Rico Blanco a big hit as Fiesto Bandido at Sundown Music Festival in Singapore

Rico Blanco performs at the recent Sundown Music Festival in Singapore. (Photo by Aloysius Lim)

Dedicating his performance and entire talent fee to the survivors of typhoon Yolanda, Pinoy rocker Rico Blanco introduced Singaporean audiences to his Fiesto Bandido alter ego at the Sundown Music Festival last November 16.

With his familiar ati-atihan-inspired armor and face paint, Rico performed a spirited set in the F1 Pit Building at Marina Promenade that was well-received by a crowd of varying Asian nationals estimated at around 8,000.

Rico was easily one of the standout performers in the annual music festival that also featured Asian sensations Nidji from Indonesia, Japanese rockers D=OUT and Screw and Pinoy rock band RockSteddy, who kicked off the festival on a high energy note with their signature upbeat ditties.

Rico’s set included “Burado,” “Antukin” and “What It Is”, three popular tracks from his latest album, “Galactik Fiestamatik” which the singer-songwriter said were inspired by electronic, classical and tribal music.

Although all tracks were warmly received by the foreign crowd, Filipinos in the audiences were particularly thrilled to hear his 2008 sweet serenade “Your Universe” and his medley of Rivermaya classics that included “Posible,” “Liwanag sa Dilim (Kaya mo ‘to),” “Hinahanap-hanap Kita,” and “Awit ng Kabataan”.

One moving moment came when Rico sang an intro line from “Bangon,” the song he’d written after super typhoons hit the country in 2009. When typhoon Yolanda hit the country early last month, Rico’s mother was in Leyte visiting their relatives and he had to rush back to the province to see how they were doing.

In the aftermath of the typhoon, Rico has been busy doing his share to help out the typhoon victims, including performing in benefit concerts such as the Smart Live and Loud free benefit concert organized in partnership with TV5’s Alagang Kapatid Foundation, which he headlined with Barbie Almalbis last November 23.

A view of the crowd and the stage during Rico Blanco's performance at the recent Sundown Music Festival. (Photo by Aloysius Lim)

In addition to the line-up of regional performing acts from Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan and this year, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines, the 5th edition of the Sundown Music Festival in Singapore also treated concertgoers to a taste of Asian cuisine and culture as they sampled hawker-style street food from all eight countries. This, while watching fringe performances by Indonesian “barong” dancers, Tinikling B-boys from the Philippines and muay thai fighters from Thailand.

Rico Blanco a big hit as Fiesto Bandido at Sundown Music Festival in Singapore

Source: InterAksyon.com (December 03, 2013 at 08:07PM)

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