Eraserheads to headline UAAP Season 87 opening ceremony
The Eraserheads, the country's foremost OPM rock band, will headline the opening ceremony of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 87.
The band—Ely Buendia, Raimund Marasigan, Marcus Adoro, and Buddy Zabala—will grace the UAAP audience on Sept. 7 at the Araneta Coliseum, according to the University of the Philippines Office for Athletics and Sports Development (UPOASD).
"We're happy that the Eraserheads are going to share their magic with the UAAP as we start Season 87," UPOASD Director Bo Perasol said in a statement. "Saktong-sakto yung mangyayaring ito sa theme natin for this season."
"They reached the top, disbanded, reunited, and now, full circle na sila sa homecoming nila sa UP and sa UAAP. They are true music icons and legends and our national pride," he added.
The Eraserheads' performance will have a separate ticket from the day's opening game between the UP Fighting Maroons and Ateneo Blue Eagles, the UPOASD noted.
UAAP Season 87 will have the theme #StrongerBetterTogether.
The UP, as this season's host university, will visit seven other universities to bestow a symbolic, LED-lit torch à la Olympics.
It shall be displayed throughout the year and taken off its perch at the end of the season.
Participating universities are also invited to interpret the season's theme through a large canvas that will be dubbed as the "unity wall." The canvas will be displayed in playing venues throughout the year.
The schedule for the pep rallies are as follows:
- Aug. 28 - University of the East
- Aug. 30 - Ateneo de Manila University, Far Eastern University
- Sept. 3 - National University, UP
- Sept. 4 - De La Salle University, University of Santo Tomas
- Sept. 5 - Adamson University
Last Aug. 20, UP conferred the Eraserheads the Gawad Oblation, the university's highest distinction to individuals and organizations that have rendered “extraordinary service with or in the name of UP.”
Eraserheads was formed in 1989 at UP Diliman. The band got its name from the 1977 David Lynch film Eraserhead.
They rose to fame in the '90s following BMG Records' three-year record deal offer.
Eraserheads released their debut album Ultraelectromagneticpop! in 1993, which included hits like Pare Ko, Ligaya, and Toyang.
They sustained the momentum in their next albums Circus (1994) and Cutterpillow (1995), producing more hits like Alapaap, Minsan, Magasin, With a Smile, and Ang Huling El Bimbo.
Eraserheads would enjoy mainstream success over the coming years, holding national and international concerts and even starring in the 1995 comedy movie Run Barbi Run alongside Joey De Leon.
Throughout their career, the group won several awards, including the MTV Video Music Awards. It was also hailed as Esquire Magazine's Artist of the Year in 2022.
Eraserheads disbanded in 2002, but their songs remained popular even to newer generations of listeners.
In July 2008, they held their first reunion concert, though it was cut short as Buendia collapsed on stage. A "continuation" of the reunion concert pushed through in January 2009, dubbed as The Final Set.
Though they already disbanded—and had their new respective bands—Eraserheads went on to perform abroad from 2012 to 2014.
In 2014, they dropped two new songs titled Sabado and 1995 for the September issue of Esquire Philippines. Two years later, Eraserheads reunited again for the event of the telecommunications giant PLDT-Smart.
In September 2022, Eraserheads hyped fans anew with an announcement of their third reunion concert in the Philippines, titled Ang Huling El Bimbo, after its greatest hit, in December of that year. The concert, which featured the entire Cutterpillow tracklist and its other numerous hits, saw a 75,000-strong crowd across generations.
Last June, the Eraserheads announced that they would hold a world tour in North America, Asia, and the Middle East from July to December 2024.