It's been a couple of weeks since it was announced that live performances and shows can now take place again.

There have been a few shows scattered across the metro since then, with Ultracombo (the duo by Raymund Marasigan and Buddy Zabala) and Imago marking one of the bigger gigs at 19 East in Sucat. Two weeks later, Raymund returned to the live music venue on a Wednesday night with his band Sandwich, along with their Soupstar labelmates, Moonstar88. 

Considered as one of the best live music venues in the country, 19 East built an outdoor stage right outside their famed music hall - which has hosted hundreds of Filipino bands, as well as international acts such as Lucy Rose, TTNG, Yumi Zouma, and more -  and took advantage of their sprawling grounds to give music fans an open-air gig experience.

Operating under a first-come, first-served system, fans queued up early for the show - the line reached the gated entrance well before doors opened at 7 PM. Attendees were asked to fill up health declaration forms, get temperature checks, and present vaccination cards at the door.  Only fully-vaccinated guests were allowed inside, and to make sure everyone had a comfortable and safe experience, guests were capped at 130 people. Sandwich frontman Raymund Marasigan, later on, shared how they acted as their own roadies, to make room for four more fans in the audience. It turned out to be a sold-out show, as expected.

While the Bandwagon team has been covering virtual shows throughout the pandemic, and even covered SB19's third-anniversary online concert held at the Araneta Coliseum, this was our team's first-ever live event coverage since March 2020.

 Photographer Iya Forbes, contributing writer Maddie Castillo, and editor Camille Castillo tell us about their first live in-person gig experience since the pandemic started.

Iya Forbes, Photographer

I’ve covered a number of virtual concerts this pandemic, but this is the first time I’ve been to a show where there was no physical separation between the artist and a live audience. No screen or broadcast camera in between. 

With the barrier gone, there was this noticeable tension in the cold December air— a feeling of excitement but also some nerves and a bit of hesitation. Maysh [Baay] did say that it felt like a first date. Raymund also couldn’t look at the audience in the first few songs. How do we do this again? Is it really okay to let loose and feel the music with a crowd of strangers after being locked up on our own for so long? 

But like old friends reconnecting, the tension eventually faded as the music took over. As a photographer, this is what I really missed. The direct interaction between an artist and their audience; the energy that is exchanged. An irreplaceable element in live music that is unfortunately lost when streamed. It may be different this time around—with the more restrained setup (for now)— but it’s familiar enough to give both the bands and the audience some hope that live music is here to stay.

Maddie Castillo, contributing writer

Travelling back to Manila just to see a band perform live again. That must've been the most spontaneous thing I've done since (also sorta spontaneously) moving to La Union.

More than anything, I was deeply concerned about not making it. I no longer had any idea how bad Manila traffic could be, and the venue was in the south, with a limit to the number of attendees that could be let in.

But I made it right on time. In fact, I was early. And that in itself was already surreal, given that I was almost always late to gigs pre-pandemic.

The moment I stepped foot in 19 East, a wave of nostalgia hit me. It was, after all, the venue of Bandwagon's Lucy Rose show in 2017. It was also the closest live music venue to my old neighbourhood. Those gigs—they felt like a lifetime ago. I honestly did not know what to expect.

And then Sandwich started playing 'Ang Pagbabalik' (quite aptly). All my apprehensions, including the five-hour drive to get to the show, just melted away. I just felt so lucky to be there, to witness something like this again. Having produced some online gigs, it wasn’t my first time seeing a band perform live since the pandemic. But I wasn’t sure when I’d be able to experience music live with an audience again. And despite the stripped-down set, nothing beats shout-singing 'Selos' with about a hundred people.

The night ended with me taking home a signed setlist from the band. Feels just like the first time.

Camille Castillo, Editorial Director

I haven't been to a live gig since March 2020 - until that Wednesday night show at 19 East. In what felt like a surreal full-circle moment, the last bands I saw live were Moonstar88 and Sandwich - at Campfire Sessions on a Batangas beach, a show organised by Typecast's Chi Resurreccion. It was also the last time both bands played together, something both Maysh and Rayms mentioned during their sets. 

Maysh asked the crowd who was present at that last show, and about a dozen hands shot up in the air, including mine. 

The night was some sort of reunion, not just for the bands on stage and the fans in the crowd, but also for friends who haven't seen each other in real life for so long. 

It felt both great and strange - being in a (socially-distanced) sea of masked music fans (after 2 years of watching online shows), phones up in the air recording clips for our IG stories, singing along to 'Torete' and 'Walang Kadala-Dala,' trying so hard not to jump to 'Two Trick Pony' and 'Sunburn' (we couldn't help it, we stood up), shouting along to 'Betamax' and 'Sugod'. Rayms was right! 'Sugod' is NOT a sit-down kinda song. 

According to the band, they had to recalibrate Mike Dizon's drum set to make sure they don't play too loud and "bother the neighbours". So their set was a little restrained — in Rayms’s words, a “subdued” version of Sandwich — one I wasn’t really used to but equally enjoyed.

For the final song, Rayms stood up from his seat, guitarists Diego Castillo and Mong Alcaraz were on their feet rocking out, with the ever-so-calm Myrene Academia steadily strumming on her bass guitar. 

The band treated us to an encore with their take on the iconic 'Laklak' by Mike D's other band, Teeth, before calling it a night and taking selfies and signing vinyl records for the crowd.

After the show, our team stayed for a while to hang out and catch up with the band, something we haven't done in ages. It was nice to know that while things may have drastically changed, the music and friendships stayed the same. 

We were exhausted doing this again after a long time, but I'm sure I speak for the rest of the team when I say that we can't wait to do this all over again. See you at the next gig!

Check out more photos from the show here: