Written by Jesh Orquina
Photography by Jezreel Colangoy
Sandwich performing during their concert
You may know Sandwich for their most popular hit “Sugod” which was released in 2006, but Sandwich actually became a band way back in 1998. Over the years, Sandwich received numerous awards including Best New Artist (1999), Rock Video of the Year – “Sugod” (2006), Rock Video of the Year – “DVDX” (2007), and Song of the Year – “Betamax” (2008). This year, the band chose to celebrate their 20th anniversary by holding UNDER THE GLOW OF THE SATELLITE: 20th Anniversary Concert.
Mike Dizon
Sandwich opened their concert by performing “2 Trick Pony” which contains the lyrics “I have been waiting for you all night under the glow of the satellite.” Noticeably, this is the song that inspired the title of their 20th anniversary concert.
Raimund Marasigan
Every now and then, in between a few songs, Raimund Marasigan (vocalist) would talk about their experiencs as a band, how they planned the concert, and how things have changed over the past two decades. Among these short, heartfelt speeches, what spoke to me the most was what he said about how the band managed to stay together.
Myrene Academia-Marasigan
“It’s about taking care of each other.”
Marasigan emphasized how important it is to support each other. He went on by saying, “And it’s not about us. It’s not just about the band. It’s not only [about] Sandwich. It’s all of us—you and all our friends.” He recounted how fans have been sharing stories about the band over the past few weeks and even joked, “Parang debut, eh ‘no?“
Diego Castillo
“It takes a village.”
Marasigan took this time to thank his fans. “Thank you very much for taking care of us, for taking care of everybody.
It means a lot.” The other band members nodded and raised their hands as a show of support to Marasigan’s words while the crowd responded in cheers and applause.
Mong Alcaraz
“Kapag nasa baba ka, kailangan may hihila sa’yo paakyat. (When you’re down, someone needs to pull you back up.)”
“Hindi lahat ‘yon masaya, ‘di ba? (Not all of those times are happy, right?) We keep coming back, we keep coming back for more.” At this, the band started to play their song “Back For More”, one of their more recent songs.
Raimund Marasigan crowd surfing
With Marasigan jumping around the stage while the other band members Diego Castillo (guitarist), Mong Alcaraz (guitarist), Myrene Academia-Marasigan (bassist), and Mike Dizon (drummer) playfully interacting and laughing with each other, it was like the band hasn’t aged a day since they started. May Sandwich’s success in the music industry serve as an inspiration for other artists to continue to support each other and lift each other up.
What is your favorite song by Sandwich? Tell us in the comments!
