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Manila Bulletin devider Entertainment devider Celebrities devider GOSSIP GIRL: General Luna's Nicole Laurel Asensio excited to share stage with Eraserheads

GOSSIP GIRL: General Luna's Nicole Laurel Asensio excited to share stage with Eraserheads

Published Apr 8, 2025 07:56 am

At A Glance

  • This reunion gig at the Electric Music Festival may be the beginning of many more shows for General Luna. 
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Nicole Laurel Asensio (Facebook)

As the wife of a former drummer of the Introvoys (Emil Buencamino), I have a secret love for rock music. The last music festival I remember on the SMDC grounds was earlier in 2023, the two-day Rakrakan festival, where bands like 6cyclemind, Sandwich, Chicosci, and Ely Buendia performed. 

On May 31, Eraserheads, together with the Itchyworms, Moonstar88, Basti Artadi, Imago, Dong Abay Music Organization, Blaster, Party Place, Carousel Casualties, Pinkmen, Alyson, Savanah, and General Luna, are rocking the SMDC Festival Grounds. 

General Luna’s frontwoman Nicole Laurel  Asensio cannot wait to reunite with her bandmates and share the stage with Eraserheads, “In a few weeks, our bassist Alex Montemayor is coming back from Korea to join us. She had already joined the U.S. Navy but applied for a leave for our band reunion gig. I am so thankful that Eraserheads chose us to perform with the other bands. Rumor has it that the members of Eraserheads wrote down their favorite bands, and since it was a lot, they placed them in a jar and drew 11 bands from the jar to be fair to all the bands they loved. Thank God we won the raffle. Otherwise, General Luna will be one of my best memories from when I was younger.” 

Asensio has proven her vocal range and ability from a rakista to becoming the 2022 and 2023 Aliw Awardee for best jazz singer. 

Today, she performs with her jazz band in Uma Nota (Shang BGC) every Tuesday, Solaire North every Wednesday, and Sundays at Encanta in Quezon City. “My type of jazz is modern jazz. I rehashed the standards and re-arranged them to make them more funky and current, I guess. Jazz nights are returning to the music scene, and I am thrilled because this is the music genre I am very passionate about.” 

I asked Nicole how close she was to her grandmother, Opera Luminary Fides Cuyugan-Asensio, and if her lola rubbed the love of singing to her, “Naku soprano ‘yun, ako schitzosoprano lang. Hahaha! But yes, my Lola Fides and my mom Iwi Laurel, a singer, helped shape my love for singing and music.” 

The singer-actress loved the word “schitzosoprano” so much that she used it as the title of her debut album in 2015. I tried listening to it again before I wrote this article, and her tracks like “Leader For A Day” and “Walang Anuman” reflect her eclectic musical influences, merging her background in theater and classical music with rock elements.

I wish General Luna the best. I have been a fan since I watched them open for the American hard rock band Mr. Big in 2011 and when they opened for Slash, the legendary guitarist of Guns & Roses, back in 2010. This reunion gig at the Electric Music Festival may be the beginning of many more shows for General Luna. Get your early bird five percent discount for the Electric Music Festival until April 16 through Palawan Pay. 

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