Ben&Ben looks back on 9 years together as member bids goodbye
MANILA, Philippines — Ben&Ben drummer Jam Villanueva took her final bow during the “Saranggola” concert at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, officially bidding farewell to the band this year.
This was Jam’s final major concert after her announcement of departure from the band after injuring her wrist and limiting her participation in band activities.
During the concert, all of the nine original members took the time to look back on their journey across their three albums as they celebrated nine years as an ensemble.
Ben&Ben opened the concert with their hit songs Ride Home and Panindigan Kita.
“Tonight is a night about friendship, years of friendship. Lalakbayin natin paatras ang mga album natin at sa dulo ng show, tatanungin natin kung maaari ba tayong bumalik sa umpisa,” lead vocalist and guitarist Miguel Benjamin said.
“So, tonight, if you wanna laugh, you wanna cry, if you wanna dance, if you wanna shout, sabayan n’yo kami,” he added.
They continued the set with the reimagined versions of their songs Sunrise and Autumn from “Nine,” their first anthology album.
Percussionists and vocalists Andrew de Pano and Toni Muñoz shared how people tend to capture photos in moments that won’t last forever, and they sang Shutter to walk on their journey to remember these memories together.
Lead vocalist and guitarist Paolo Benjamin described how their latest studio album, “The Traveller Across Dimensions,” has captured their fleeting emotions and moments in life.
They performed Comets, Could Be Something, Tomorrow With You and Triumph to conclude the first set. The band sang Lifetime and Doors before transitioning to their next era introduced by their keyboardist Pat Lasaten and electric guitarist Poch Barretto.
In the “Pebble House, Vol. 1: Kuwaderno” era, the band sang Kasayaw, Upuan and Elyu, stressing how the album strengthened their bond together during the pandemic.
Pat also described the album as a year of collaborations through the songs Swimming Pool with Chito Miranda, Lunod with Zild and Juan Karlos, along with Kapangyarihan with SB19 and Sugat with Munimuni.
The band concluded the second set strong with hits like ‘Di Ka Sayang and Sa Susunod Na Habangbuhay with the mood starting to get emotional as they proceeded to the last era.
Bassist Agnes Reoma stressed how the “Limasawa Street” album led them to a lot of places and went on to sing the title track, Hummingbird, Lucena and the hit song Pagtingin.
“This is like the very first work of love na binuhos namin lahat na magkakabanda. Dito kami simulang nangarap. ‘Yung mga bagay nakamit namin nandito dahil sa album na ito at dahil sa inyo,” she said.
Violinist Keifer Cabugao, on the other, emphasized the magic of the album with the other tracks like Speech, Roots, Speech, War and Mahiwaga.
They also introduced Luke, who was playing the drums that night, and who helped them during their tour. They came closer to the fans and performed in a mini bus, reminding them of how they performed in a school and stayed there for a long time for the students.
Fans requested songs, and they performed Bibingka and Dahilan and concluded the segment with Courage for a fan celebrating her birthday.
The band taught their fans, also known as Liwanags, new beats with one of their latest songs Harinawa from “Nine” released this year.
Tears fell as they sang classics like Kathang-Isip, Leaves and Maybe The Night before they said farewell to Jam.
As they concluded the show, Jam expressed how grateful she is to all of the people who continue to believe in Ben&Ben: “We were just kids dreaming of places, stages to play music as a career, and here we are now.”
“I just feel so grateful for everyone, for every single Liwanag who’s been listening to our music since Day 1, for our management who believed in our music and what this is ever since and everyone who has collaborated with us through the years and believed in our music, and believed in what we can do,” she added.
“We would never be in this stage right now if it weren’t for you, guys. The love you, guys, give to this room, to everything that we do, everything that you do as well in your own lives. It’s what the beauty of life is about.”
The drummer shared that “another beautiful thing about life as happy and as sad as it may seem is time.”
“Time is the one thing that gives everything meaning. And without it, I don’t know what we would be doing if we don’t know what we have left, what we have in the future, and what we have now,” Jam said.
“I just want to remind everyone to cherish every moment, every second, and every little fleeting time that passes because every second will never ever be back, and I think that’s beautiful,” she added.
Jam thanked her fans for the love she received through the years, stressing that she will cherish them forever.
“We love every single one of you. We thank you for the effort, for the time spending your night here with us. This night is not just a celebration of our music but of friendship for over nine years,” the artist said.
“A testament of that is our album, (‘Nine’). Making that album is crazy, we were just reminiscing the whole time and it brought us to tears, joyful tears, remembering everything,” she added, crediting her bandmates in Ben&Ben for molding her into the person that she is today.
“They taught me a lot about the importance of everything. Doing everything together through hardships and everything joyful. Hindi ko alam gagawin ko kung wala kayong lahat,” she said.
“I just want to thank my bandmates for being there for me and for being here with me and making me who I am (today),” she added.
For their last song, Ben&Ben performed Saranggola, a track dedicated to Jam’s journey when she announced her departure.
To conclude the set, Jam picked up the sticks and played her instrument for one last time, hitting the drums and the cymbals that echoed beyond the stage, ending her journey with Ben&Ben literally and figuratively, with a bang.
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