Journey to the BINIverse
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BINI in London (Source: BINI Official)
As the sports crowd left, my mom and I walked into Wembley in London as part of another one entirely. We made our way to the OVO Wembley Arena near the Stadium. The sheer size of this crowd waiting in line for the eight-member Filipino girl group BINI startled me.
Alternate Universe
In 2018 I was in a summer class with some people old enough to be my parents or even grandparents. There was a blond boy from Poland, the only person aside from me under the age of 18. But we didn’t click because he hardly spoke English. There was one thing we had in common, though: we were all immigrants.
So that summer, I had to prove my competence at speaking and writing in English. By the end of it, our teacher–a white, British lady–told everyone that my writing was the best she’d read all year.
I was so excited to go to school, proper school, soon. But when September came, my mom found out that the school had sent me to the special branch for students who needed to be taught English first.
My mom asserted that they were unfairly denying me a spot that I’d earned with my summer grades. When the school finally transferred me to the regular branch, I saw the Polish boy. He’d been allowed there since Day 1.
Again, he hardly spoke English. He was an immigrant, just like me. But he was blond and white. As a teenager I quickly learned that no matter how proficient I was in English, my tan skin and Filipino features would always mark me as the one who didn’t belong.
In the days leading up to BINI’s London concert, I felt as though I’d stepped into an alternate universe. Everywhere we went, we’d hear people speaking in Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Tagalog, and so on. “I bet they’re all here for BINI,” my mom said.
The BINIverse Crowd (Photo by Julienne Loreto)
Or maybe there was just an influx of OFWs. We’ve always had OFWs in the UK. But when I overheard the conversations around us during lunch, I realized she was right.
These Pinoys were all talking about their plans to attend BINIverse London. We even met a Filipino family who’d traveled all the way from Norway just to attend the concert. BINIverse created a version of the UK where I didn’t feel out of place.
Into the BINIverse
Although the doors opened early, the concert didn’t start until around 8 p.m. For an hour or so, my mom and I just ate fries as the speakers played songs by Maki, Maymay Entrata, and BGYO.
Twenty-two-year-old Fil-Brit singer Clarissa Mae was the night’s opening act. She kicked things off with an acoustic cover of Estelle’s American Boy. She brought charm to her final performance of her self-produced, unreleased song about looking for love.
Then the whole venue dimmed.
After a moment of darkness, strobe lights whirled all around us, shining from the stage in front. An orchestral medley of BINI songs, including Diyan Ka Lang, played as the BINI members appeared, the word London in big, glowing letters behind them.
They sang a bit of Lagi, Na Na Na, Pantropiko, and Salamin, Salamin, putting their mics towards the audience and making us sing the lines back. Sheena’s iconic “Ayokong maniwala” gave way to Maloi’s equally iconic opening line, “Oh, hello there, misteryoso,” and the girls sang Salamin, Salamin as their first number.
BINI at BINIverse London (Photo by Julienne Loreto)
They performed amazingly, as always, but it wasn’t until the second number, No Fear, that it sank in: they were really there, in front of me.
A few tech glitches and note changes in the following numbers, I Feel Good and Born to Win, assured me that the vocals were truly raw and live. After Karera and Strings, they played a sunny instrumental that I assumed would transition into Pantropiko.
Instead, they sang Lagi. I’ve heard a bunch of cool note changes for this pop-rock hit in the three years since its release. I feel lucky that I got to hear it live mostly in its original form.
The song’s vocal arrangement was ever favorable to the whole group, bringing out richer tones in their voices that were a bit less palpable in some of their pure pop tracks. Maloi and Jhoanna sounded awesome on the bridge, singing their hearts out.
The song’s–and the concert’s– highlight of all highlights was Colet’s final chorus in Lagi. Even in videos, her singing stands out; but those recorded clips don’t do justice to how thunderous Colet’s voice sounds live.
Lagi was the number that best showed the unbeatable calibre of Colet’s singing. The notes in the final chorus were so high, even higher than the bridge. Yet her belts remained stunningly full and clear, especially the end note that she sustained while still dancing.
BINI performed Diyan Ka Lang, Blink Twice, and Cherry on Top next. Mikha who, like Aiah, elicited frantic screams every time she performed, spoke, or even just appeared in the VCR clips joked that the following number would be their last.
A stranger I met in the incredibly long queue for BINIverse London (posted with permission) (Photo by Julienne Loreto)
The supposed finale was Zero Pressure. But they performed several more songs after that. We entered ballad territory as they sang the BINIverse version of Na Na Nandito Lang, then Here With You and Huwag Muna Tayong Umuwi. Their energetic encore songs Na Na Na and Pantropiko made the audience dance one more time before the concert ended.
‘Just Filipinos’
“British people didn’t even attend BINIverse in London, just Filipinos,” BINI’s detractors like to say.
At the concert, the girls seemed completely aware that the audience was mostly Filipino. They infused their spiels with distinctly Filipino humor. Their ballads, they said, were dedicated to the homesick Filipinos of the UK. As we slowly left the venue, they bade us goodbye with words in Tagalog and Cebuano.
British workers selling BINI merch outside OVO Wembley Arena (Photo by Julie Knowles)
I wonder why the bashers act like a completely non-British act filling up the Wembley Arena is a failure simply because the audience consists of Filipinos. It’s sad how so many Filipinos treat crab mentality like it’s our national sport.
BINIverse London was a night of Filipino excellence. Beautiful music, razor-sharp dance moves, and the singing–oh God, the singing, so live and stable. Each member of BINI had moments that deeply impressed me, as someone passionate about vocals.
Like I mentioned, however, Colet stood out. I showed a few voice coaches some clips of BINI’s performances, seeking explanations for why Colet’s singing voice was the loudest I’d ever heard live.
Ma’am Caroline Parry is a British vocal teacher who had never heard of BINI before. After watching the live videos, though, she didn’t hesitate to identify Colet as “technically the best singer in that group.”
She added that Colet had the best breath control and diaphragm support. She called her a “precise” and “very, very good” vocalist. The girls are all good singers, she clarified more than once. But Colet’s voice is, in her words, “the crown jewel.”
BINIverse created a version of the UK where I didn’t feel out of place.
Ma’am Jessica Robb chalked it up to resonance. She noted that at just 23, Colet is already brilliant at resonating in her pharynx, producing highly refined, robust high notes. No wonder I left BINIverse London more certain than ever that Colet is this generation of P-pop’s best female vocalist.
These are the things that should be discussed when it comes to BINI. Not scrutinizing the ethnic backgrounds of their concertgoers. Not another pointless issue about their “attitude problems.” Not endless discourse about that one time that a member made a mistake onstage for 0.000001 second.
Eight remarkably talented young women with a lot of heart. They’re showing the world what Filipinos–not “just Filipinos”–can do.
Julienne Loreto (they/them) is a non-binary university student with roots in Bohol and Leyte. They are also a writer whose articles have been published in the prestigious music magazine The Line of Best Fit, as well as the Asian-American magazine JoySauce; their fiction stories have also been selected for publication by 8Letters and sold at the Manila International Book Fair.
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