Ebe Dancel to Cap Off March with “Sa Wakas: 20th Anniversary Celebration” Repeat

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With the influx of intimate gigs, back-to-back concerts, and anniversary shows from OPM and international acts — beginning with the Wanderland Music and Arts Festival, to the Arctic Monkeys in Manila concert, Simple Plan’s “The Harder Than It Looks Tour,” Harry Styles’ “Love On Tour,” to BLACKPINK’s “Born Pink Tour” —  March has been an eventful month for Pinoy music fans.

And premier singer-songwriter Ebe Dancel is set to cap off this month with a repeat of his sold-out show, “Sa Wakas: 20th Anniversary Celebration.”

“Mahal ko po kayong lahat, so we’re doing it again,” Dancel announced on social media on March 13.

The second installment of the concert, which mainly commemorates Sugarfree’s debut album of the same name, will take place on 123 Block, Mandala Park, in Mandaluyong City, on Friday, March 31.

Dancel will be joined by special guests, such as his longtime friend and drummer Mitch Singson, Pinoy rock outfit Sandwich, musical quartet The Manila String Machine, and comedian-actor Red Ollero.

Back in January, the “Bawat Daan” singer revealed on his social media post that the show, which featured performances from The Itchyworms, Johnoy Danao, Autotelic, Cheats, and Brass Pas Pas Pas Pas, “sold out within 24 hours” and that it gathered almost 2,000 fans.

Game?#Sawakas20Part2 pic.twitter.com/PtwIbfmNJb

— Ebe Dancel (@ebedancel) March 6, 2023

For the March 31 rerun, concertgoers will be treated to a special screening of the “Sa Wakas” documentary by Filipino filmmaker Cyrian Agujo. The film was first unveiled to the public on March 10, 2023, at the Balcony Music House, where Dancel and labelmate Never The Strangers also performed.

On clamor, camaraderie, and a great cause

The first “Sa Wakas” show in January became a manifestation of “nostalgia shaped by bittersweet memories and adolescent discoveries.” With many Sugarfree fans demanding a larger venue and a longer setlist, Dancel and Singson decided to do a second run of the anniversary gig.

But apart from giving in to their fans’ clamor, the concert will also serve as a nod to Sandwich, one of Dancel’s favorite bands, and how they helped spotlight Sugarfree during their formative years.

“[When] Sugarfree were starting out, Sandwich ‘yung palaging nagsasabing, ‘Halika kayo, tugtog kayo, sama kayo sa amin.’ Malaking karangalan na nandoon sila at pumayag sila, at may oras sila,” the singer-songwriter said in an interview.

On top of celebrating the 20-year feat of the “Sa Wakas” record, the show is also dedicated to help raise funds for one of Ebe’s friends.

Earlier this month, the Filipino act performed for “Resbak Para Kay Gab” fundraising concert, alongside OPM powerhouses The Itchyworms, Kamikazee, Rivermaya, 6cyclemind, and Gracenote.

“Sa Wakas” and its transcendence

Literally and figuratively, the “Sa Wakas” record put an end to a couple of years’ worth of yearning.

Production-wise, it took the band two years to complete the twelve-track alt-rock collection. Launched at a time when music played on tapes, CDs, and the radio, Dancel fondly recalled in an interview the moment when their songs were played for the first time on NU 107’s “In The Raw with Francis Brew,” and how pivotal that was for their band’s career.

Some of the more popular offerings from the album are “Telepono,” “Mariposa,” and “Burnout,” a song he performed with fellow singer-songwriters Johnoy Danao and Bullet Dumas aboard the Wish 107.5 Bus in 2018 for their 3D concert.

A few short years later, Sugarfree made waves in the mainstream. And though they disbanded in 2011, their infectious sound and straight-from-the-shoulder storytelling that brought the “Sa Wakas” album to success have truly gone beyond its generation and are forever etched in the Filipino mind and soul.

Get tickets to the “Sa Wakas: 20th Anniversary Celebration” Repeat here.

You may also shop Ebe Dancel’s #SaWakas20 official merch via https://www.backspacerrecords.com/collections/merchandise and his collaboration shirts with clothing brand, Linya-Linya: https://www.linyalinya.ph/collections/ebedancel

Listen to his 2022 EP, “Habangbuhay,” featuring his tracks “Huling Unang Sayaw” and “Manatili.”

Watch his Wish Bus performance of “Bawat Daan,” the track which served as the theme song for “Sa Wakas: The Musical:”

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Written by Kristine Claire Paler

Editing by Pauline Bolaños