Pinoy folk-pop band Ben&Ben is resuming their The Traveller Across Dimensions album tour and adding three new stops to the Philippine leg of their tour in Bacolod, Baguio, and Davao City.
Following their Cebu show last May 24, the band announced that their drummer Jam Villanueva was suffering from De Quervain’s tendinosis and “Drummer’s Wrist” and has been resting her left wrist for the entirety of June since then.
“I’m still working on the strength [of my left wrist]. The goal is to do [recovery] right,” Villanueva said. She mentioned that she really appreciated the team’s support for her healing journey.
Delving deeper into their tour and album’s theme, vocalist Paolo Benjamin discussed the three dimensions in their setlist—Light, Energy, and Feel. He explained that Light represented discovery, Energy portrayed the dimension of struggle, and Feel was for the realizations.
Relating these dimensions to the band’s current situation, he shared that Ben&Ben is currently in the Energy dimension. “Darating talaga yung seasons ng challenge. It doesn’t always have to be catastrophic situations. Sometimes, yung pagkasabay-sabay lang ng mga pangyayari [...], challenge talaga siya,” Benjamin expounded.
When asked about their plans to add more international stops, Ben&Ben stated that they will bring their shows wherever they’re meant to go.
“Through this tour, we want to break the misconception na mas okay ‘yung international kaysa sa local,” they said.
As they resume their album tour, Ben&Ben mentioned that they are looking forward to a setlist where the songs accompany the narrative that they are trying to convey, as opposed to their previous concerts where visuals usually served only as accompaniment to the songs.
Liwanags and new listeners who hope to catch Ben&Ben live in their Philippine shows may avail for tickets through smtickets.com
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Written by Ana Rufa Padua, a fourth-year Communication student from the Ateneo de Manila University. With a passion for storytelling, she hopes to shed light on the various realities, lives, and phenomena surrounding the communities she covers. In her free time, she indulges herself in watching movies and listening to K-Pop.
Ben&Ben and Belle Mariano connect on a new song titled "Autumn." The pop rock band and the rising showbiz star take turns expressing their views about a relationship where both parties are slowly starting to drift. The song also comes with an accompanying music video that features both acts performing the emotional song in an intimate setting allowing listeners to hone in on the track's message. Check out the "Autumn" music video below!
Ben&Ben will be opening up for the Ed Sheeran '+ - = ÷ x Tour' in Manila! The show will be going down on March 9, 2024, at the SMDC Festival Grounds, Paranaque City and also features Calum Scott. In late 2022, the 9-piece Filipino indie folk-pop band drew a crowd of over 65K people to watch them perform at the same venue for their Homecoming Concert.
Fan interested in attending the concert can visit ovationtickets.com and smtickets.com. Physical tickets can now be purchased at any SM tickets outlet for 20,500PHP (CAT1 Reserved Seating) /18,500PHP (CAT 2 Reserved Seating) /16,500PHP (CAT 3 Reserved Seating) /14,500PHP (CAT 4 Reserved Seating)/ 11,500PHP (CAT 5 Reserved Seating) /6,500PHP (CAT 6 Standing), 3,000PHP (CAT 7 Standing), and 1,500PHP (CAT 8 Standing) plus ticketing charges.
Ben&Ben was recently named the most streamed artist in the Philippines in 2023 and the band just dropped a new song to add to their catalog of hit records. “Autumn” is inspired by long distance relationships after Paolo Benjamin, the band’s lead vocalist and guitarist, felt lonely without his girlfriend during their North American tour in Canada.
“A few months later, in early 2023, brother Miguel Benjamin completed the lyrics, also adding a bridge about being in different seasons, which really completed the message of the song,” the folk-pop collective adds. “It speaks about themes of loneliness, yearning, and ultimately, hoping against hope that a new season will come.”
The award-winning band explains in a collective statement, “Autumn is a song where we showcase how we’ve evolved and matured as a band. Writing-wise, we felt that the perspective was a more realistic and mature take on the subject. Arrangement and production-wise, we discovered a lot of new ways to express sounds that achieve the emotion we were going for.”
Stream “Autumn” below!
Ben&Ben, Moira, Janine Berdin and Maymay to perform with Yuna, Johnny Orlando and Clara Rosa on July 8 at Dockyards London
LONDON, June 8, 2023 – As giant music festivals around the world are fast becoming more identical in look, sound, feel and high-ticket prices, niche music festivals that mostly offer one-day fests of dedicated themes are now growing rapidly in popularity.
“1MX London Music Festival 2023” -- scheduled this July 8, Saturday, at the new outdoor venue Dockyards in East London’s historic Royal Docks –- is one of the ultra-cool smaller festivals that are finding global audiences. A globetrotting festival brand highlighting Asian artists and has travelled to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Singapore, and Manila, 1MX made its debut in London in 2022 mixing Filipino headliners with U.K.-based Asian music artists. The very encouraging reception led to this year’s return to the city with a top-notch cast to perform live in one of the world’s hottest music venues.
Headlining “1MX London Music Festival 2023” at the Dockyards is the following combustible line-up of exciting Filipino and international artists:
“1MX is not here to overwhelm you or overload your senses like in giant music festivals; 1MX is a compact Asian music bowl of a festival seasoned with global flavors, served in the right amounts,” said ABS-CBN Global Head of Events Joseph Arnie Garcia, also concurrently ABS-CBN Managing Director for Europe, Middle East and North Africa.
Garcia added: “Our format is straightforward: exciting established and emerging Filipino artists mixed with equally exciting established and emerging international acts. Combine this clear talent showcase with the local cultural offerings of food, drinks, and the like and you have a guaranteed memorable, delightful, connected and more fulfilling one music experience.”
To buy tickets now to 1MX Music Festival in London 2023, visit https://www.seetickets.com/event/1mx-london-2023/dockyards/2627943
Visit the official website for more info: http://1musicx.com/
Ben&Ben just released a cover rendition of Christian Bautista’s classic “The Way You Look at Me.” The band alluded to the release being part of a bigger project that has yet to be announced. They shared the following caption on their official Facebook page: “It’s as if my heart knows you’re the missing piece 💕We’re honored to be chosen to cover a Christian Bautista classic song, as part of a special project, with our fellow artists.”
You can watch the official lyric video for Ben&Ben’s cover Christian Bautista’s classic “The Way You Look at Me” below!
It looks like everything is getting back up to speed with live events and award shows. This year, the 8th Wish Music Awards (WMAs) sets the example by kicking off the awards season! The event was held at Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City and hosted by Gretchen Ho, Christian Bautista, and directed by Paolo Valenciano. The night celebrated the return of live music that includes performances from: Moira, Ben&Ben, Zack Tabudlo, Flow G, and more!
Apart from the awards given that night, Asia's Songbird Regine Velasquez-Alcasid was named KDR Icon of Musical Excellence for her tremendous contribution to OPM and its industry.
“Maraming maraming salamat po sa karangalang ito. [N]agpapasalamat ako sa Panginoon for giving me this wonderful talent,” she said in her speech. For the younger generation of Filipino artists, she has this as her words of advice: “Keep creating music. Kayo ang future ng OPM.”
REGINE VELASQUEZ-ALCASID
The main attraction was of course knowing the winners in each of the categories up for grabs that night. SB19 took home the most number of awards, winning in three categories. The winners were determined by votes from a panel of judges which weighed 70% and from the public which weighed 30%.
Wish 107.5 donates Php100,000 to beneficiaries of major-category winners so a total of Php1.97 million will be handed out to Adarna Group Foundation, A Home For The Angels Crisis Home For Abandoned Babies Foundation, Autism Society Philippines, ChildHope Philippines, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Philippine Cancer Society, Resources For The Blind, Virlanie Foundation Inc., and Operation Smile Philippines Foundation, INC.
“It’s a big thing for us artists to share our music with each and everyone — and being able to help people in other aspects is way beyond. At a blink of an eye, we faced challenges that in previous years, would have seemed insurmountable. But when days seemed to have been engulfed in darkness, distress, and despair, we refused to give in. Instead, we all clung to a bright ray of hope — a hope that all will be all right in God’s time.”
ADIE
Check out the full list of winners below and rewatch the awards show on the Wish 107.5 YouTube channel in February.
Wishclusive Pop Performance of the Year
Wishclusive Ballad Performance of the Year
Wishclusive R&B Performance of the Year
Wishclusive Rock/Alternative Performance of the Year
Wishclusive Hip-hop Performance of the Year
Wishclusive Contemporary Folk Performance of the Year
Wishclusive Contemporary R&B Performance of the Year
Wishclusive Collaboration of the Year
Wish Pop Song of the Year
Wish Ballad Song of the Year
Wish R&B Song of the Year
Wish Rock/Alternative Song of the Year
Wish Hip-hop Song of the Year
Wish Contemporary Folk Song of the Year
Wish Contemporary R&B Song of the Year
Wish Song Collaboration of the Year
Wish Breakthrough Artist of the Year
Wish Group of the Year
Wish Artist of the Year
Wishers’ Choice: SB19
KDR Icon of Music and Philanthropy: Andrea O. Veneracion (AOV) Sing Philippines Foundation
KDR Icon of Musical Excellence: Regine Velasquez-Alcasid
Bronze Wishclusive Elite Circle (10 million views)
Silver Wishclusive Elite Circle (25 million views)
Gold Wishclusive Elite Circle (50 million views)
Platinum Wishclusive Elite Circle (75 million views)
Diamond Wishclusive Elite Circle (100 million views)
Cover Photo Credit: Wish 107.5
Ben&Ben are capping off a year of record-breaking achievements and monumental milestones by performing in front of their hometown Manila fans! The nine-piece act has just announced the Homecoming Concert, a one night live music extravaganza happening on Sunday December 18, 2022 at the SMDC Festival Grounds.
This event will not only mark the band’s return to Manila, but it will also be their biggest concert yet. Ben&Ben promises to show gratitude to the fans who have supported their music journey since day one.
“To match that sense of gratitude, we wanted to mount our largest show yet, with our longest set, most ambitious performance ideas, and simply the best of what we’ve made through the years,” the chart-topping Filipino group shares in a statement. “We are most excited about bringing this show, finally, to our Liwanag, because it had definitely been a long journey with a lot of hard work to get here.”
Conceptually, Ben&Ben’s Homecoming Concert 2022 is centered around the feeling of home: as a place, idea, or person of comfort, or as a reassuring gesture of security and intimacy. According to the “Paninindigan Kita” hitmakers, the outdoor music show is also about coming home to each other and being home to each other.
“We’ve always likened how each piece of music we make is a little gift that our listeners have allowed into their lives, and how they have likewise felt the comfort of home through our songs, so it’s in that give and take and sharing of the feeling of home that we ultimately want to highlight for this show.”
The Homecoming Concert will also feature guest performances from artists such as: Filipina KZ Tandingan, Zild, Juan Karlos, and more. Tickets to Ben&Ben’s Homecoming Concert 2022 can be purchased via ovationtickets.com and ticketnet.com.ph.
Ben&Ben’s “The Ones We Once Loved” music video casts exes Bea Lorenzo and Paolo Benjamin and we just can’t get enough of the visuals. Based on the former couple’s real-life story, the MV takes an intimate look at the process of healing and completely moving on.
The music video follows the journey of Bea Lorenzo and ex-boyfriend Paolo Benjamin as they navigate the ups and downs of their relationship, part ways to restore their sense of self, while letting go of any resentment and anger towards each other thanks to newfound lessons in life and love.
In addition to the cut scenes featuring the former couple, the other band members can be seen in various emotional performance shots throughout the cinematic experience. Watch “The Ones We Once Loved” music video below!
Filipino hitmakers Ben&Ben are back with a new global release and it has music fans in their feels! Written by Ben&Ben’s very own Paolo Benjamin, “The Ones We Once Loved” offers a unique perspective on love, forgiveness, and break-ups.
“It's a song that owns up to one's faults, makes proper apologies, but also expresses hurt, as breakups are often two-way things,” says the band in an official statement. “It’s also one of the hardest songs we’ve written, because it requires the writer to forgive himself for his past and own up to his faults and mistakes. The painstaking process towards that state, the cycles of anxiety and catharsis that the writer went through, and the eventual expression of all of that in the form of this song, as an encapsulation of such a heavy journey, is what makes this song stand out among our other songs.”
Watch the lyric video for “The Ones We Once Loved” below!
We love a Southeast Asian collaboration between two of the biggest acts in the region! Filipino band Ben&Ben recently linked up with Indonesian singer-songwriter Pamungkas on “Stand By You,” an English rework of the Pinoy collective’s original hit record “Paninindigan Kita.”
“We sent over a rough translation of our song Paninindigan Kita,” shares Ben&Ben in a statement. “He [Pamungkas] came up with brilliant lyrical ideas, and we ended up co-writing the English lyrics for this song with him.”
“Stand By You” is the first release from a two-part collaboration series between the award-winning Asian artists. They also have a performance video of “I Got To Get You” up their sleeves that they plan to release soon. This is Ben&Ben's second English rework that they dropped this month. Watch the intimate "Stand By You" in-studio performance below!
We have a new #1 on the MYX Hits Charts and MYX International Top 20! Charlie Puth ft. Jung Kook's track Left and Right has moved up to the top spot bringing BTS's Yet To Come down one spot to #2. Ace Banzuelo keeps his #1 spot on the Pinoy MYX Countdown with his track Muli, and we see some slight movements within the charts this week. Did your faves move up? Make sure to get your votes in for the week, and let's see where next week brings us.
PINOY MYX COUNTDOWN (July 23-July 29, 2022)
2. FELIP: Bulan
3. MNL48: No Way Man
4. BGYO: Tumitigil Ang Mundo
5. BINI: Lagi
For the rest of the Pinoy MYX Chart click here.
MYX INTERNATIONAL TOP 20 (July 16-July 22, 2022)
2. BTS: Yet To Come
3. Harry Styles: Late Night Talking
4. Joji: Glimpse of Us
5. Harry Styles: As It Was
For the rest of the MYX International Top 20 Chart click here.
MYX HIT CHART (July 24-July 30, 2022)
2. BTS: Yet To Come
3. Ace Banzuelo: Muli
4. FELIP: Bulan
5. MNL48: No Way Man
For the rest of the MYX Hit Chart click here.
