Music Is: Baybeats 2022 by Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay

After two years of the pandemic, the 2022 edition of the annual Baybeats festival is ready to welcome back the crowds with a wave of alternative music from Singapore and beyond. Returning from 28th to 30th October over a single weekend, Baybeats 2022 welcomes back the return of the festival’s beloved Powerhouse stage—renamed Powerhouse2. Set up at the brand new Singtel Waterfront Theatre, fans of underground music can look forward to being on their feet and headbanging on the flat floor configuration of the new theatre.

Highlights of Powerhouse2 include all-female punk rock band from Japan, Otoboke Beaver and Indonesian rock sensation, .Feast, alongside local acts such as death metal heavyweights Rudra and surf punk icon Force Vomit. The festival’s Open Stage will also make a comeback for aspiring bands to perform right outside the Singtel Waterfront Theatre, and showcase young talents from the Esplanade’s Free Programmes series.

At the Esplanade Annexe Studio, we will be collaborating with Taiwanese music festival LUCfest to present Go Go Machine Orchestra and G5SH from Taiwan. At the same venue, look out for experimental, ambient music genre acts FERS who describe themselves as a ‘tropical shoegaze’ band, Hathaw9y from South Korea, as well as hip hop artists TENGY and ALYPH.

At the Arena (Esplanade Outdoor Theatre), fans can tune in to a line-up that includes homegrown rap rock band The Voodoo Sound, indie rock outfit Bakers In Space, together with Filipino instrumental rock band tide/edit and Khana Bierbood from Thailand, alongside the Baybeats Budding Bands of 2022.

At the Chillout Stage (Esplanade Concourse), the Esplanade brings in alternative rock acts like IMAN (solo project of Iman’s League’s frontman), Trust The Chaos and Astronauts, as they take on the challenge of presenting their hard-hitting numbers in acoustic arrangements and an intimate setting.

Lastly, the Esplanade also presents the Baybeats Budding Programmes, with new batches of photographers, emcees and writers who are mentored by various industry practitioners. With its 21st edition, Baybeats is back in full swing, and ready to have the crowd back moshing, rocking out and having a good time at the Esplanade.

Baybeats 2022 runs from 28th to 30th October 2022 at Esplanade – Theatres by the Bay. Full line-up and more information available here