ROCK ON. Pinoy rock band Hale performs on stage at SM City Pampanga Amphitheater on April 23. All photos by Joann Manabat
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – Live concerts are back! SM City Pampanga started the ball rolling with its first live concert event through Castaway Music Festival at the Amphitheater open field over the weekend.
As the alert status remains to level 1, SM City Pampanga seeks to recover its live events, happenings, and activities from its three-year Covid-19 hiatus in a summer rock concert with a total of 15,000 tickets redeemed.
SM City Pampanga mall manager Aaron Montenegro said the Castaway Music Festival is officially the first concert to kick off the mall’s series of live events to bring back the mall’s crowd, activities, and vitality.
“Last 2019 pa yung huli natin. Although ang full capacity ng amphitheater ay 40,000, we only released 15,000 tickets for our concert goers to have a breathing room at hindi masyadong siksikan. Hopefully the alert level will not change but gradually we will increase the events already to bring back the crowd and the liveliness and happiness inside our mall,” Montenegro said.
Pinoy rock band Silent Sanctuary concluded the music festival as the event’s final act.
Leading the lineup for the 2022 Castaway Music Festival were Pinoy alternative rock band Hale, Silent Sanctuary, and singer and songwriter Meg Fernandez.
Concert goers, music lovers, and friends who miss the party happenings and concert scenes reveled the night at the mall’s open field from sundown to nighttime.
“We’re looking forward to this day, excited kami kasi namiss talaga namin to pati yung Hale,” said Kyla, concert goer from Angeles City.
“Alam naman namin na kailangan pa din ng face mask at vaccinated din kaming lahat kaya pumunta talaga kami,” her friend, Rhea, added.
With the crowd’s favorable reception, Montenegro hopes that the alert level status will remain as SM City Pampanga plans to release its series of live events soon through its social media accounts.
