Ben&Ben and an immersive concert experience

Top Filipino folk-rock band Ben&Ben is “threatening” to redefine the live concert experience with “an audio-visual extravaganza that seamlessly blends animation, film, and music performances into one immersive package.”

In the opening salvo press release  for its major concert slated on 14 December, at SM Mall of Asia Arena, Ben&Ben promises to present a groundbreaking event in the local music scene.

Take note that the publicity yarn mentions “film.” Well, what we know to have long been holding concerts within a film narrative is KDR Music House’s “Wish Date” whose most recent edition, “Wish Date 12,” was held at the SM Mall of Asia Arena just last month (October). The production company has yet to explore animation technology on Wish Date, but for about a year now. it has been presenting live scenes on stage as part of the movie that unifies the repertoire (set list) of the concert.

The Ben&Ben concert will be billed as “The Traveller Across Dimensions,” which is also the title of its forthcoming third studio album. The publicity feed for the album proclaims that “it will push the boundaries of traditional music releases.”

Ben&Ben, according to the publicity material, has partnered with a talented team of concert directors, designers, and multimedia artists “to create an animation-concert hybrid that will transport the audience into a magical, world-building realm.”

The band, which has nine members headed by the twins Paulo Bejamin Guico and Miguel Benjamin Guico, has also tapped the services of Puppeteer Studios “to introduce a cast of unique characters and an immersive universe that promise to captivate the audience from start to finish.” 

The band proudly reveals that the concert will incorporate for the first time the Liwanag LED wristbands as part of “the immersive experience.

“We are working with Pixmob, the same tech provider in some of the international concerts we’ve attended in the past,” the band further discloses.

In terms of repertoire, the concert will feature a dynamic mix of crowd favorites, personal picks, and new songs from the band’s latest album. 

“In keeping up with their signature style, Ben&Ben have meticulously arranged the lineup of songs to align with the overarching narrative. This helps in bringing an integrated storytelling experience to the live stage,” concludes the press release.

Ben&Ben’s songs recently became more familiar with theater audiences since about a dozen of the songs were used in the musical “One More Chance” produced by Philippine Educational Theaters Association (PETA). The songs were re-arranged by Myke Solomon for the musical adaptation of the 1997 hit movie of the same title top-billed by John Lloyd Cruz and Bea Alonzo. The musical had two rounds of staging this year, the first from April to May and the second from August to October. 

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At one time or another, broadcasters Winnie Cordero and Amy Perez (yes, one of the hosts of ABS-CBN noontime fare It’s Showtime) played records on ABS-CBN’s DZMM radio station on the AM band, which eventually became well-followed as the Teleradyo where they hosted programs individually or in tandem with male broadcasters.

DZMM, which started airing in 1997, had to be shut down when ABS-CBN lost its franchise. It has been back for a year now under the call sign DWPM 630 AM--with both Tita Winnie and Tsang Amy boarding separately on some days of the week. 

The station has also been rebranded as TeleRadyo Serbisyo. It is owned by Media Serbisyo Production Corporation, a joint venture between Prime Media Holdings (through subsidiary Philippine Collective Media Corporation) and ABS-CBN Corporation, with ABS-CBN News as its main content provider. Prime Media Holdings is owned by House Speaker Alfredo Romualdez.

Perez hosts Ako ‘To, Si Tyang Amy, a public service program which deals on  mental health. It airs  Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays at 3 p.m. Perez almost always have as guests some psychologists and other mental health professionals.

Cordero has two shows: Tatak Serbisyo a public service program on Mondays to Fridays at 10:30 a.m. and Win Today every Saturday at 10 a.m..

The morning primetime block features  ‘Gising Pilipinas’ with Alvin Elchico and Doris Bigornia at 6 a.m. Noli de Castro reads the news at 7:30 AM and his news commentary at 8 a.m. on weekday.

Programs of both DWPM Radyo 630 and Teleradyo Serbisyo are accessible via free-to-air digital television station Prime TV, iWantIFC, and Kapamilya YouTube channel. #