“Wait, so they just play in a mall?” A friend asked when I told them what I had going on last weekend. It was then I truly realised the charming oddity of Filipino mall shows. 

Yes, they—as in artists and bands, ranging from our favourite local acts to international talents—do just play in malls. There’s a stage, lights, and even seats and they perform for everyone, whether you purposely sought out their set or were just walking by. These mall shows, which have become fond memories for so many Filipinos, take these beautiful experiences usually limited to spaces like gigs, concerts, and festivals into the outside world.

As Filipino funk-pop band Lola Amour put it, “Malls are like our versions of the plaza, that’s where people go to hang out on afternoons, weekends, that’s where people go to meet up. They’re accessible, anyone can go to it. When there’s a mall show, there are four floors where people can stay and watch—that’s what makes a mall show great.”

As someone who spent most of her life on the other side of the continent, mall shows were not something I had access to as a blossoming music fan. I rarely got the chance to catch a band perform while I was on the way to a fast food joint or window shopping so, when I moved back to the Philippines, one of the first things I did was catch a mall show. And now, it’s a regular event in my life: get a bite to eat, watch someone play, and then go around the mall, make a whole day out of it.

This last weekend, I headed down to Santa Rosa’s Ayala Malls Solenad to catch Lola Amour, as well as sibling duo Ysanygo, perform. 

It was the five-piece band’s first mall show since the whirlwind success of ‘Raining In Manila’ and even before their scheduled set, the anticipation was palpable. At 12 PM, a little over five hours before they were set to take the stage, groups of young fans already started to crowd coffee shops and benches around Solenad’s activity centre. 

You could see people stop walking to listen to the mall’s pre-show playlist of Lola Amour hits and hear discussions of where to stand when the show officially begins. While this wasn’t my first time seeing the band perform live, the excitement was admittedly contagious. I found myself giddy, even dancing along to ‘Raining In Manila’ blasting on the speakers. 

To describe the energy of these shows is difficult, because while you’re mostly there to see an artist perform, you’re also around people who also just want to visit the mall and do what people at malls do. It’s an interesting sense of excitement and adrenaline amidst the mundane setting of department stores and retail shops. 

“Iba din energy pag mall show, it’s very mall-y. In a mall show, your fans are like screaming. They’re feral (laughs), iba yung energy nila. Pag bar gig, more personal, more intimate—they’re not gonna scream when you’re walking by. You feel like you’re just in a place with your friends who are there to watch you perform. So, we change the way we play not really musically but the attitude, energy for the audience,” described Lola Amour. 

This unique energy of mall shows also tends to have unique stories to match. You always remember your first mall show they say and Lola Amour certainly does. 

“It was so funny 'cause we came from Wish Bus, tapos sobrang traffic. So when we got there, binaba lahat ng gamit, Renzo our drummer then, was the one driving. Eh nahuli siya! Kasi parang illegal pinagbabaan niya ng gamit. Then nagtalo sila for a bit. So, we were onstage for a good 10 minutes without a drummer,” said the band, recounting the first time they ever got to perform in a mall show.  

“Great story, bad mall show.”

As the hours counted down to Lola Amour’s Solenad show, the empty spaces of the activity centre started to diminish. Soon, a sea of people started congregating around the stage and claiming spots on the second-floor balcony. 

You see herds of teenagers excitedly greeting each other before deciding where to position themselves, kids dragging their parents closer to the stage, and families occupying tables at surrounding restaurants. The crowd at mall shows are always a pleasant mix of faces and ages, all just there united in this magical experience of live music regardless if that’s what they initially intended for the day. 

First up on the bill were Ysanygo. The last time the Bandwagon team saw them at Solenad was during IV Of Spades’ mall show where they were simply part of the crowd. That night in 2018 ended with the trio saying “Someday, you’ll be onstage” and in what was a full circle moment, that became true for Ysa and Ygo. 

Opening for Lola Amour, the ‘Friday Afternoon Drive’ duo enchanted fans and bystanders alike with their melodic vocals and chill vibes “Anong title nito? Add ko nga sa Spotify,” I overheard someone ask their friend. It’s one magical part of mall shows: discovering new music and artists by simply passing by at the right time. 

Soon thereafter, Lola Amour hit the stage. To say that there was a lot of screaming would be an understatement. Whether you were right by the stage or all the way in the back, there was no denying the pure intensity of their fans, as they so accurately described. 

In the last year, I had seen the band perform more than I have seen any other local act but this time, it was a completely different atmosphere. While Lola Amour had attracted crowds of people before, having done a mall show tour last year and experiencing TikTok virality with ‘Fallen’, ‘Raining In Manila’ brought them to entirely new heights. 

Rain or shine, the earworm-y pop hit was everywhere and I mean everywhere, from your neighbourhood Jollibees to those Jeepneys that blast music for your commute. There was no denying the single’s success and the crowd at Solenad was a testament to that. People were screaming lyrics back at the band, doing ad-libs with their friends, jumping to their instrumental breaks, and even demanded an encore. 

‘Raining In Manila’ is the band’s breakthrough hit and while they’re grateful for its success and that so many people across the world—including K-pop stars ENHYPEN—resonate with the song, it’s also got them to rethink some of their plans. 

Lola Amour had initially set out to release an album this year but with so many eyes on them now, they knew they had to regroup. 

“At first, after we wrote the song and recorded it, we just kept doing our business and tried to finish the album. But then, when you saw the success of the song, it kinda puts pressure on you and you realise ‘oh, I dont wanna just release anything’. You really have to follow it up with something as good or better or something like that,” they shared. 

“Yeah, there is pressure and we did have to regroup, and think about how we were working on the album and if we should release it or if we should take time to improve it. And I think we chose to take time and improve hence the delay of the album. For the better, our plans got derailed.”

The album, which as of the time of this interview, is now planned to be released in 2024. The forthcoming record is said to be a mix of new sounds and everything everyone loves about Lola Amour. “We’ve never sounded like those songs before, but we’re really happy with what It sounded like. In the album, you can expect different sounds, but also still very Lola Amour,” they teased.

“There’s elements of the band in each song, but if you compare them side by side, there’s a significant difference. There’s always a little bit of Lola Amour flavour in the songs, but none of them are of the same palette.”

To make up for the album delay and also to just celebrate their growing community of listeners, Lola Amour are setting out on tour. The Raining In Manila Tour kicks off this weekend in no other place than Manila, where they will be joined by The Ridleys, Leanne & Naara, PLAYERTWO, and Arthur Miguel.

From half of ENHYPEN loving the single to the hilarious memes blaming them for the weather, the last couple of months bore a lot of pleasant surprises for Lola Amour and there's no doubt, there'll be a lot more. 

Interview by Camille Castillo