Blog Posts by Tony Maghirang

Amoranto Stadium in Quezon City now holds the distinction as the summer metal capital of the Philippines. For most of the past 13 years, the biggest and loudest concert, the Summer Slam, hosts its annual noisefest of local and international acts at the Amoranto open field.

Coheed and Cambria, a progressive metal band from New York, arrived in Manila to perform at the 13th Summer Slam at the Amoranto Stadium. The band is composed of vocalist/ guitarist Claudio Sanchez, guitarist Travis Stever, bassist Michael Todd, and drummer Joshua Eppard.

READ: Labeling metal is for magazine writers

At a press briefing at the Cocoon Boutique Hotel in Quezon City, Claudio Sanchez said the band went through a long and winding journey across America and on to Asia just to play at this year’s Summer Slam in the company of such metal behemoths as Cannibal Corpse, As I Lay Dying, and Dragonforce and Pinoy headbangers Kamikazee and Chicosci, among others.

Packed crowd for Coheed and Cambria

Sanchez added

“Animal” is a two-year old radio fave that still has the power to charm the socks off anyone. It’s a catchy power-pop number with zippy hooks that continue to hum in your head long after its three-minute play has ended.

The song is from Neon Trees, an alt band from Utah composed of vocalist/keyboardist Tyler Glenn, guitarist Chris Allen, bassist Branden Campbell, and drummer/vocalist Elaine Bradley.

IN PICTURES: Close-up Summer Solstice 2013

Even if their songs are indebted to 80s new wave, the band was named one of the most promising acts of 2010.

Exclusive interview

And they’ve lived up to the huzzahs. “Picture Show,” their second studio album, was released in 2012. They continue to pick up the pop and rock influences from the past and then fashion them into infectious rockers that sound right at home in the company of heavy hitters like The Strokes, Bloc Party and former tour mates, The Killers.

In an exclusive phone interview with Yahoo! Philippines, the band explained the

Recent Manila visitors Lawson are being billed as the next boy band to watch, after the success of One Direction and The Wanted.

Will they?

Let us count the possible ways.

1. They’ve collected four hit singles laden with the crisp harmonies and massive hooks of boy band forerunners Backstreet Boys, Take That and Nsync.

2. They are followed by girls, hordes of them screaming,  everywhere they go.

ALSO READ: Sandwich eats fat, fans the pop-rock flames

3. The band's single “When She Was Mine” became the most-viewed song on YouTube in a week. Andy Brown on acoustic guitar and lead vocals, bassist Ryan Fletcher, lead guitarist Joel Peat and Adam Pitts on drums certainly made a good first impression.

4. The song is engineered to send fans swooning: a bittersweet love song about the parting of ways between singer Andy and Mollie King, vocalist of UK girl
group The Saturdays.

5. Their debut album “Chapman Square” hints at something more: stories of conflicts of the heart written by