In the name of Kandi

By Ed Biado

Which one is it? Was it a Bigfish party with an exceedingly generous dose of Nokia product placements? Or was it a Nokia launch that was heavily publicized by Bigfish?

It was both, actually. Bigfish and Nokia teamed up to take big room events to another level last Jan. 23 at the A.Venue Events Hall. Exclusively presented by the mobile phone company in line with the reveal of their new music-driven handset, the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, Hed Kandi 2009 was a product-centric event that wasn’t technically a launch—one of the few of its kind.

Proof of this was the giant screen in the shape of the phone and the numerous (also gigantic) headphones hanging among the disco balls and inflatables with the Hed Kandi logo. A four-minute visual demo that introduced the features of the phone was also played just before the main DJ took the book. Not to worry, though, as it wasn’t as boring as it sounds. The playback was heavily musical, graphic and youthful—obviously fine-tuned to the Bigfish crowd.

As it was, after all, a dance party, the attention couldn’t be swayed that far. The hours before the Nokia break was filled with the spinning genius of local scene fixtures DJs Anton Ramos and Johnboy Lee—both, as expected, manipulated the table seamlessly with energetic progressions.

Right after the interstitial, the main man, DJ Andy Daniels, jumped right in to work the ones and twos. His opening track, the megahit classic, Fade, got the crowd back to the groove in an instant as it was a song that every self-respecting clubber should have memorized by heart. And they did, evidently so, as everyone mouthed the lyrics while shaking it hard and proud.

Vocalist and club sensation Peyton was at Hed Kandi’s Cebu gig that happened a week before the Manila one. Too bad he didn’t make it to this side of the archipelago because everyone knows that having him sing live is incredible.

What Peyton couldn’t do, on the other hand, is play about a dozen bongos at the same time. Thankfully, local tribal musical group, Bunganda, was there to take care of that job. At one point, the group joined Daniels on stage to provide live percussions to the already thumping house beats. The DJ, then, took a little break for them to control the scene. But it wasn’t quite a monopoly because Bigfish’s resident mic-dominator MC LaVoce was there adlibbing the entire time.

The verdict: it seems like all the stops were pulled out on this one. Bigfish triumphed in hosting another solid party; Nokia successfully found a terrific platform to present their new phone; and the crowd was the ultimate winner for the smashing great time dancing to the tunes of one of the best-loved record labels in the world.

Dance music-loving brands also lent their support to the event. These are Shangri-La Mactan Cebu (official residence in Cebu), Best Western Astor Hotel (official residence in Manila), O Music and Video, Gold’s Gym, Good Times 101 Condoms, Music One, Folded & Hung, MYX, Activ8 Records, ETC, MYX, Style Weekend by Manila Bulletin, Philippine Star, BusinessWorld, MST Life, Sun Star Cebu, Cebu Daily News, Transit, Velvet Channel, ANC, Magic 89.9, Y 101 Cebu, NU Rock 107, UR 105.9, Xfm 92.3, Jam 88.3, People Asia Magazine, Metro, Fudge, Stella, Garage, WHR, Bounce, Circuit, Clavel, Area, Leisurezcene, Pinoyexchange.com, Clickthecity.com, Inquirer.net, Yehey.com, Spot.ph, SummitDigital, Philstar.com, Munchpunch.com, Oliver’s Super Sandwiches, Pioneer Pro Dj, Dodge by Cats Motors, Friendster, Killer Bee & Bigfish Radio on Magic 89.9.