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While their parents were at Madrid Fusion Manila, Filipino millennials were having a field day at third Wanderland music and arts festival.
On Saturday, the Globe Circuit Events Ground in Makati was littered with Filipino youth garbed in their fest best: backless midriffs and short shorts, or long flowy skirts and dresses for the ladies. The boys, meanwhile, preferred sando and floral shirts to go with their shorts.
Sprawling was the one word that came to mind. There was a lot of sky, a lot of space, a lot of ample breaks, too, between sets. Concert attendees displayed a super chill attitude, which made the festival feel like it needed a jolt and some tightening. Perhaps unlike the older generation (read: me), where festivals meant music, to the younger set, music is only one part of Wanderland, which is produced by Karpos Media Inc, and presented by Globe and Locally. Hats off to Karpos because that’s a pretty impressive list of sponsors, yo: Wanderland was co-presented by Fox and StarWorld, Smirnoff Mule came as the official alcoholic beverage and Topshop and Topman came in as official apparel.
Most of the attendees that Coconuts Manila spoke to were between 15-19 years old, which made us feel…old. And like the adult providing the necessary supervision to a weekend party, we people-watched like it was definitely our business. Below are our field notes from the festival:
1. The kids today are so chill. The kids took advantage of the wide open space, the bean bags provided, and their scarves, and sprawled on the grass. Mosh pit? No thanks. The need to be on front row? Not really.
2. They are also so well-behaved. There was a standing area right in front of the stage, but man, nobody was moshing or anything like that. They stood there, bobbing their heads, taking videos and photos. There were no reported incidents on drugs or violence — parents should be proud.
3. They like to dance. Unlike people who grew up in the ’90s and were too timid or needed the pharma-push to get on the dance floor — or those who prefered to mosh, instead — the young ones of today, at least those present in Wanderland, like to dance as though it was nobody’s business. Maybe it was RAC who brought it out of the kids; what a super solid, super tight one-hour set this group of DJs played! But, whatever. We were only too happy to see some joy and excitement and dancing from the super-chill crowd.
4. They are friendly. “Sure! What’s this for,” was the common reply when we would ask to take their photo. Some of them even engaged us in small talk, which we didn’t do when we were younger. Eew, strangers.
5. They love having their photos taken. And they know how to pose for them photos! There was a constant line at the Top Shop booth, where their OOTDs could be taken, white balloons and all. And then it hit us: They are the selfie generation, they like their OOTDs, SOTDs, and whatever else OTD.
6. They have a, um, curious fashion sense. Wow man, while there was the festbest theme of long and flowy or short and backless, several kids took the opportunity to show who they really are. Like this girl who wore…an apron. What’s up?
7. Mint green is popular color. While there were lots of florals, we couldn’t help but note how mint green dominated the day.
8. They like grand, soaring melodies that make them feel infinite. When Lewis Watson took the stage during sunset, wow man. Instead of pushing thsemlves up to the front, the kids chose to enjoy the music from their corner on the grass, instead. How do we know they’re enjoying? They had their phones up, hardly talked to each other, and gazed intently in the horizon as the sun painted the sky gold. So much feelz, we know.
9. They also like dramatic, epic songs. To be honest, we thought Augustana’s set was two songs too long. No, make that, four songs too long. But the kids, they love the American band’s brand of sentimental rock. Maybe it’s the drama Augustana is able to pack their songs with. In any case, we thought that’s a testament to their attention spans. Where mid-set, we had to get up and leave the area, the kids stayed and sang and enjoyed.
10. Hale still holds a special place in their heart. At about 7pm, Hale took the main stage for their comeback. And finally, we saw the pit area thicken. A lot of the kids even rushed from the food area where they were already having dinner to squeeze themselves in and sing along “Blue Skies” and that song that the elders like to call “Tutubi.” Note: The real title of the song is “The Day We Said Goodnight.” To be fair: The pogi rockers had a pretty solid comeback.
11. They channel their energy and excitement online. So that’s how they are able appear cool and composed and chill: they prefer to turn fan girl online. How did we figure that out? Kid Cudi trended on Twitter Saturday night. Most deserved too because he went all out, not just playing the hits but playing with their sequences, too. By the time he dished out “Pursuit of Happiness,” the energy was way up there, with the kids tweeting and singing along.
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Photos by Tammy David
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