Smorgasbord of sounds at 2nd Fête de la Musique in Cebu

CEBU, Philippines - Flashback: Last year’s Fête de la Musique at Paseo was still a blast despite the arrival of typhoon Frank. It was the first Fete in metro Cebu with a whopping audience of about 6,000 who came to witness the more than 20 band performances.

For this year’s Fête de la Musique, thank heavens, the weather was cooperative. Seventeen musical performances, with a good mix of genres (from world music to reggae, classical to rock), were showcased in a new venue—the Ayala Center Cebu’s The Terraces. Organized by Les Amis de la France and Bite Magazine, the Cebu Fete was in time for Father’s Day with mostly families flocking at the venue.

For those who worshipped guitar heroes, the first performer—classical guitarist Joel Oporto—fed their senses. Songstress Natasha Cang came next who dished out old-time favorites such as Someone to Watch Over Me (which she specifically dedicated to the dads in the audience), You Don’t Know Me and Mas Que Nada.

Event host Kat Ross (of ABS-CBN’s Kapamilya, Winner Ka!) introduced the next performer as the biggest group with 25 musicians no less—the 560th Air Base Wing Band. While there were a few people clueless on the first piece the group played, it went mainstream, playing Joey de Leon’s Itaktak Mo and APO Hiking Society’s Dobidobido. It was starting to get dark when guitar genius Prudence Salutillo took center stage. “Wows” reverberated from the audience while Prudence romanced his acoustic guitar with a level of dexterity truly remarkable.

During the presscon for Cebu’s Fête de la Musique, organizers promised to give a diversified show, and so Sinha Bahia de Capoeira also performed the Brazilian dance-martial arts capoeira led by instructor/performer Jensen Chow. Pinoy Dream Academy Season II scholar Apple Abarquez performed with the group.

Neo-tribal-rock band Sugbuanon started their set with Ganti ng Kalikasan. As their performance progressed, I wondered why they named themselves Sugbuanon while in fact, they were singing Tagalog songs all throughout their turn at the stage, though all original.

Thereafter, another event host, Paulo Varela, introduced the band Juress, which is named after its female vocalist Juress Enriquez. I must admit, I became an instant fan of their music, however, the frontwoman has this tendency of eating her words. Another female voice came next, Zarah Smith. She opened her set with her version of a Bob Marley original Waiting in Vain. I first heard her version during Cattski’s Sound Minds Speak Volumes album launch and until now, her version keeps playing on my head.

While taking a quick dinner at Shakey’s, we heard CDMC, Smooth Friction and the rest. Sheila and the Insects made a comeback performance during Cattski’s album launch, then made a follow-up at last week’s Fete. The Line Divides capped the night before an already dwindling number of listeners, mostly the youthful fans. It was past 12 when the organizers called it a day.

Cebu’s Fête de la Musique was jointly celebrated by more than 100 countries around the globe.