Black Market has bid its crowd good night.
It's always a bittersweet moment when we hear news of our favourite live music venues shutting down. For a lot of people, that's where their craziest stories were born, where a lot of firsts (and "Bad Decisions") took place, and where they hoped to return to one day. But due to outbreaks and instabilities, these unfortunate events can't be avoided.
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For Filipino producer and Karpos Live alum crwn, Black Market was "literally where [he] grew up." Dancer-turned-DJ Butta B says that the Makati venue "will always be home."
"Thank you for some of the best nights of my life! Love you guys!" Jess Milner says. 2012 Pioneer DJ Battle Champion Katsy Lee thanks Black Market for everything. "Always and beyond," she adds.
Check out some of our favourite shows at Black Market over the years:
Giraffage
Giraffage (a.k.a. Charlie Yin) made his much-awaited return to Manila with Moonbeats Asia in 2018. Manila was the second stop in the esteemed producer's 4-city Asian tour, which also included Bangkok, Singapore, and Seoul.
The show marked the San Francisco-based producer's second time at Black Market, where his dreamy synthpop beats were warmly welcomed by fans and fellow musicians in the crowd.
Boiler Room Manila
Boiler Room, known for their broadcasts of underground music around the globe, tore down the roof of Black Market for their first live set in Manila back in 2017. The show featured BuwanBuwan Collective co-founder and Darker Than Wax affiliate similarobjects, singer-songwriter Jess Connelly and producer LUSTBASS, young trap lords OWFUCK, and Black Market resident Red-I.
DJ Starscream
To the massive delight of metalheads, Slipknot turntablist Sid Wilson a.k.a DJ Starscream surprised Filipino fans with a live set at Black Market in 2017. He was joined by Underkut, Swiftstyle, and many more.
Snakehips
British producer tandem Snakehips made a pit stop with Moonbeats Asia at Black Market in 2016 and they were welcomed with an adoring crowd. The moment they stepped on stage, the audience erupted in a rapturous ecstasy and the rest of the night's energy followed suit.
Ryan Hemsworth
It was 11 p.m. on a Thursday—a work night—yet Black Market was packed to the brim with guests only hoping to escape from the mishap of an 8-to-5 routine. A couple of in-house DJs performed to warm up the crowd, or cool down rather, in preparation for the main acts. Familiar faces from the local music scene graced the venue, and were outside whiffing enough air to supply them for when the venue gets packed. A tall, lanky, and remarkably handsome Ryan Hemsworth was filling circles outside comprising of artists we know, their friends, and people we’ve probably retweeted a lot.
He dismantled well-made tracks, performed his own, and carried an overture that defined only what we could expect for the years to come. On nights like this, electronic music meets a new landscape to create new homes for the community.
Chairlift
After eight years of waiting, the Philippines was added to the roster of countries for Chairlift's tour. Thanks to our friends from The Invisible College, we began the month of gifts and fairy lights with a show better than having a well-decorated Christmas tree.
Black Market wasn’t fully packed at the beginning of the evening, yet the venue was laced with an opening set from St. Vincent and The Grenadines as the crowd gradually increased. As nostalgic waves of the '80s crashed during his set, BP Valenzuela continued the ripple with her own taste of electronic pop. From crowd favourite tracks such as 'Pretty Car', to covering what she considered as her “favourite Radiohead song”, and a new track reminiscent of the uncertainty and emotional current in a sea of chaos—her set was full of vigour and freshly-brewed spirits. With the night growing in momentum, CRWN and Jess Connelly claimed the floor during their set as they overlapped from one calming beat to another heart-stopping melody.
The band shared the love in various ways as Caroline Polachek swayed and reached out to the crowd at the low end of the stage, and even at times Patrick did the same. The expression on their faces was priceless as Caroline exclaimed, “You sing better than the Americans!” as she added with how surprised she was the crowd knew the songs by heart. Closing in with a 2-track encore, they sent off their heartfelt thanks to everyone.
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