Wolfgang frontman Basti Artadi addresses viral Davao gig
Basti Artadi, lead vocalist of Filipino rock band Wolfgang, has spoken up about the viral incident that took place during the band's recent reunion concert in Davao.
During Wolfgang's reunion concert at the SMX Convention Center Davao on March 26, a heckler in the audience interrupted Artadi's tribute to Wolfgang bassist Mon Legaspi, who passed away in 2022.
Several times during Artadi's tribute, the heckler shouted, "F**k you, BBM," apparently referring to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Davao is a known bailiwick of the Dutertes, who were formerly aligned with Marcos until their falling out. Fed up, Artadi ordered the audience member to leave the venue.
The video clip of the incident went viral, prompting Artadi to post a statement on March 31.
"We were there to make people smile; to bring people together and for everyone to have a good time. That was our only reason to go," began Artadi, who performed the concert with Wolfgang's two other members, guitarist Manuel Legarda and drummer Wolf Gemora.
"I was paying tribute to Mon Legaspi, one of the greatest musicians the Philippines has ever known. And a couple of people chose that moment [to] try and separate people. And that was bastos. Simple as that," he said.
He also called out social media users who spread the viral clip.
"You're just separating us some more. And you are making Mon bastos again every time," Artadi said, adding that the video has eclipsed his original message about Legaspi.
"All this online s**t is designed to separate us and make us hate each other. We should love each other," Artadi continued.
Saying people were making the issue into something that it wasn't and giving it a political flavor, Artadi ended his message urging people to "help ourselves. Because the politicos will take care of themselves."
In the viral video, Artadi was mid-sentence in his tribute to Legaspi when someone from the audience shouted, 'F**k you, BBM,' followed by cheers from the audience.
"Hey man, we don't give a s**t about that tonight, man. We're just here to make you forget about all that s**t tonight," Artadi said. "I'll tell you this: everybody's lying to all of us...Tonight we're gonna tell you the truth. And the truth is Mr. Mon Legaspi is no longer here with us."
When the hecklers continued shouting, Artadi threatened that the band would go home if they kept it up.
"You wanna do your freedom of speech, go out into the f*****g hallways and do it there. Right here, this is rock and roll country, man," Artadi said, going on with his tribute.
The audience members kept shouting, however, prompting Artadi to order them out of the venue. Cheers and chants of "uwi" could be heard from the rest of the audience.
