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Jan Milo Severo - Philstar.com
March 21, 2025 | 10:25pm
Wilabaliw's Ian Tayao during their performance at Red Horse Muziklaban 2025
Philstar.com/Jan Milo Severo
MANILA, Philippines — Red Horse Beer’s Pambansang Muziklaban lit up the stage in Sta. Rosa, Laguna last Saturday with shattering sets and rambling riffs in search for the next best Filipino band.
Showcasing local rock acts, the world’s No. 1 strong beer hit hard and heavy by bringing back the country’s top rock competition after a four-year hiatus.
The scene at the grounds of Paseo de Sta. Rosa was a culmination of a year-long competition that started in 2024 with preliminaries to determine who gets to represent the different regions for this nationwide battle of the bands. The 12 bands that took the stage competed in two different categories – LAKAS, which bannered hardcore rock bands, and AKLAS which featured band that play alternative rock.
After hammering hardcore hits, Daks Not Dead from Batangas came out on top of the LAKAS category, while Interstate from Cebu bested the AKLAS field. Both bands took home P500,000 cash prize from Red Horse Beer.
“Hindi parin kami makapaniwala dahil ‘yung mga nakasabay namin na mga competitors, napakagagaling. Hindi talaga namin in-expect,” shared the AKLAS champion Interstate’s bassist Mark Brian Nebril. Together with his bandmates Ly Unabia on vocals, Christian Patultol on guitars, and Adrienne Batiquin on drums, Nebril admitted that their preparation leading to the Pambansan Muziklaban Finals was all-out.
“Mental at physical ‘yung preparation namin during practice at studio time. Kinailangan talaga ng disiplina at determinasyon,” he said.
LAKAS champion Daks Not Dead, on the other hand, shared that the mentorship they went through prior to the Pambansan Muziklaban Finals from Red Horse Beer evangelist bands took them over the top.
“Malaki ang naitulong ng mga mentors namin. Lahat ng mga advice na binigay nila, sinunod lang namin para maging 100% todo ‘yung maipapakita namin sa entablado ng Red Horse Beer,” said vocalist Mat Piamonte.
With fellow members Rudolf Aboloc on guitars, Ben Avelino on bass, and Ian Carreon on drums, Piamonte shared that their band still has a long way to go but is thankful to their supporters as well as the competition’s organizers.
“Ngayong nanalo na kami, tuloy-tuloy lang ang abante at pag produce ng kanta. Sa lahat ng sumuporta sa amin, salamat. At salamat sa Pambansang Muziklaban at sa Red Horse Beer, the No.1 strong beer in the world.”
The thousands of rakistas that showed up to see the Red Horse Beer Pambansang Muziklaban Grand Finals also saw rocking performances from top local bands including Wilabaliw, Chicosci, Greyhoundz, Razorback, and Dilaw. Previous Pambansang Muziklaban champions also took the stage as 2018 AKLAS Grand Champion Happy Three Friends played a striking set while 2004 Grand Champion Mayonnaise closed out the night giving the crowd a performance to remember.
