4 weeks ago
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February 16, 2025 | 12:00am
Cup of Joe (COJ) lead vocalists Gian Bernardino and Rafa Ridao are happy to be before their audience. As Rafa grate- fully tells the crowd, ‘Binago ninyo ang buhay namin.’
STAR / File
It may take a while for the euphoria to die down. The Joewahs who witnessed “Silakbo,” Cup of Joe’s explosive, exciting, vastly entertaining and really packed two-night stint at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last Feb. 8 and 9, are still over the moon in ecstasy.
The boys of Cup of Joe (COJ) themselves, once simple kids who just wanted to be able to record a song as a graduation souvenir, have ascended to idoldom as the country’s biggest pop band of the moment.
And that is not all, come Monday morning, the day after the second show, lead vocalists Gian Bernardino and Rafa Ridao, guitarists Gab Fernandez and CJ Fernandez, and keyboardist Xen Gareza woke up to the news that their track Tingin, a collab with Janine Tenoso has garnered a record 200 million streams.
This is one of the highest ever in the annals of the streaming platform Spotify. It is not yet in the 400 million category of Tadhana by Up Dharma Down, but it is getting there. These boys are now probably looking at themselves in the mirror and asking, “What on earth has happened to us?”
Janine Teñoso performs Tingin with COJ. The song has garnered a record 200 million streams on Spotify.
What indeed? Not that all that has occurred was not well-deserved. All these past five years, they dutifully kept up with their college studies. They alternated gigs with books and made the required trips to their bookings in between classes. At the same time, they worked very hard on their music, improving their creativity and skills.
The results of the latter are mind-blowing. Check out the songs in the new album also titled “Silakbo” and you will notice that Cup of Joe songwriting has attained a very high level. See how the songs weave together stages in a relationship in a manner that is so well-expressed and relatable.
Best of all, they did not rest on the success of their songs. As those who watched their concerts were happy to see, Cup of Joe is now vastly improved in performance, oozing with confidence onstage and deliriously happy to be before their audience.
There was love all around the Big Dome between COJ and the Joewahs. As Rafa gratefully told the audience, “Binago ninyo ang buhay namin.”
Things will never be the same again for COJ. After a breather back in their homes in the north, where the boys were students in Baguio but came from Ilocos, Cup of Joe will embark on the “Silakbo” Philippine tour.
Time now to let Joewahs in other areas experience the COJ magic. First stop will be the SMX Convention Center in Davao City on March 22. This will be followed by the IC3 Convention Center in Cebu City on March 29. Tickets to these shows are now on sale.
Love is all around the Big Dome between COJ and the Joewahs.
And then there will be a tour of the United States and Canada for COJ later this year where they will introduce their kind of music to new sets of Joewahs.
While waiting for those gigs, the Joewahs can perhaps preview the concert “Silakbo” by listening to the album.
COJ is now vastly improved in performance, oozing with confidence onstage.
The experience will be a release of sweet, delicious heartaches. Then wonder, how on earth could those boys have created that.
