Wavy Baby is… Just Okay, Baby

When I attended the press conference of the Wavy Baby Music Festival last December, Careless Music founder James Reid and CEO Jeffrey Oh said they wanted to transform the Sinulog weekend of January 13 and 14 to the “Coachella of Southeast Asia.”

In my opinion, the attempt was too ambitious for a fledgling music festival. While I understand it was a marketing pitch to Cebuanos, I believe that the concept of Coachella is overrated. Despite the glamorous shots, trendy fashion, and iconic performances birthed in Coachella, attendees of the Californian festival are forced to endure extremely hot temperatures considering its desert terrain. This leads to the hygiene of festivalgoers draining quite quickly, which led to several complaints and jokes on social media about how those in Coachella are often smelly.

All things considered, it’s better to watch Coachella at home as its first weekend has, in the past years, been live-streamed globally on YouTube. (There are no replays though, so keep that in mind when you try to watch your favorite artist perform in Coachella.)

Despite my reservations, I am excited to go to a music festival where it has a stacked line-up of well-known international, national, and local artists for the first time. I don’t need to leave Cebu to be able to go to a music festival of this grand scale.

I was particularly excited to see K-pop idols Sunmi and Bambam, well-beloved OPM band Ben&Ben as well as Cebuano artists Sepia Times, The Sundown, and Cookie$. Asian-American rapper Dumbfounded served as a last-minute replacement of original headliner JVKE, which added to my excitement further.

Day One

I already expected my coverage of the first day would be limited as I intended to see the artists in the afternoon line-up and then leave in the evening for my coverage of the 41st Cebu Popular Music Festival. That meant there was a high chance I would not be able to see Sunmi and Ben&Ben.

What I didn’t expect is that gates at the Marreco Lot in Mandaue City would open very late. The show was supposed to start at 3 pm with Sepia Times, followed by The Sundown. Wavy Baby only opened its doors at 7 pm, by which time I had to leave for another coverage. Before leaving temporarily, I expected Sepia Times and The Sundown would still push through despite the delay. I only found out later on social media that they wouldn’t be performing at all.

Mariegel Torrejos, who was assigned to take snaps of the festival for The FREEMAN, was able to attend the entire Day 1 program. She went with her friends who took advantage of the “free entrance” announcement.

“My first impression of the Wavy Baby concert was that it was somewhat muddy, ruining my outfit. I had to buy water and plastic to cover my shoes,” she said of the venue.

Nonetheless, she was still excited to see December Avenue and Ben&Ben again, as well as Korean band The Rose and Sunmi for the first time in the flesh.

“I never gave a thought to or cared about how dirty my feet were while watching my favorite artists perform their hit songs because I was having a great time,” she remarked. “Seeing James Reid up close made me incredibly thrilled and amazed.”

Day Two

Once again the program was delayed from its original 3 pm schedule, this time starting at 5 pm. This led to Cebuano artists Wonggoys and Three-Legged Men being scrapped from the line-up, just like Sepia Times and The Sundown.

Their cancellation fueled criticism on social media about how the Cebuano artists were treated as “disposable acts” in their own turf. Thankfully, some Cebuano acts such as Urbandub, Franco, and Cookie$ were able to perform.

I highly enjoyed Cookie$’s performance wherein he brought his hype boys with him on stage. His 2019 song “Bogo” was quite popular with my classmates in college, especially when they would go clubbing and would rap along to the lyrics at the top of their lungs. Hearing Cookie$ rap “Bogo” was quite nostalgic for me and I wished my classmates were with me.

I also had the time of my life watching Dumbfounded as he was quite interactive with the crowd. I know him through the comedic content he used to make so it was nice to see his humor shine while talking to the crowd.

Like everyone else, I was excited to see Bambam. I was in awe of how charismatic he was, both as a person and as a performer. During his turn, he shared his first “shot puno” moment with the crowd. The Tagalog phrase is a running joke between him and his fans as he would often tweet “shot puno” ever since he visited the Philippines last year. He also performed his unreleased song “Take It Easy” which he said will be out soon.

While I thought that was the end of my Day 2 highlights, it was American R&B singer Pinksweat$ that ended up being my favorite performer of the night. He knows how to command the crowd to sing with him and he gives off positive vibes with the way he talks to the audience. He gained a new fan after the performance.

It’s instances like watching Pinksweat$ perform live that solidified why I will go to more music festivals in the future. It’s not only about seeing my favorites performing on stage, but also listening to potential new artists that could end up in my Spotify library.

Day 2 ended with performances from James Reid and other Careless Music acts. It’s easy to see why Reid gained a huge fanbase outside his erstwhile JaDine days, and it’s very evident that he enjoys his current music.

I decided to leave when Destiny Rogers went up as the final performer, though I managed to get a glimpse of her performance while seeing myself out. I wish I had some energy left because she sounded nice and had this friendly interaction with the crowd.

Coachella-like experience?

While I had a decent time at Wavy Baby, I couldn’t help but feel bitter at how I wasn’t able to see some of the Cebuano artists that were slated to perform.

That, on top of some organizational issues I witnessed, made it hard for me whether I enjoyed the festival overall. I enjoyed seeing the artists live and it’s refreshing to see them perform in Cebu as opposed to in Manila.

That being said, I feel like organizing a music festival during Sinulog when similar music events are taking place the same week with the same target demographic is a lapse in judgment.

I understand trying to take advantage of the Sinulog hype, given its comeback after two years. But I feel like Wavy Baby would have done better if they had organized it some other time when no other events are taking place concurrently.

It goes back to their ambition of trying to transform Sinulog weekend into some kind of Coachella experience for Southeast Asia. If they do plan to bring Coachella vibes with Wavy Baby, does it have to really take place during Sinulog? In California, Coachella is its own cultural event.

During his performance, Reid asked the crowd if they would like to see Wavy Baby again next year. Of course, the audience said yes. If they must return, Careless Music should look over the many organizational issues so they can deliver a smoother event where the artists that were able to perform aren’t the sole redeeming value of the experience.