Friday the 13th may be considered unlucky but April 13, 2018 has been exceptionally favorable to the iconic band Sandwich for a lot of incredible things. "Under the Glow of the Satellite: 20th anniversary concert" is their biggest and phenomenal show to date that occurred in Metrotent, Pasig City.

It's an honor, a thrill and a commitment to be present and to cover the band’s 20^th anniversary concert for Manila Concert Junkies (MCJ). We are grateful to be among MCJ’s trusted people to be able to experience such kind of music celebration. We would also like to thank Jam 88.3 for including us on its big list of attendees.

Billed as Under the Glow of the Satellite, it’s a line taken from one of Sandwich's most popular songs, "2 Trick Pony." The concert is an all-hits essential rock dance party as the audience gets to hear Sandwich the way they want to hear them in a dual stage venue.

Attendees are greeted with food carts selling a variety of Pinoy favorites paired with local beer and other alcoholic booze as well as customize band merchandise items being sold all over the venue.

The event started with performances from few local acts like Autotelic, Ciudad, She's Only Sixteen, Tom's Story, youngsleepyboi, and Diego Mapa. 

20 Years of Music and Wisdom

The band Sandwich, with members Raimund Marasigan (vocals), Diego Castillo & Mong Alcaraz (guitars), Myrene Academia (bass) and Mike Dizon (drums), is one of the most multi-awarded bands in the Philippines.

During the concert, Sandwich not only charmed the fans with their music as magnetic frontman Raimund Marasigan also delivered few words of wisdom – on enjoying concerts in this age of digital technology and asking fans to refrain from watching through their devices during the show.

“We recommend guys that you put your phones down and just enjoy the music... Well, you can take a few photos but iba pa rin when you hear iyong bagsak ng bass and you groove with it,” Raims insists not to worry about taking videos because celebrity videographer Jason Magbanua is documenting the concert for all of us.

For that Friday night, people gathered together for one simple purpose: to celebrate the greatest music milestone of Sandwich with a magnitude of a long-lasting impact in the Philippine music history. The concert was overflowing with love for the band: friends chatting about nostalgic Sandwich experiences and bursting Sandwich classic songs on a buoyant rock-dance celebration.

"It's about taking care of each other," says Raims as he shared pieces of wisdom on how they sustained long-term success as a band spanning two decades. Today, they’re still active in performing, touring and making music.

“Thank you very much for taking care of us and for taking care of everybody. It means a lot,” Raims expresses to the bank of fans behind them.

Sandwich Continues to Rock

For Sandwich, rock ‘n’ roll is never just about the music but also treating each other as family. It is what keeps the band together for so many years. Their achievements are all the more remarkable because they serve as an inspiration for other artists and new generation bands.

Adding to their success is the sustained quality of their musicianship, they are masters of Pinoy alternative rock that has become both instantly recognizable and profoundly influential.

The songs performed include "Butterfly Carnival," "Walang Kadala-dala," "Betamax," "Timelapse," "Hairpin," "Jetlag," "Masilungan," "Sugod," "Maybe," "New Romancer," "Take to the Moon," "Nahuhulog," "Sunburn," "Procastinator," "Kagulo," "Sugod" among others. Sandwich feat "Butterfly Carnival," video below by tabachoi.

With the concert coming to a close, the band found their way to the smaller stage, went crazy on stage, crowd surfing and intimately interacting with people.

It’s a genuinely standout moment, it really turned out to be everything we thought it could be as we relished every second of it. Sandwich is on the top of their game, urged the crowd to engage with the music and showed us how an awesome rock concert is supposed to sound.

As a matter of fact, Sandwich music has transcended from generation to generation, and I am thrilled to see young fans enjoying their sound. It's surreal to witness and be part of the people who made this historic concert happen.

Click link for more photos from this set HERE.

Leaving you with this video courtesy of  Jen A, check out the epic opening song of Sandwich at the #xsx concert.

Tala Gil launched her self-titled debut EP 'TALA' at Unit 27 Apartment Bar + Cafe in Eastwood Citywalk, Quezon City last April 13.

The 18-year old singer-songwriter formally introduced her EP comprises of five tracks after having three singles attaining respective successes – with the then-debuted “nothing personal” peaking at the 8^th spot on the Spotify Philippines Viral 50 Chart and being a consistent chart-topper on Monster RX 93.1's The Countdown Top 20 for three months.

“Bruised,” on the other hand, reached Spotify Malaysia Viral 50 Chart, and “boy” managed to snatch the 26^th rank at the iTunes Top 200 Tracks in Panama.

Completing the debut record are fresh tracks “Walk Away” and “Amber.” First launched digitally on 23 March 2018, the EP has already entered various iTunes charts, including Taiwan, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

Tala Gil's groove and chill-laden music draw inspiration from artists such as Yuna, Tom Misch, June Mariezzy, Corrine Bailey Rae, Frank Ocean, and Norah Jones; depicting the youthful emotions of love, heartaches, and female empowerment. And it helped that her talent inherited from agenerationn of musicians – such as father Dan (member of the band Chillitees) and cousin Nikki en route to making a name for herself in the local music scene today.

Apart from the formal launching of EP, Tala has launched the music video for 'Bruised,' directed by Breech Quincy.

TALA's self-titled debut EP, is already available on iTunes, Apple Music, Deezer, Amazon, and Spotify. Follow the artist on her Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

Following two successful shows at the Music Museum two years ago, the iconic triumvirate of Johnoy Danao, Ebe Dancel, and Bullet Dumas is back at the concert scene again, and it will be slated in a much bigger fashion.

The trio known as 3D is set to perform at the Kia Theatre on June 9, 2018.  And it came much to the clamor of everyone who has seen them in that iconic music hall in San Juan in 2016, and much of their various bar gigs all over the metro since then.

From the initial duo of acoustic singer-songwriters (Danao and Dumas), the Sugarfree frontman joined the party and the experimentation become an instant success, eventually earning the trust of organizers to stage their first major concert on early 2016 despite meeting skepticism.

“The first DAMA was definitely a risk. Because we were playing on like 200 or 300 people at that time,” Dancel said.

“It was their first concert as producers. They believed in us.” Dumas agreed.

“So when we realized that they have much faith in us, it also helped us to believe in ourselves,” Dancel seconded.

3D was also responsible for rendering one of Sugarfree's hit singles Burnout as a soundtrack for the movie I'm Drunk, I Love You in 2016.

From the feels-driven DAMA, the trio decide to call their upcoming concert IISA since they are poised to have more grand sound in unison.

“IISA dahil kahit sobrang dami namin sa entablado this time around, iisa ang tunog na lalabas mula sa amin at ang maririnig ng mga tao,” said Dumas.

“First, it will be on a bigger venue, so it can accommodate a huge crowd to watch us. We have a band that will back us up (Manila String Machine Orchestra), so expect us to have much fuller sound,” said Danao. “Kumbaga, makakarinig kayo ng iba't ibang instrumento, at hindi lang yung usual na acoustic guitar namin.”

Is it safe to say that 3D is on a roll after IISA? The trio just aims to savor the moments and enjoy everything they have been putting with.

“We'll take it one show at a time,” Dancel claimed. “The best thing about us is that we have our expectations to minimum. Bar gig nga lang gusto namin eh. So yung umabot na kami sa Kia Theatre, it is already a blessing. So gusto ko munang namnamin yun.”

“Ayaw namin bigyan ang sarili namin ng pressure after ng IISA. So after that, babalik na naman kami sa mga bar gig,” Danao added.

“Mismo. Sa ngayon, itong concert yung ie-enjoy namin. Then next, pagbalik sa mga bar gig, enjoy din namin,” Dumas concluded.

IISA will be held on Saturday, June 9, 2018, at the Kia Theatre in Araneta Center, Cubao, Quezon City. The show will feature the Manila String Machine Orchestra and other special guests.

Tickets are available at all Ticketnet Outlets via its website or by calling 911-5555, or by contacting Joff at 0945-791-8660. For inquiries, you can also check out the trio's official Facebook page.

This event is made possible by Vandals Entertainment and Gabi Na Naman Productions.