Turning 40: The Dawn talks legacy
by CEDTyClea · BusinessWorld OnlineIT’S BEEN 40 years since The Dawn started making music, and they’re still active and ready to showcase their evolution as a band by returning to the concert stage.
A pillar of the local music scene, representing Filipino rock since the 1980s, they will be playing their hits that continue to resonate like “Enveloped Ideas,” “Salamat,” and “Iisang Bangka.”
Through Kwarenta, their 40th anniversary concert, they aim to celebrate their journey and the fans who have supported them. With the current lineup of vocalist Jett Pangan, drummer JB Leonor, guitarists Rommel Sanchez and Francis Reyes, and bassist Bim Yance, The Dawn will take the stage at The Theatre at Solaire in Parañaque on June 27.
“Individually, we feel older. Collectively as a band, we feel very thankful and very grateful to have reached this part in our career. Every day that we’re together, there’s this air of gratitude,” said Mr. Pangan in an interview with BusinessWorld on June 11.
The rock concert will have unique and ambitious production and design, directed by Paolo Valenciano, with a career-spanning setlist drawn from The Dawn’s 1987 self-titled debut up to 2018’s Ascendant.
HOW TO TELL THEIR STORYOn how the concert will lay out the band’s story over the years, Mr. Pangan said that it will “be a fun journey that’s not too long and not too short,” for SVIP ticket holders to have enough energy left over for the JBL After Party.
While it was a tough call, they’ve had to remove some songs that they’d already practiced, to make sure the setlist could be enjoyed even by casual fans, according to Mr. Sanchez.
“The first plan was 40 songs for 40 years, but it’s not really feasible given, you know, the attention span of the people now, plus the average age of our core audience,” he said.
The concert will pay tribute to their members who have passed away, founding guitarist Teddy Diaz and bassist Mon Legaspi. Meanwhile, former members who have helped shape The Dawn will be making guest appearances, including bassists Carlos Balcells and Buddy Zabala and guitarist Kenneth Ilagan.
UPS AND DOWNS
“We had no expectation [at the beginning]. We just kept on playing,” said Mr. Leonor, one of the band’s original members, on whether they knew they’d make it big. “We were surprised because ‘Enveloped Ideas’ became a hit right away, then we got our recording contract and the single was released. We had no indication that we’d reach 40 years,” he said, admitting, “It hasn’t been smooth sailing all the way. But the band is in a very good place now, so this 40th is really a celebration. It’s like a birthday party.”
He recalled some of the band’s most memorable moments, from doing motorcades in far-flung provinces to promote their shows to seeing the crowd erupt in their first major concert at ULTRA.
“When I went out to set up my drums — my brother was my road crew — the crowd went wild!” he said.
The celebration of The Dawn’s 40th anniversary will also extend globally with the Kwarenta Tour, with dates across Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and more cities to be announced soon.
The ups and downs of their career have motivated them to give it their all for their 40th, according to Mr. Pangan.
“We’ve had moments where we would question, is it still feasible to go on as a band? There would be spells. But when it’s fun, it’s really fun. We’re just crazy middle-aged men having fun,” he said.
ON PUBLISHING RIGHTS AND AI
On the serious side of things (namely, the business of publishing rights), they’ve had to get their act together.
“It was only last week that we had talks with a record company with regards to the publishing rights,” Mr. Pangan said. “Legally there are elements of our agreement that have lapsed and that should transfer to us.”
Mr. Sanchez added that, alongside taking their rights as a band more seriously, they have also observed how completely different the music scene is now from when they started.
“We didn’t have auto-tune or copy and paste [back then]. It was all pure skill and patience,” he said. “And there’s AI, which you can use as a tool because it’s here to stay, but for the end product to be done totally by AI? Come on, man.”
Tickets to Kwarenta are available via TicketWorld and the Solaire box office. — Brontë H. Lacsamana