A Rocket to the Moon’s last hurrah in Manila

MANILA, Philippines - American band A Rocket to the Moon will return to Manila to meet Filipino fans as part of Lee Jeans and San Miguel Flavored Beer’s Bazooka Rocks II, the second installment of the indoor and air-conditioned pop-punk festival that blew the minds of young pop-rock-punk fans last 2012. It will be held on Aug. 25 at the SMX Convention Center, Pasay City. The band will put a close to the 12-hour pop-rock bonanza at 10:35 p.m. for the final Manila lift-off. 

The pop-rock band is signed under the same record label as the likes of Fall Out Boy, Panic! at the Disco, fun and Paramore, among others. It is comprised of Justin Richards (guitar); Eric Halvorsen (bass); Andrew Cook (drums); and Nick Santino (lead vocals and rhythm guitar). A Rocket to the Moon is popular among Filipino teens because of touching sentimental songs such as Ever Enough and Like We Used To. The latter has penetrated the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at the sixth spot on the Top US Rock Digital Chart. The band has two full-length albums under its belt — On Your Side (2010) and Wild & Free (2013), which have both entered the Billboard 200 and the Top 40 Rock Albums chart.

A Rocket to the Moon has also played in some of the world’s biggest festivals such as Bamboozle, Soundwave and Warped Tour. Bands that have shared the stage with Santino and company include Mayday Parade, fun, The Maine and Hanson. The band members will be performing in Manila for the last time as they recently announced that they will disband after the tour. When A Rocket to the Moon announced its farewell tour, it made sure that the Philippines be included because of the soft spot the members have for Filipino fans.

“We’re also going over to the Philippines to do a big festival in August (this month),” Santino said in an interview with renowned publication and online music website Alternative Press. “The demand from fans was just overwhelming, and we just needed to sit down and figure out how we could make it work. I’m excited about that.”

A Rocket to the Moon will say goodbye in style, sharing the stage with seven international bands — All Time Low, Anberlin, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, We Came As Romans, Radiodriveby, Tonight Alive and Uchusentai Noiz, plus four of the country’s most promising young bands, Penguin, Faintlight and Save Me Hollywood.

Bazooka Rocks II is also made possible by Hyundai, the Department of Tourism, PULP Magazine, Monster Radio RX 93.1 and The Philippine Star. Tickets to the event are available at all SM Tickets outlets nationwide and are priced at P3,000 (ticketing charges apply). To make your Bazooka Rocks experience more complete, you can avail of PULP Live World’s Fast Pass and PULP Royalty premium offers. For details, log on to www.pulpliveworld.com and www.bazookarocks.com or call PULP Live World trunkline at 727-4957.