Red Horse Beer’s Pambansang Muziklaban lit up the stage in Sta. Rosa, Laguna last Saturday on its return 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 bands 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.
“Hindi pa rin kami makapaniwala dahil ‘yung mga nakasabay namin na mga competitors, napakagagaling. Hindi talaga namin in-expect,” shares Interstate’s bassist Mark Brian Nebril. Together with his bandmates Ly Unabia on vocals, Christian Patultol on guitars and Adrienne Batiquin on drums, Nebril admits that their preparation was all out. “Mental at physical ‘yung preparation namin during practice at studio time. Kinailangan talaga ng disiplina at determinasyon,” he says.
Hardcore rock band Daks Not Dead from Batangas is thankful for the mentorship they went through from Red Horse Beer evangelist bands. “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,” says vocalist Mat Piamonte.
With fellow members Rudolf Aboloc on guitars, Ben Avelino on bass, and Ian Carreon on drums, Piamonte acknowledges that their band has a long way to go but is in it for the long haul. “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 finals also saw rocking performances from Wilabaliw, Chicosci, Greyhoundz, Razorback and Dilaw. Previous Pambansang Muziklaban champions also took the stage as 2018 AKLAS champ Happy Three Friends played a striking set while 2004 champ Mayonnaise closed out the night.
