This is a fine time to be an Eraserheads fan.
Buddy Zabala, Ely Buendia, Marcus Adoro, and Raymund Marasigan are heading back on the road in July to continue the legendary rock band’s world tour.
“We love touring. We love going to new places and even places we’ve already gone to, there’s always something new,” said Ely at a press conference at Guevarra’s by Chef Laudico in San Juan on June 19.
Months after their epic Dec. 22, 2022 reunion concert at the SMDC Festival Grounds, they took the “Huling El Bimbo” tour to Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Toronto, and New York.
Buddy said, “The second show we did was LA. Sobrang saya (it was so much fun). We felt that they missed the ‘Heads, they missed the songs, that’s what I felt.”
Buddy during last year’s world tour. Photo by Atari Academia for WEU and DVent Productions
This time, the “Huling El Bimbo” World Tour 2024 kicks off at the Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu on July 6 before making stops at The Warfield in San Francisco on July 12, Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on July 13, Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula on July 19, and the Great Canadian Casino Resort Toronto on July 21.
On Nov. 23, they’re playing at Arena @ Expo in Singapore and then in Dubai on Dec. 8 at the Dubai Exhibition Centre.
Raymund promises a different set from last year’s. “We’re working on a new set. It’s slightly different, including a lot of deep cuts, songs we haven’t played in the previous tours, some songs we’ve never played live ever in our careers.”
Marcus said that he’s most excited about “the show itself and the surprise songs we have prepared.”
Best ambassadors
Francis Lumen, president and CEO of WEU Event Management Services, which, along with DVent Productions, is producing the tour, shared that the Eraserheads have brought him out of retirement.
“These guys are really one of the best ambassadors of Filipino talent all over the world… Working with these guys, presenting them onstage to a global audience, it makes me proud… It’s one of the things that keeps me a bit younger.”
This tour is the biggest one they’re doing so far, said Ronald Esguerra, COO of WEU. “Hopefully we can add more cities as we go along.”
But even fans who aren’t lucky enough to be anywhere near those tour cities have a lot to look forward to.
On Friday, the tour’s official merch site (shop.teamrebelsports.com/eraserheads) was launched, giving Eheads fans worldwide access to band merch like caps, jackets, shorts, shirts, and bags. (We are eyeing those “Magasin” and “Alapaap” shirts.)
The Eraserheads are also launching their official YouTube channel which will feature concert clips, behind-the-scenes videos, and more.
‘Combo on the Run’
Then there’s “Combo on the Run,” the much awaited Eraserheads documentary which is in its last stages of post-production in Los Angeles, according to Maria Diane Ventura, director of the film and CEO of DVent Productions. “We’re thrilled to announce that we are dropping the official trailer at one of the biggest and most exciting conventions in the world in July 2024 in San Diego.”
The film’s poster reads: “In 2022, during a time of uncertainty and political upheaval, an unlikely group of disbanded punks provide reprieve to a country, unknowingly needing healing themselves.”
Then there’s this description from the filmmaker: “The Eraserheads remain the most important Filipino band of the past half-century. Despite their untimely dissolution in 2002, they have stayed part of the cultural zeitgeist. When they returned for the record-breaking reunion show “Huling El Bimbo” in 2022, a polarized nation united for a one-night show. Part-procedural of a mammoth production and dissection of a relationship that is as celebrated as the music it yielded, this two-part documentary is an unmissable testament to artistry and what it means to be human.”
We cannot wait to watch it and we know you can’t, too.
But for now, we can relive the “Huling El Bimbo” 2022 concert on digital music platforms including Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, and Deezer. That unforgettable reunion concert was livestreamed in over 100 countries and went on to win the Concert of the Year award at the 15th Philippine PMPC Star Awards for Music.
And we can keep hoping that the tour would make its way to our part of the world.
How does it feel to be back on tour?
Ely: We love touring… We love to make new friends, new acquaintances on tour, and just the experience of being on the road and playing music for the fans is always something to look forward to.
Photo by Atari Academia for WEU and DVent Productions
How have you been preparing for it?
Raymund: The first thing we did was get together and have a quiet dinner, kami-kami lang (just us). Then we talked about the preparations that we have to do, the songs that we need to work on. We have a very fun and busy group chat, everyone’s suggesting songs… We do a lot of pre-production and a few rehearsals, jamming. We just jammed yesterday. I think we’re preparing 40 songs… but we’re not gonna play them in one night. Parang may umiikot lang na (it’s like a rotating) set list. Of course, we need to play songs na obligado (that we have to).
Will you please share with us your creative process in choosing the set list? Are there songs that you make sure you play at all the stops?
Buddy: The tour is called the “Huling El Bimbo” tour so we’ve taken it upon ourselves to add the song to the set list. We have a lot of fun performing that song all the time. We just don’t know where to put it—sa start or sa end.
Raymund: Usually the singles. Magagalit yung audience ‘pag hindi mo tutugtugin. (The audience would get mad if we don’t play them.) In our group chats, [we say], “Tugtugin naman natin ‘to” (“Let’s play this”), or “Subukan naman natin ‘to” (“Let’s try this”) or “Baka kaya na natin ‘to tugtugin” (“Maybe we can play this now”) or “Paano natin ‘to ginawa sa studio and paano natin mainterpret live?” (“How did we do it in the studio and how do we interpret it live?”) For this tour, Ely and Marcus chose majority of the songs. Mac, paano ka pumili?
Marcus: May mga nagre-request na tropa, “Uy, tugtugin niyo naman ‘yang ano…” (Friends make requests, “Please play this…”)
Ely: ‘Yung set list I think is 80 percent decided by fans, 15 percent is decided by family and friends… tama ba ‘yang math ko? 5 percent is decided by the band. If we were to choose 100 percent of the set list, baka wala nang pumunta sa gigs dahil (no one might go to the gigs because) it will be super deep cuts and mga obscure Eheads songs which we, as the parents of those songs, would want exposed to the world just to give them the chance. But syempre it’s not a perfect world and syempre we have to do it for the fans so most of the songs are still the greatest hits, the fan favorites, with a little bit, 5 percent, thrown in there. But we made a… it’s called a soundcheck experience, where we get to play the songs that we really love as a band and we will do it during soundcheck because we know the fans who paid for that VIP ticket will appreciate whatever we play.
When you’re going on a world tour like this, what’s one thing you absolutely have to pack? How does one pack for a world tour?
Marcus: I overpack. Mas maganda nang mag-overpack kesa underpack. (It’s better to overpack than underpack.)
Ely: I make it a point to travel light but I also bring one extra luggage na walang laman (that’s empty)for the shopping and take home… The essentials, syempre, like Nintendo Switch, toothbrush, nandun na yun.
Buddy: Berocca, Lola Remedios… everything that you can think of to keep you healthy and functioning.
Raymund: May question ako, how many pairs of shoes do you bring?
Buddy: Pwede na ‘yung dalawa… (Two should be enough…)
Raymund: How many for the show? One for the show…
Buddy: Two to get ready and four to go.
Raymund: (laughs and turns to Ely) Ikaw, ilang shoes?
Ely: Nung last tour, three pairs. One for walking and two pairs for the shows.
Raymund: Ang best na dinadala namin, si Ely nagturo niyan eh. Kasi walang bidet sa Amerika so portable bidet is the best pag Pilipino ka. Portable bidet. ‘Yan ang wag niyong kakalimutan sa US tour. (The best thing that we bring is something Ely taught us. Because there are no bidets in America, portable bidets are the best if you’re Filipino. That’s what you shouldn’t forget to bring on a US tour.)
Having toured the US and other countries before, how different are the crowds from the crowd at ‘Huling El Bimbo’?
Ely: We always get surprised even if we’ve played to international audiences na just how.. parang sabik na sabik sila (excited they are) to hear any kind of OPM music. I guess that’s to be expected.
Raymund: Anong pinaka-wild na city nung huling tour? (Which city was the wildest during the last tour?)
Ely: I like the New York crowd.
Buddy: Yeah. (Nods)
Ely: I don’t know why but somehow the energy talagang hits you in the face.
Raymund: Wildest nga yung New York. For the last tour and this tour, we prepared an Easter egg for every city. So it’s up to the fans to figure out what the Easter egg is for every city. Kasi similar yung sets…
Ely: It’s a song, it’s not an actual egg. (Everyone laughs.)
Raymund: But…. (laughs)
Buddy: If you check under your seats… (laughs)
Raymund: It’s special for that city alone. For example, in Winnipeg, we played “American Woman” by The Guess Who. We used to play that song in college but The Guess Who is a band from Winnipeg pero mas maraming tao may alam nung song (more people know it) as a Lenny Kravitz song. That’s an Easter egg. Mas madali yung this tour, mas madali yung gagawin namin and mas masaya din. (What we’re doing this tour is easier and more fun.)
What’s something about live performance you miss and can’t wait to experience again?
Raymund: It’s the energy that the crowd gives you. It’s like the first time you’re playing. I know these are really old songs, but it’s the first time we’re playing it to them. And it’s probably the first time they’re hearing it live. So there’s an energy that you can’t replicate anywhere else.
Ely: It’s also great to see new faces, I mean, young faces in the audience who probably weren’t even born here in our heyday… that just means that the music still translates to the younger generation, which is awesome because you know how they’re so hard to please now.
Buddy: Are they?
Ely: Just kidding.
Marcus: And the music seems to be growing as well. Some of the music parang nag-e-evolve for the better.
Ely: I agree. That’s true. There are some songs in our catalogue na as a matter of fact we want to re-record the whole thing not so that we could own our masters but because as artists, we found that we could have done more stuff with the song. For example, there’s a song in the set list now, “Shake Yer Head”, that I think is a better arrangement than the one in the album. That’s always something we look forward to as musicians, to sort of become true to our profession which is being musicians and actually still applying the inspiration that we were into back then when we were just starting out.
Do you have a message for the fans?
Buddy: We always like to keep it light. We love to perform our old songs, our new songs, and we just ask the fans to keep an open mind and open ears so when we do perform the songs, the experience that we have onstage, the fun that we’re having, we hope that it translates, we hope that you love our music the way that we love it.
You’ve done hundreds of shows abroad, what’s been the most memorable?
Raymund: So far… ako, New York.
Ely: That, dahil first time namin makatugtog sa Madison Square Garden and also the most number of audience that we had was in Hamilton, Ontario… we’d never played for that [big a] crowd before.
Raymund: Actually, for us, a lot of adventures happen before or after the show. Like one time, tumirik yung bus for several hours sa gitna ng desyerto. Yung kalahati nung crew and equipment hindi dumating ‘yung eroplano so photo finish, right before the show dumating ‘yung sound engineer and the lights person… Parang, ‘Makakatugtog ba tayo?’ Sabi namin, ‘Nakatugtog ka nga sa Mayric’s eh! Makakatugtog ka rin dito.’ (The bus stalled for hours in the middle of the dessert. Half the crew and equipment didn’t arrive… photo finish, the sound engineer and lights person arrived right before the show. “Will we be able to play?” We said, “You were able to play at Mayric’s so you’ll be able to play here.”) May mag ganung nangyari, mga adventures in between shows.
Marcus: Kumbaga sa rock parlance, we have our fair share of Spinal Tap moments.
Compared to when you were working on the ‘Huling El Bimbo’ concert in Manila, what has changed in the group? Have your dynamics changed?
Buddy: We’ve had several dinners under our belt. That way, we’re kind of in touch with kung ano yung kinain ni Ely, ano ‘yung inorder ni Marcus (what Ely ate, what Marcus ordered). It helps, it helps in the dynamic. Sharing a dinner, having drinks, coffee, we’ve had more of that.
Raymund: Birthdays!
Buddy: Birthdays… it helps. Ever since, we’ve spent a lot more time together. And it’s shaping our live show and it’s keeping it fun.
The Eraserheads’ Huling El Bimbo World Tour 2024 is brought to you by WEU Event Management Services, DVent Productions, Tiana Ent Inc., Live Nation Philippines, ABS-CBN Global-Asia Pacific and ABS-CBN Global-Middle East. Stay updated through Huling El Bimbo Concert on Facebook, @hulingelbimboconcert on Instagram, @HEBConcert on X, @hulingelbimboconcert on TikTok and @eraserheads_official on YouTube.
