Filipino artists pay tribute to Sandwich on their 20th anniversary

Tonight (April 13) the Philippine music scene will come together to celebrate the music of Sandwich, as the band turns 20 at Under the Glow of the Satellite: An Anniversary Concert at the Metrotent Convention Center.

Ahead of tonight's festivities, Filipino artists took to social media to share their stories about one of the greatest bands to ever come out of the scene. Needless to say, Sandwich has touched the lives of both artists who too have made a massive impact on the scene and fans alike. Their influence has strengthened the music industry in numerous ways, and things are just about to get even better.

Read the tributes to Sandwich below:

Kjwan vocalist Marc Abaya congratulated his former bandmates on celebrating 20 years, saying, "I learned many things in the time I spent making music with them and will forever be grateful for their love, support, and generosity."

UDD drummer Ean Mayor shared a snapshot of his bootleg cassette tapes from his personal stash.

 

“SUPER UNDERRATED, FREESTYLE ANALOG!” Here’s my personal bootleg stash (Sunday Grabe Sunday & NU guestings) when i was 14! 😜 Happy 20!! @raymsmercygun @dayglo1 @mapins @don_pacquing @mongalcaraz @marc_abaya

A post shared by Ean Mayor (@eanmayor) on Apr 12, 2018 at 6:40pm PDT

Pedicab and Cheats guitarist Jason Caballa recalled playing his first out of town shows with Sandwich.

 

By now a lot of people know the story of my kuya almost stopping the first @sandwichmanila gig (although it was unannounced) back in '98, so I'll share something else. Beginning in '01, I became something of a sixth man, pinch-hitting on guitar whenever @marc_abaya or @dayglo1 was out of the country. I played for them a lot until @pedicabmanila got together and @mongalcaraz joined the band, and sporadically after that. I played my first out-of-town shows with them, to the biggest crowds I've ever played at that point. There are a lot of crazy memories: Diego nicknaming me "CNN" because the TV in my hotel room would always be on CNN post 9/11 (Diego: "Lipat mo sa MTV para sa Bootylicious!"), @raymsmercygun picking me up at home minutes after calling me to play a show at K.A.F.E. where Diego taught me the riffs to some songs from the yet-to-be-released third album on the way to the show, me completely flubbing the solo to "Sugod" in front of a thousand people in Tuguegarao during the T5 tour, and getting to experience @don_pacquing's food radar wherever we went, as well as @mapins' motherly cool, among others. I learned to be more "pro" through being their friend, watching them, and performing with them every now and then, and to be honest, one couldn't ask for better mentors. Now I'm in a band with two of them, and have worked with the other three on occasion, and I still learn something new every time. And of course, the records are great; I consider them to be one of the rare bands that gets better with age. I can't believe it's been 20 years, and I can't wait for tomorrow's show. ❤ #XsX

A post shared by Jason Caballa (@_disco666) on Apr 12, 2018 at 5:37am PDT

Gab Alipe called the 'Sugod' act "one of the greatest, because of their generosity in lifting up other artists." 

 

They’re one of the greatest bands to ever come out of the scene. Not only because of the music, not only because of their longevity. They’re one of the greatest, because of their generosity in lifting up other artists. @urbandubph is around because of @sandwichmanila. They gave us our start in Manila. They took us under their wing and showed us the ropes. They took an unknown Cebuano band and made us believe in ourselves and gave us the opportunity to pursue a career in music on a national level. For that, we will always be grateful to them. One of the main reasons why we built a management company when we took a hiatus, @nemesismusicph, is to help out younger artists, which was directly influenced by what <s> did for us in Udub. We’re paying it forward and continuing the legacy they gave us. Congratulations on their 20th year in the industry! Their concert on Friday, April 13, Metrotent Metrowalk will surely be an amazing show! Daghang Salamat mga igsuon! Padayon 🥪🛰🛸🙏🏻 | #XsX | 📷 Karen dela Fuente

A post shared by Gabby Alipe (@udubgab) on Apr 11, 2018 at 7:00am PDT

The Itchyworms' Jugs Jugueta shared a story from back in his college days about Sandwich frontman Raymund Marasigan.

 

I first heard about Sandwich twenty years ago from @raymsmercygun. I was a sophomore college student, and part of the special projects department of AMP (Ateneo Musician’s Pool), together with @staccatofire77. We wanted to bring together famous musicians to give a talk to inspire our young AMP members to form their own bands and write their own songs. We invited the guitarist of the Dawn, the keyboardist of Alamid, the guitarist of Rivermaya... and the drummer of the most popular band in the history of the Philippines, Raymund Marasigan. I called him up (via land line), and he asked me if his new band, Sandwich could play. Of course i said yes! On the day of the talk, i was surprised to see that his bandmates were Mike of Teeth, Diego & Myrene of the Aga Muhlach Experience, and my ping-pong PE classmate, Marc Abaya. The rest is history. Happy 20th Anniversary, @sandwichmanila! I’m sorry @theitchyworms can’t watch on Friday, but we will definitely check out the live feed! Have a good one, fam! 😘🙏🏼 #sandwich20 #xsx #undertheglowofthesatellite #itchywormsthrowback

A post shared by JUGS Jugueta (@jugsjugsjugs) on Apr 11, 2018 at 1:56am PDT

Pedicab's Diego Mapa, who'll be DJ'ing at the anniversary show, wrote about the first time he saw Sandwich live at the defunct Mayric's in Espana to taking the band's photo in the streets of London. 

 

“I got pizza glue all over my shoe...” I first saw Sandwich live at Mayric’s around ‘97 or ‘98 at Sunday Grabe Sunday. It was Monsterbot’s debut at the club. We played earlier than them. I think we did alright. Of course I knew who Raymund was and I already heard the Sakyan demo at NU107. They came on stage with their effects in lunchboxes. They had a toy megaphone. This is the first time I heard Butterfly Carnival. I couldn’t believe how they were making their sound. It was huge! I couldn’t believe they played on the same amps. They were jumping like the Beastie Boys and doing rock stances like Fugazi. They sounded like the E-heads backed by the members of the Foo Fighters, Helmet, and The Cure. They were already doing live mash ups. Rayms would sing Violent Femmes or some popular hit over their original track. I was blown away. After that gig I think I got obsessed. I attended almost all their gigs until the release of Grip Stand Throw. I was familiar with all their tracks before I heard the studio versions. The band saw me attending so much of their gigs that they got me as a sessionist. At first I would jam only to a song until the next thing you know it, I’m already playing guitar for full sets and joining them out of town! I could be their first sessionist? Then they probably relealized I was unreliable (haha!) and got a more skilled guitarist named Jason Caballa (@_disco666). Anyway, I got a better slot in the future which is becoming their bandmate in Cambio and @pedicabmanila. In this photo I’m taking their picture in the streets of London! So yeah, Mayric’s España to London! What’s the algorithm?! Sandwich is celebrating their 20th Anniversary tomorrow, Friday 13 at Metrotent, Metrowalk, Pasig! I’ll be dj-ing before their slot. This show is not to be missed.

A post shared by Diego Mapa (@ukayslut) on Apr 12, 2018 at 2:55am PDT

Tickets to Under the Glow of the Satellite: An Anniversary Concert are available at SM Ticket outlets.