Welcome to the Zack Tabudlo Experience
I could always be wrong. It's funny how when people get older, they tend to always say that the old guard was just better. There's always some embedded resistance to new things we sometimes fail to recognize and get past. That applies to music, too. You come to a point in your life when you stop listening to new gigs or songs because you're pretty much stuck in your ways, taste-wise. I'm guilty of that myself. We could always be wrong. It's okay to be wrong from time to time. It's sobering, and best of all, it keeps you honest.
That was the case heading into Zark's Fest 2023. I was thinking I was coming here for Gab and Urbandub or Raimund and Sandwich or Ebe and Jugs and Jazz from the Itchyworms. Autotelic or Lola Amour or HEY JUNE! would be nice to watch live, as well, seeing as though I've seen them perform a dozen times before (wow, indie, pare).
Though I was never the biggest Ben&Ben guy, I thought Ben&Ben would be nice, too. They're still at the top of their Original Pilipino Music (OPM) superstardom, after all. See, I like what I like and I stick to what's familiar. Rarely do I indulge in OPM, much less do I incorporate them into my daily routine or stream of consciousness. Regrettably, it's been a while since I've paid attention to it. The snobbery, ugh.
He's a generational talent, really, and good god, he's only 21 years old. Jesus. Slow down, kid.
I was wrong about everything here. Apparently, I came to Zark's Fest for the 13th act of the evening, which featured this dude by the name of Zack Tabudlo. It arguably was the best performance of the night. This was my first time watching him live and I have to say that the rumors are true: this guy is a musical savant. He's electric. He's got next, or rather, he's already here. I can now see why he's been one of the most streamed artists on Spotify all these years or why he's been touring all over North America as of late (yes, I was, effectively, living under a rock).Â
Superlatives aside, he demonstrates a learned sensibility in R&B and soul, especially heard in a song like "Nangangamba." It's just groovy, the mature vivid fluorescent kind; this, without getting in the way of the bareness and poignancy of his lyricism. He has a rich rhythm and sound, exhibiting the sort of richness influenced by a little bit of Japanese synth-pop rock and the blues. There are shades of early '90s OPM with him, too, following the illustrious lineage of kundimans OPM has lived on. You can find all that in "Yakap" or "Binibini," where we can get a sense of the alternative pop R&B artist that he is. He has a Steve Lacy vibe without the detached diaspora.
Suffice to say, I now understand the appeal. The thing with Tabudlo I never appreciated until I listened to his set, is that his brand of soulful senti-pop is distinct in the Filipino soundscape.
Tabudlo also has quite the production style. I want to note how his act had the best lights display out of all the performers. Set to an equally funky backdrop, it was borderline psychedelic. The singer-songwriter and his stage work are as dynamic as they come.
A charismatic showman, Tabudlo knows how to get a crowd riled up. He understands the social contract at these things: the performer and the audience feed off of each other and both parties need to handle this with care. He borrowed a belt from some tattoo artist in the crowd. The interaction was smooth and easy throughout the set, as if we were at a lounge bar instead of a humid park. Tabudlo even brought up a fan on stage to sing to, which was hilarious and a nice touch. It's fan service, plain and simple. And I love good fan service.
THIRTEENTH ACT: @zacktabudlo ????#ZarksFest2023 pic.twitter.com/PqZPUyQJ0h
— GNN Productions (@GabiNaNamanProd) May 13, 2023
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He's come a long way from being one of The Voice Kids.
He understood the assignment the minute he set foot on that Circuit Event Grounds stage in Makati. I'm saying this because some acts actually, err, didn't. If you went to the festival, you know who I'm talking about. How disappointing some smug elder statesmen can be. There is no room for condescension up a pedestal your fans built for you. It did help that this was Tabudlo's crowd, of course. Well, his and Ben&Ben's as a matter of fact. They owned the night.
I also want to mention Zark's Fest organizers Gabi Na Naman Productions for their part in all of this. At music festivals, everything, apart from the actual acts, can be literal hell. No chairs to sit on. The moshpit atmosphere is damp. Concession stand lines are too long. And the food can be so damn bland and pricey, at times even undercooked, that you'd think to yourself, "Hey, maybe I should just starve myself for a quicker buzz." Well, I still got my buzz, but with GNN, they managed to make all the other elements less unbearable. The group had a crisp system. Or maybe I was just in a good mood. Maybe a little bit of both.
But yeah, I came home from that show thinking to myself that, man, OPM is in good hands. It got me thinking about a lot of things. It got me confronting some former biases I had against this interesting period for the genre. It got me realizing how wrong I was for sweeping new-gen OPM under the rug.
Of course, a Ben&Ben photo.
Maybe I do have a lot more things to learn about this new age of OPM and this younger energy coming up. Maybe I do need to stop denying myself the pleasure of listening to old Filipino bands I used to like but might not be cool enough for the high art-burgis-arthouse sappy stuff I pander to now. And maybe, just maybe, Ben&Ben isn't so bad either, after all. Nobody is too cool for Ben&Ben, not even me.
And with a performer like Tabudlo, maybe this new wave of acts has much more spirited ideas of sound innovation—most of which are still on their way. Tabudlo hasn't even peaked yet as an artist. That's a pleasant thought. Gen Zers have a lot of gall to try and explore new things, and apart from the usual grievances, I love them for that. They just produce freewheeling cosmic experimentation by the dozen. That's how you change the game, just like what Tabudlo is about to do in due time. I'm just happy, man. I finally got my introduction to the Zack Tabudlo experience.
