Sonic boom

In the parlance of cool speak, no two words have been uttered more times this year (aside from pop-up and ramen) than music festivals — yes, the exciting, new way in which yuppies and the social media generation prefer to enjoy their live music. It’s not so much as it being “new” — after all, this is the music festival’s second year in zeitgeist circulation, calling to mind last year’s Manila Music Festival and Tagaytay Electronica Festival, and this year’s Malasimbo featuring Joss Stone, Wanderland and La Union Soul Surf. It’s actually that besides repetition and cross-pollination of musical styles and cultures from all over the world, we have now this millennial need for DIY and curating our own musical experiences, which explains the popularity of the otherwise diversified music festival and it’s laissez faire take on how performances ought to be enjoyed. Enter: Sonic Carnival.

Young STAR columnist and the event’s social media director Raymond Gutierrez shares, “We wanted to do a world class music festival that combines all the elements that you see in Tomorrowland, ZoukOut, Ultra Music Festival and other festivals around the world. We’re essentially combining a few genres together to give the audience an audio-visual feast.”

What immediately sets this music festival apart from its contemporaries, besides going the extra mile to ensure that the sound system, staging, and lights will be up to par with what you’d otherwise see in festivals abroad, is that the proceeds of the festival will go to the victims of Typhoon Yolanda.

Raymond, who recently hosted a bloggers’ diner in anticipation of the festival, adds, “[I wanted] to create awareness about the partnership between Sonic Carnival and the Philippine Red Cross.” He also confirms that Steve Aoki, one of the festival’s headliners, will be donating $36,000 to the Yolanda victims in time for his 36th birthday, and is raising another $36,000 on top of that. “All in all, I think social media buzz really helped us create awareness about the festival and its cause.”

The whole day festival kicks-off tomorrow, 2 p.m., at the SM MoA Grounds with a stellar lineup of both local and international acts. Expect to see live performances from Razorback, Urbandub, and Up Dharma Down; live DJ sets from Deuce Manila, DJs Katsy Lee, Mars Miranda, Euric, Ace Ramos, Martin Pulgar, Funk Avy and MC Roda King; and beat blowouts from world-renowned beat meisters DJ Hendrix, Laidback Luke, and electro dance stalwart Steve Aoki.

“I’m curious to see what the new bands and DJs will bring to the table,” shares Raymond. “We have a lot of really talented musicians and artists out there. They just need more support from the local industry. I think that Manila has been more welcoming of new genres and it’s good to see the music industry move forward.” Well, as Steve Aoki and Laidback Luke would shout repeatedly over blasted speakers and busted eardrums, it’s nice to know that, music festivals aside, “we’ve (finally) got turbulence!”

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For tickets to tomorrow’s Sonic Carnival, call SM tickets at 470-2222, Ticketworld at 891-9999 and Fearless Productions at 706-1648. For VIP tables, call Fearless Productions at 706-1648.