THE THREE Thomasian bands who will perform at the grand Paskuhan concert have been selected out of the six groups that competed in this year’s battle of the bands.
Bands “Kler,” “Benchfly,” and “Mimosa” emerged as the top three performers in the 2023 “Tunog Tomasino” battle of the bands held on Dec. 4 at the Frassati Auditorium.
They are set to play at the grand concert on Dec. 21, which will cap the University’s month-long Paskuhan festivities.
“Kler,” the champions of the battle of the bands, said their win was unexpected.
“We were not expecting it because we have only practiced the cover song once,” said Alyssa Olaso, a music technology student and the group’s lead vocalist.
“We felt that we were ill-equipped for the competition; that’s why we were surprised when we got the champion spot,” said Aaron de la Paz, a music technology senior and the band’s rhythm guitarist.
“Kler” has Kristian Tud on lead guitar, Alfred Estepa on bass, and Philip Nadera on drums.
The quintet performed a rendition of the pop-punk band Paramore’s “Ain’t It Fun” and their original composition, “NASA,” a fusion of hip-hop and alternative rock.
Placing behind them was “Benchfly,” a band composed of Miguel Siriban on drums, Eldric Basa on vocals and bass, and Nathaniel Hernandez and Kevin Reyes on guitar and vocals.
They performed “Fix You” by Coldplay and their original pop song, “Sushi.”
Coming in at third was “Mimosa,” which has Carlos Tesoro on bass, Andrew Santiago on drums, Miguel Lugay on vocals, and Sean Pabico and Jose Antonio Avellana on guitar.
The band rendered their take on Sponge Cola’s “Tambay” and an original pop-rock ballad piece, “Paano Na Kaya?”
“For the first song, it doesn’t seem like it has a lot of meaning to it, but it’s like a part of the journey where you [have fun and] enjoy,” Lugay told the Varsitarian. “On a more serious note, our second song [is about] what comes after fun and games, when reality comes and life gets you.”
This year’s “Tunog Tomasino” battle of the bands had the theme “ReVibe” and was organized by Thomasian Media Circle and Talents (Tomcat).
“We chose ‘ReVibe’ as the big idea of [this year’s] event because we wanted to be able to relive the moments of Tunog Tomasino in the previous years,” said Frances Havana, Tomcat executive associate to the chief communications officer.
