On the morning of December 6, OPM band The Ridleys were just beginning to prepare for Day 2 of their “Someday We’ll Make A Home” concert. The members had arrived one by one, with Jan, the guitarist, getting to the venue the earliest.
“Honestly, kabado ‘onti (a little nervous),” he told me backstage when I asked how he was feeling with only a few more hours to go until showtime.
“Day 1 was really good. May baseline ka na sa kaba mo e. [It’s like], ‘We’re going to do a show. I don’t know what’s going to happen.’ But since may Day 1 na, parang, ‘Okay, ito ‘yung standard ng show namin. Will we do as good? Will the people enjoy?’” he continued.
(Day 1 was really good. You already have a baseline for your nervousness. It’s like, “We’re going to do a show. I don’t know what’s going to happen.” But since Day 1 already happened, it’s like, “Okay, this is the standard of our show. Will we do as good? Will the people enjoy?”)
The first day had been a huge success. Fans continued to rave about the show weeks after it ended, and The Ridleys had given a remarkable performance that still had the comforting familiarity of their intimate gigs, but with an even bigger audience. Instead of a simple stage, the band had stood on a spacious platform with rugs laid out on the floor, lamps that radiated a soft glow, and little pots of greenery — usual sights you can find at a home well lived-in, doing justice to the concert’s title.
If you were in the crowd during the show, it would have been easy to tell that everyone around you was passionately singing along — from the la la la las in “Meaningful Silence” to the entirety of “Aphrodite,” a common gateway into the band’s discography. The band’s members, though, with their in-ear monitors in place, had only pieced that together from the perspective of their fans when they began to post clips and photos from the concert after it ended.
“When we’re on stage, we’re just focused on doing a good job. Like, I’m focused on singing, Jan’s focused on guitar, [Bryant] on drums, [Joric] on bass. But seeing everything come together, seeing how everyone really played a part in bringing these songs to life, like, yeah, I wrote the songs, but I couldn’t do this all on my own. Even the audience is part of that,” The Ridleys’ singer and songwriter Benny shared.
There was a two-week buffer Day 1 and Day 2 of “Someday We’ll Make A Home,” and while the band’s drummer Bryant felt the same way Jan did, he was also excited for the show.
“We already did it once, so it’s just a matter of doing it again, but better,” he declared.
It was the same for Joric, who shared that he felt more prepared compared to the previous show. “Kung may basis ka na [for the show], the only way to go is up,” he said.
They were both right. The second day of “Someday We’ll Make A Home” — despite having the exact same songs and flow — had a flare of its own for a pretty long list of reasons.
Full-circle
After the first show of a two-night concert, people would have already created playlists replicating its setlist, and posted photos and videos of its most notable moments. You’d think that it’d be the same experience all over again come the second show, but at “Someday We’ll Make A Home,” it wasn’t like that at all.
During their performance of “Vines” at this show, Jan and Joric momentarily walked up and down the aisles with their instruments in tow — giving audiences a closer, more personal view of how they play. Before they went down the stage, you could even see the two exchanging glances and nodding to signal each other that it was time.
Beyond this, it didn’t take much to notice that The Ridleys were able to hone in even more on how central their community really is to what they do, and in turn, be reminded of why they make music in the first place.
Case in point: proposals. Not many bands have the privilege of saying that a proposal happened during their show — let alone two — but The Ridleys are now a part of that demographic. One of the couples seated in the middle of the venue got engaged during the song “Love Is,” and another couple on the front row revealed that they had gotten engaged during “Promised Land.”
It was a testament to how music really does have the power to connect people on a deeper level — debunking the saying’s reputation as a mere cliché. That night, there was a creation of real-life parallels to The Ridleys’ music, and it’s something the band didn’t even have to force; it just happened naturally.
The proposals came at just the right time, too, as the next song on the setlist happened to be “Someday,” which is about Benny’s own engagement.
In it for the long run
It goes without saying, however, that this time around, the members’ nerves had visibly eased up, and if they still felt the same kind of anxiety they mentioned before the concert, they did a great job at concealing it. They even had more room to make jokes in between songs — with Bryant, for instance, feigning disappointment when Benny made a disclaimer that “KYGM” (Kiss You Good Morning) didn’t apply to his bandmates.
And while it’s usually Benny who does most of the talking during their shows, the crowd was able to hear from all of the members towards the end of the concert. Each of them had spoken about their journey, and what it took for them to get to this point. Jan shared how he was thankful for everyone’s support and patience; Joric about how going to Baguio to record their album while having a day job was worth it; and Bryant about the communities they’ve built through their music.
Perhaps one of The Ridleys’ most striking qualities is their genuine love for what they do. This is another sentiment that’s easily said about any other music act, but for this particular band, it’s done so with even more conviction. For one, in many of the photos that were taken of the members onstage and offstage, they all had genuine smiles on their faces, and at least one or two of them was guaranteed to have their head thrown back in a fit of laughter (which, more often than not, you can endearingly hear through the screen).
Days before the second “Someday We’ll Make A Home” show, The Ridleys had even played several back-to-back gigs, some of them out of town. It’s the type of grueling affair that you can only power through with sheer passion for your craft, and luckily, the band has just that.
“When you do something you love, the exhaustion’s there. But at the same time, when you’re doing it in the moment, there’s this sense of fulfillment. And that kind of cancels the tiredness out. Whether it’s playing music or it’s doing a job you love, or you’re creating art, when you look back on that, it takes away [the] physical tiredness,” Bryant said in a mix of English and Filipino, with the rest of the members nodding in agreement.
The band had only dreamed of all this before, and now, they get to live it. With the success of “Someday We’ll Make A Home,” we’re only beginning to see what else is yet to come for The Ridleys. – Rappler.com