Remember that Smart Bro commercial you’ve been seeing these past few months—the one with Ely Buendia, Raimund Marasigan, Barbie Almalbis and Rico Blanco singing to Heber Bartolome’s anthemic tune “Tayo’y Mga Pinoy”? In the commercial, each musician was situated in a different area in the country, but the story tells us that they are able to collaborate on the song in real time thanks to Smart Bro’s ultra-fast connection.
This past Friday night, the four rock icons finally got to perform the song together on the same stage at the Smart Bro Live and Loud concert, held at the Mindanao parking area outside TriNoma.
A big musical event
Front acts Save Me Hollywood and Franco kicked off the concert before the four artists each took the stage for their individual sets.
Sporting his signature headdress and fiesta-themed ensemble, Rico blew the crowd away with no less than theatrical performances of his popular songs “Antukin” and “Yugto”, as well as a Rivermaya medley.
Raimund rocked out with his band Sandwich, performing high-energy crowd favorites such as “Sugod” and “Betamax”, plus the carrier single of their newest album, “Back For More”.
Barbie then took the floor, crooning the all-time favorite Tabing Ilog theme, “Just a Smile” and “Money For Food”. In the middle of her set, she asked an audience member to perform with her onstage for High.
With his band Pupil, Ely came onstage for the last individual set, playing “Disconnection Notice”, “20/20”, “Pusakal” and a bunch of other Pupil songs.
The finale featured the four musicians jamming together as one band—Ely on bass, Barbie and Rico on guitars, Raimund on drums, and each taking turns singing. The OPM super-band performed iconic Pinoy rock songs as a tribute to their idols: Apo Hiking Society’s “Blue Jeans”, “Beep Beep” and “Teacher’s Enemy No. 1” by The Juan de la Cruz Band.
The big night came to a close with the four icons delivering their first live performance of “Tayo’y Mga Pinoy”.
Franco Reyes
Julz Savard of Save Me Hollywood
Rico Blanco
Raimund Marasigan with Sandwich
Barbie Almalbis
Ely Buendia
An interactive concert
Live and Loud was tagged as Smart’s first-ever interactive concert. It was streamed live on the Smart Bro Live and Loud microsite and on Smart’s official YouTube channel.
“Concerts are no longer just exclusive events that only those who are present on-ground can experience,” said Michelle Curran, Data and International Services Marketing Head at Smart. “Many concert-goers now make it a point to post concert photos and updates on their social networking accounts as the performances happen, while other live musical events can also be enjoyed at the comfort of the audience’s home.”
The live audience and the livestream viewers were also given the power to control stage elements, such as light and smoke, during the concert. They were able to do this via Twitter, by tweeting with the hashtag #SmartBroLiveandLoud.
Aside from being able to watch the show online and influence stage effects on the night itself, netizens were also able to participate in the outcome of the concert by voting which songs they wanted to hear from the four artists via an online poll that was conducted prior to the event. The artists performed the audience’s top picks at the end of their respective sets.
Missed it? Watch the full concert in the video below!