CEBU, Philippines - Rock icon Ely Buendia recently took to the stage here in Cebu to plug his latest album, “In Love and War,” the fruit of his creative collaboration with the late master rapper Francis Magalona. He rocked out together with the Dope Militia Band.
They played a 13-song set that included songs from his latest offering namely, “Buzzkill”, “Bus Stop”, “Unstrung Heroes”, “Dreamdate”, “Hands On”, “Bum Ticker”, “Wasak Waltz”, and “Higante”.
The rest of the songs prompted a nostalgic throwback to his days as the frontman and chief songwriter of the legendary 90s rock band Eraserheads. They performed “Sembreak”, “Magasin”, and “Ang Huling El Bimbo”—songs that didn’t just place the group in the history of the OPM industry, but continued to strike a chord among music fans all over the country, as evidenced by the one big sing-a-long they generated among the audience at SM City Cebu’s Event Center.
Ely also sang his first-ever collaborative work with Francis M., “Superproxy”, which featured the latter’s rapping in its original release. He aptly closed the show with the Francis M. classic, “Kaleidoscope World”, which sent the audience to their feet, hands help up in the air. Ely concluded his Cebu gig with a meet-and-greet with fans.
Meanwhile, Ely recently is set to celebrate his 40th birthday with a rare solo concert on Nov. 27 at Republiq, New Resorts World in Manila. This will be aired on TV on Dec. 12 via the GMA 7 program, “Sunday Night Box Office”. (THE FREEMAN)