On November 15, the nine-piece band Ben&Ben revealed why they believe it’s the perfect time to mount their online concert.
During the media conference for Kuwaderno: A Ben&Ben Online Concert, one of the band’s lead vocalists, Paolo, said it had been a long time coming to launch their first major concert.
“Well, ang tagal na naming gustong mag-major concert. It’s been a long time coming. Of course, much more so, when we dropped our sophomore album, ‘yung Pebble House Vol. 1 Kuwarderno.
“‘Yung online concert we took it from the message of the songs. And since Vol. 1 Kuwaderno is about the pandemic and our feelings and our stories na nangyari ngayon, parang, we thought na the best way to capture that is through an online concert.
“We really miss a live concert, and we really miss being with Liwanag sa live concert. Pero, we want to embrace the season that we are in.”
Another band member Poch added that it had always been their dream to have their first major concert.
“It’s always been a dream na first major concert, Ben&Ben. When we made ‘yung Pebble House Vol. 1 Kuwarderno, it just made sense to make it a bigger scale experience through the concert, and it just fell into place.”
The band also listed the challenges they faced amid their preparations for the upcoming online concert, such as daily rehearsals and PETA [Philippine Educational Theater Association] workshops.
“I think one thing is, we’ve been rehearsing every day. And, hindi lang siya like playing–27 hours everday, ‘yun ‘yun. Hindi lang siya tugtog rehearsal, may movements din, may energy rehearsals din, we had a workshop with PETA a few weeks ago to bring us out of our shells, out of our comfort zones. That’s one of the challenges that we’ve encountered.”
Keifer clarified that their experience of seeing different forms of art fuse together humbled them as artists.
“Working with people from PETA, may fusion kasi ng different arts involved kasi. It’s really pulling us out of our comfort zones. To really see things differently, na may ibang aspect of art. So it’s really challenging.
“We get to be humbled to see different forms of art. And, really appreciate it more deeply. Being right there, talking to wonderful people, mga–hindi ko pwedeng sabihin what type of art, pero masaya siya, so ‘yun nga, I think its one of the challenges for us. That’s why we are saying na special siya.”
Miguel noted that their preparations for the concert helped them see a fresh take on music.
“It’s also a fresh take on music when you come from a different school of thought in /terms of interpreting sound into a performance, and si Myke, coming from a theater background. Ang sarap din noong take niya, sabi namin, pwede pala siyang i-approach that way.”
Pat cited how they adjusted to a virtual concert environment through the power of their imagination.
“It’s through the power of imagination. I think we have mastered that in the past year and a half. Imagination. Di totoo talaga, one year or more namin siya pina-practice, so I think by now, medyo nai-imagine na namin na mayroon kaming audience na tinutugtugan.
“Like we would imagine ‘yung mga past concerts namin, or yung mga past shows namin from before, at like ‘yung ibang mga kwento ng mga taong. Like at least ‘yung mga na-meet nanamin. Ayun power of imagination is the key.”
The band will stage Kuwaderno: A Ben&Ben Online Concert in SMART Araneta Coliseum. The concert event will stream live on December 5, 2021, from 8 pm to 11 pm via the digital streaming platform KTX.ph.
They currently have four tiers of tickets such as TINATANGI (P8000), MAHIWAGA (P5500), MAGKA-IBIGAN (P3500), and KAIBIGAN (P1000).
