Indo, Pinoy bands to tear it up at Rock & Roots music fest
Don't be surprised if this weekend's Timbre Rock & Roots Festival at the Marina Promenade has a little more regional feel to it than the previous two editions.
Thanks to a partnership with Yahoo! SEA, two bands -- one from Philippines and the other from Indonesia -- will be sharing the stage along with the festival's headlining acts — Earth, Wind & Fire, Trombone Shorty and The Specials.
Bleu Rascals, a three-piece blues band who stand out because of their youth, will represent Pinoy pride after emerging tops in a Yahoo! Philippines fan poll.
Comprising vocalist and guitarist Paul Leobrera, 17, bassist Spencer Rymonte, 18, and drummer Darwin John Quinto, the trio may be young but they have already played at the 28th annual International Blues Challenge held in Memphis early this month. They were only the second blues band from Southeast Asia to have participated in the competition, which if often described as "the Olympics of the blues".
Scoff not at their young tender ages -- Rock & Roots fans are set to be blown away by their fiery brand of blues music, as Rascals mentor Tom Colvin testified to seeing adults jumping up and down while cheering the band on. He added that some even teared from the sheer joy of watching the young Filipinos tear it up onstage.
Watch the Bleu Rascals, who will open the festival on Friday evening, rip it up:
The other band, Andre Harihandoyo and Sonic People, also won a Yahoo! fan poll back home in Indonesia to earn their tickets to the two-day festival.
The quartet — Andre Harihandoyo (vocals, guitar), BJ (bass), Ndreaz (keyboard and clarinet), and Tobias (drums)-- play mainly the blues although you can expect to hear tinges of Eric Clapton, John Mayer, Dave Matthews Band, Jason Mraz and BB King on throughout their 45-minute set.
They will open the second day of the festival on Saturday evening.
Watch a video of them here:
Rounding up the regional line-up, all-time Singapore favourites and resident Timbre band, the Goodfellas, will also collaborating with Malaysia's Dasha Logan on stage to get the home fans going with their own brand of R&B, Motown and classic pop-rock anthems.
For more information on the festival, click here.
Tickets are available from SISTIC.
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