Behind The Stage Of Janine Teñoso’s First-Ever Concert

If you’ve ever experienced the privilege of mounting a concert or a live performance, you would know that the moments leading up to it can be complete and utter chaos.

However, upon entering the New Frontier Theater for Janine Teñoso’s concert rehearsals, we were met with anything but chaos — in fact, warm smiles, idle chit-chat, and an overall air of homeyness and familiarity permeated the otherwise frigid and cold venue. This was especially fitting for the star of the night, Janine, whose music provides a sense of solace and solidarity to its listeners.

This warm, homey atmosphere was entirely intentional, according to what concert directors Jason Max and Mica Maximo told Billboard Philippines. “So, what Janine wanted was to feature her brain, and her brain functions best in her room, so that’s why there’s a set there. It’s really like a production design of her bedroom. In all her songs, when she shared parts of her initial thoughts and why she’s doing this type of concert, it’s because she wants to share or bring people inside her head. And inside her head, she writes music in her room.” Mica adds to this point, “[So] we’re simulating what goes on when she’s writing music.”

Further adding to this intimate atmosphere was the fact that everyone, both on and off stage, appeared to be friends with one another, as in between rehearsals they would greet each other with hugs or share laughs — a first for me to witness backstage, really. “A lot of her bandmates, actually, are super close friends of Janine, and she wants them there with her while she does the show. They’re part of the set, talaga. Kung mapansin mo, they’re still lit there, meron pa rin highlights sa heads nila, we feature them talaga. We don’t want to hide them,” Max says, elaborating the intention behind the set design.

“That translates into what Janine wanted; she wants this milestone to be with her friends, to celebrate it with her friends, and at the same time, bring the people into the recent years of her life,” Mica adds.

As collaborators, Arthur Nery, Cup of Joe, Rob Deniel, Jazz Nicholas of the Itchyworms, The Juans, and Alvin Serito would go on and off stage to practice their respective collaborative sets with Janine. These artists would greet and congratulate Janine for her milestone with fondness. Rehearsing the spiels for their respective segments ahead of the show, messages of sincere gratitude and appreciation were being broadcast to the venue, which at that point was purely filled with friends and family.

Sharing the core narrative of the concert with Billboard Philippines is musical director Choi Padilla: “Through [Janine’s] songs, you’ll experience a variety of emotions. We’re just really happy that she gets to be free with this after eight years. Ang dami niyang pinagdaanan, mga rants niya, nilagay niya lang sa mga sinusulat niya. It’s really just one big show of showing every emotion na sinusulat niya.“

(“Through [Janine’s] songs, you’ll experience a variety of emotions. We’re just really happy that she gets to be free with this after eight years. She’s been through so many things, and all of her rants have been incorporated into her writing. It’s really just one big show of showing every emotion that she’s written about.”)

Co-musical director Pauline Lauron adds, “If you just keep on hoping and keep on believing — I mean, this is her first solo concert ever and she’s got a long way to go — but considering everything she’s been through, she’s been in the industry for seven years. Ang tagal ng hinintay niya (She’s waited for so long). But because she had that patience and she had faith, I think if there’s one thing that the audience would take home tonight, it would be to keep believing.”

Celebrating a night of firsts for many, Korean singer-songwriter Lee Daewon and Filipino R&B singer Aubrey Caraan were also able to put on their biggest show yet as an opening act to Janine’s concert. The track they’d performed together, “Selfish Man,” was a moving ballad written in both Tagalog and Korean, and their moving performance earned applause even during the rehearsals. Explaining the track itself, Lee Daewon shared that the song was something he’d written about himself, and was a track he long desired to perform in front of his Filipino fans.

At the end of my talk with musical directors Choi and Pauleen, I took a look around the dressing room and observed as staff and artists alike engaged in playful banter and heart-to-heart talks. With such a cheery and intimate atmosphere, I couldn’t help but remark that there was truly so much love and respect shared between everyone who had worked on that concert.

After taking a group photo with a massive huddle of friends and family, Janine was finally ready for the big stage.

Check out the photos behind the scenes of Janine’s first-ever concert below: