Jack Johnson Is Coming to Manila: Dissecting the Wanderland 2024 Lineup

Wanderland, arguably the country’s most high-profile annual music festival, just announced the first wave of its artist lineup and, well, let’s just say March can’t come soon enough. The festival is going on its ninth edition this year and it has yet to disappoint with its carefully curated list of both local and international music acts. 

The big news, of course, is the announcement of the first headline act. I’ve seen comments on social media asking, “Jack Johnson who?” but for those of us who’ve been fans since the early 2000s when he first came out with his unforgettable Brushfire Fairytales, having Johnson finally coming to Manila is a pretty big deal.

ALSO READ

Postscript to Wanderland 2023: How We Wandered and Won

Phoenix's Thomas Mars on Filipino Audiences: 'We Love to Hear Them Sing Along'

Who is Jack Johnson?

Jack Johnson is an American singer songwriter who first broke into the scene at a time when acoustic guitar-driven music was all the rage and artists like John Mayer, Jason Mraz, and Howie Day seemed to be everywhere. Amidst the explosion of loud, brash, and in-your-face pop and music at the time, there was a simultaneous track for sensitive singer-songwriter types who needed little else than simple melodies and an acoustic guitar to deliver a message.

Johnson is one such artist. Led by first single “Flake,” a snappy, straightforward ditty that shows off the artist’s guitar and vocal skills, Brushfire Fairytales introduced Johnson as something of an indie folk hero. Relying on old-fashioned hooks and devoid of fancy production work—somewhere between the island rhythms of Sublime and the quiet introspection of someone like Nick Drake—the album quickly gained a following. It helped of course that Johnson himself was a surfer and so there was large-scale support from the surfing community as he pursued a career in music. Think of his music as the equivalent of board shorts and flip flops, best played at the beach at sunset, with a drink in hand.

Johnson has since released several other LPs and live albums and solidified his place as a “surf rock” superstar. Estimates say he has sold over 25 million records throughout his career (and lord knows how many more people have streamed his songs on apps like Spotify and Apple Music). Celebrities have also professed to be fans of his music, including people like Paris Hilton, Prince Harry, and Meghan Markle. 

While many of his contemporaries have since made their way over here to perform—even his friend and fellow surfer Donavon Frankenreiter, whom he has collaborated with several times, including on the song “Free,” played a memorable set under the stars in San Juan, La Union in 2011—Johnson himself has never set foot in the Philippines. As I understand it, it’s not because of a lack of trying. Plenty other promoters and organizers have attempted to fly the “Better Together” artist here for a show, including, allegedly for the Malasimbo music festival in Puerto Galera. But the stars just never aligned.

Until now. This is why it’s a pretty big deal that Wanderland has finally managed to score Johnson as a headliner. His songs—“Banana Pancakes,” “Upside Down,” “Sitting, Waiting, Wishing,” “I Got You,” and many others—have made their way to countless “feel good” or “coffee shop” or “road trip” playlists. 

It’s a pleasant bonus that Johnson is also a known environmentalist, consistently involved in conservation efforts particularly for the world’s oceans. During the deadly Maui fires a few weeks ago, he led relief efforts and played a show for the benefit of the victims. Talk about an all-around good guy.

Photo by Karpos.

Of course, Johnson is just one of the first wave of artists announced to be playing at Wanderland 2024. The others include Australia-born, Germany based Parcels, Welsh multi-instrumentalis Novo Armor (who was supposed to be part of the canceled 2020 edition), Fil-Am R&B singer Jeff Bernat, Korean hip hop and rap artist Beenzino, Taiwanese singer-songwriter Cloudriver, and Fil-Aussie artist grentperez.

Repping the Philippines are a bunch of exciting new artists led by Paolo Sandejas, Ena Mori, dwta, bird., and Party Pace. 

And that’s not even the best part. Insiders from Karpos, the organization behind Wanderland, say biger and even more exciting artists are on the bill when Wave 2 is announced later this year.

We’re already sold on Johnson alone but we’re still keeping our eyes and ears peeled for all the additional artists hitting the Wanderland stage next year.

Phase 1 tickets are available for a limited time only, from September 20-30, 2023 or until supplies last. Ticket prices are set to increase as the festival nears. Wanderland Music and Arts festival is happening on March 9 & 10, 2024 at Filinvest City Events Grounds, Alabang.