MANILA, Philippines — One of the country’s biggest rock bands, Wolfgang, has been missing in the scene for years and has only recently been back on the local stage for a handful of shows.
Vocalist Basti Artadi moved to the States a few years ago and started his family there, leaving the band in hiatus until, in 2009, they got together for a comeback show of sorts, an endorsement deal with No Fear, and a new indie album to boot.
At the Mar. 3 press conference to launch Tanduay’s “First Five 2011” and its subsequent national tour dates, it was announced that Wolfgang would be joining Sandwich, Chicosci, Kamikazee and Parokya ni Edgar on tour to create what is touted to be the “mythical team of the Philippine rock scene.”
Along with this is the announcement that Artadi would be coming back to the Philippines, and staying. “They’re packing up their belongings there, they’re moving here for good,” guitarist Manuel Legarda tells Bulletin Entertainment.
“Essentially, this Tanduay tour is sort of key to that. Because of that, parang, there’s something to come back to,” he notes. “They’ve been thinking about [moving back here]… but this tour was the catalyst that made it happen sooner.”
Artadi himself, in a canned interview, has said, “After we played at last year’s Tanduay Rhum Rockfest, the ball kinda started rolling.”
Tanduay’s campaign for this year has the slogan “The Power of Five: A League of One” to reinforce the brand’s standing of being the country’s Number One Rhum. With it, the brand would be able to reach out to the young rock fans on a national scale.
Already on its third year, the Tanduay First Five tour has assembled its own “league of extraordinary gentlemen” that will essentially conquer the country in as many as 30 concert dates. Kicking off on March 25 in Palawan, the rock wave will go through Legazpi, Davao, Cebu, General Santos, Bacolod, Naga, Baguio, Cagayan de Oro, to name a few stops, before it culminates in Iloilo on Dec. 3. The tour is also sponsored by Pony, No Fear and Cherry Mobile.
Wolfgang, of course, has been the country’s biggest rock metal band and likewise a consistently solid presence at the NU Rock Awards during their more active years. And as recently as 2010, the band had conquered the Asian region when they were awarded Best Rock Group 2010 in Asia by the influential Asia Indie Music Awards, the biggest awards event for independent music.
Legarda notes that they have also been writing new material for a follow-up to their 2009 album “Villains.” “It depends how it goes, I mean, the tour will keep us pretty busy but if we can find time between the performances to get together to fix the songs, lalabas this year,” he shares.
It is expected that Wolfgang would be one of the tour’s most anticipated acts, this being their first national tour after having been away for six years. “We’ve done this before,” Legarda says. “But it’s always good to play different places and see the people who buy your albums and get into your music.”
On touring with the other four bands, notably the wild and wacky Kamikazee and Parokya ni Edgar, Legarda smiles and says, “Okay naman, it’s gonna be fun. ‘Yung mga roadies naming dati makukulit din so… It’ll be fun, I’m looking forward to this year.”
Artadi, for his part, is excited to be on the band’s first tour in eight years. “I’m done with competitions,” he says, alluding to bands being pitted against each other. “I’m just looking forward to having as much fun as possible, at the same time, putting on the best shows as possible.”
He is also happy to be “seeing the Philippines again! It’s been a while since I’ve gone around,” noting that the band has not even played in Palawan before.
When asked about Artadi’s imminent return, Legaspi jokes, “Para akong lalagnatin!”
“Hindi, siyempre masaya,” he says, and then immediately adds, “Back for good daw siya, ewan ko kung for bad, babalik siguro siya dun!”
Wolfgang will be joined on tour by drummer Francis Aquino.
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