Why Fiddler's was perfect venue for Hard Candy's 25th anniversary gig

Kate Torralba was worried that the fallout of her friend Ellen Adarna's marriage to Derek Ramsay may have ruined her favorite song, "Freefall," by Torralba's band Hard Candy, which was used as the celebrity couple's wedding song.

- By JANUAR JUNIOR AGUJA

But she was relieved during a recent chat with Adarna that a failed marriage did not change her love for the song which in her youth she would often request Cebu radio stations to play.

"I was talking to her the other day...she's like, 'No, I still love it,'" Torralba, who performed the song at the ex-couple's wedding in Bataan, told The FREEMAN.

"It was her bridal march, and I wanted to surprise her by performing 'Freefall' with a string arrangement," she recalled. "But I was surprised when I saw the aisle where she was walking down, and they had these cobblestones that contained the written lyrics of the song, and I was like, 'Oh my gosh, she really loves this song!'"

"Freefall" had its surge of popularity even before the wedding in 2021, as Adarna played it during their engagement. It was later released on streaming platforms that same year, as people were looking for an official digital release of the song.

Reflecting on Adarna's sentimentality toward "Freefall" despite the rocky circumstances of her marriage, Torralba noted, "Life may have occurred a certain way, but the songs that mean a lot to you will always be special to you, and I feel so honored that there are people who love the song even years later."

One night only?

The FREEMAN interviewed Torralba after she performed on stage for nearly four hours during Hard Candy's 25th anniversary gig last weekend, December 20, at Fiddler's Bar & Grill located on F. Ramos Street, Cebu City.

"I didn't even know I performed that long," she said. "I just give it my all. I am naturally a risk-taker, powered by adrenaline and excitement. I feed off the audience's energy. My shows are only as good as the audience. If it's a bad audience, it's a bad show. I can only do so much."