippet of his favorite Filipino songs, “Forevermore,” “Sana Maulit Muli,” and “When I Met You.”
Hands-down for a great performance comes from PJ Morton; he plays their version of ‘How deep is your love’ and the audience loved it.
It is not a festival without dancing and grooving to Breakbot and Irfane!
Last but not least, the main act for this Wanderland Festival is multi-grammy award winner and funk-jazz virtuoso bassist Thundercat. Along with his incredible setlist, the audience was fond of his thrilling performances, such as ‘Dragonball Durag’, ‘Overseas’, and ‘No More Lies’.
The Wanderland Music Festival really lives up to their theme for this year, “Neighborhood.” They elevate it because the wanderers feel that they are at home, comfortable, and just having the best experience to remember. We’re all strangers who come together in one event, but eventually we get along. It doesn’t matter if you’re a solo goer, a first-timer, or if you’re with your family, friends, or loved ones, because at the end of the day, we will see ourselves jamming and enjoying ourselves with everyone, with different talented people in front of us.
We are yearning for this kind of festival; the sense of belongingness and connection that we build with different people are priceless. It is indeed a home of good music and good people. See you at Wanderland 2025!
We would like to appreciate and give thanks to Wanderland Music Festival and Karpos for making an awesome and incredible event.
Words by: Krisna Villanueva; Photos by: P.Y. Vencio
