Eraserheads’ Huling El Bimbo concert promoter reassures fans ‘much better experience’

MANILA, Philippines — Eraserheads’ Huling El Bimbo concert promoter has reassured attendees of a “much, much better experience” at tonight’s show at the SMDC Festival Grounds in Parañaque City. Billed as the last reunion concert of the iconic OPM band, it is expected to draw more than 60,000 concert goers.

The reassurance came amid reports of organizational and crowd control issues during the previous concerts held at the same venue.

“We are ready, we are experienced concert promoters. We watched Heads in the Clouds, we learned from them. We watched Alesso that was cancelled. We watched Ben&Ben. We have learnings from them. So we have our own corrective measures that we are doing,” concert producer and WEU President Francis Lumen told The STAR in a phone interview.

He said that they had also met with local government agencies that are going to cooperate and help them with the security, crowd control and traffic.

“In fact, the Mayor’s office called for a meeting. The Mayors of Pasay and Paranaque, of course, they are all concerned. So the MMDA was there, the PNP. So, for Eraserheads, everybody is going to do what they’re supposed to do. So, we’re ready for it.”

Lumen added, “Internally, we will make it easy for concert-goers to go inside, ready na ang food, we have many, many portalets. This event is going to be shown all over the world din kasi. TFC is showing it as well as Cignal so all the government agencies know. Ayaw rin nila mapahiya di ba? SM is ready also. It will be a much, much better experience for everyone.”

For the latest concert guidelines, he urged attendees to check out the Huling El Bimbo social media pages.

“That’s why we have a lot of new posts, at least to appease and give audiences comfort that this concert promoter, WEU, has prepared. We observe the past and we learn from them, and make sure we improve that needs to be improved.”

He’s also hoping that with the cooperation of the weather, it will be the best OPM show “we’ll all see staged for the longest time” because, “we have the holograms, 100 drones and we have the 18-piece orchestra, we have a kabuki style stage, talagang pinag-gastusan namin ito.”

Meanwhile, Gary Valenciano has just been announced to make an appearance at the band’s reunion show, which is also directed by his son Paolo. Artists earlier confirmed to amp up the band’s set are Jazz Nicolas of Itchyworms, Mikey Amistoso of Ciudad, a hologram of the late Francis M, and the A.M.P. Orchestra.

Tickets are available at SM Tickets outlets and online. Eraserheads fans in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao who can’t make it to the concert grounds can still jam with them live online with two options to secure front-row seats even when you’re at home for only P650.

Post-paid Cignal subscribers can order the Pay-Per-View via my.cignal.tv. There’s also live pay-per-view access at smart.com.ph/livestream until Dec. 22 at 9 p.m.

For everyone outside the Philippines, iWantTFC has a pay-per-view and 48 hour on-demand access through the iWantTFC’s app.