When music masters meet and match

It’s a variation on the same theme.

Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry took center stage with the Boston Pops.. Metallica literally played beautiful music at Madison Square Garden with the St. Luke’s Orchestra. The Goo Goo Dolls put the spotlight on the orchestra in an album of theirs.

So what’s keeping Side A band from following suit — performing with a full orchestra that is ?

Close your eyes and imagine this: Side A’s Joey Generoso crooning Forevermore to the strains of the violin. Or Ernie Severino seguing to Hold On while the flute plays softly in the background.

Now open your eyes. The dream is now a reality. In a case of classic meets pop, the country’s enduring pop band is teaming up for the first time with Rodel Colmenara’s Manila Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO) in a concert set April 18 and 19 (Friday and Saturday), 8 p.m. at Music Museum.

The event, produced by Backstage Pass, is an event waiting to happen. The band has always been open to paying tribute to the works of the masters, like National Artist Lucio San Pedro, by giving it the Side A touch.

Besides, Joey, Ernie and Rodel are friends from way back. They share one alma mater: the UST Conservatory of Music. So it’s  getting together and hunching over music sheets as good old friends again is a breeze.

Naldy Gonzales, the show’s co-musical director (with Rodel) and Side A’s band leader/ keyboardist, did not agree to the collaboration with eyes closed. He did his research first.

“I talked to Freestyle and asked them how it was performing with Side A,” Naldy admits. “The feedback was good. So here we are,”  he says at the presscon.

Like all artists who respect each other’s style, the concert will divide the spotlight equally between Side A and MPO. He may not be ready to reveal the repertoire just yet, but Naldy foresees solo spots from MPO, three original, unrecorded songs from Side A, and duets with guests Ai-Ai delas Alas, Piolo Pascual and Sam Milby.

Ai-Ai will do nothing but perform music (no comic antics, this time) on the two nights. Piolo and Sam will perform on April 18 and 19, respectively.

Now, if the show opens another door for Side A to reinvent itself for the nth time, Naldy won’t mind. In fact, he welcomes it.

He, Joey and Ernie proved how open they are to a more youthful style when Leevon Cailao and Ned Esguerra joined Side A as lead guitarist/vocalist and bass guitarist/vocalist, respectively. Leevon, formerly of Pido with Take One and Ned, who used to be with Freeverse, bring their R&B, rock and contemporary pop style to the band.

Such openness to other genres has made Side A last this long, even after its contemporaries have disbanded or faded away from the scene. The willingness to bend backwards a bit, after all, is the key to growth and staying power in most all things.

Naldy knows this. “We are open to other arrangements, like jazz, hip-hop, etc. All we need to do is listen to the music first,” he says. 

This thinking also shows humility — the willingness to learn from other bands, other artists. For a band as big as Side A, the attitude is amazing.

And because the band thinks this way, it also expects other artists to feel this way. Any artist who wants to give Side A music a fresh twist, for instance, must let  Naldy listen to the arrangement first before releasing the song to the market.

Side A may be humility personified. But there’s such a thing as artistic boundaries.

These, Side A and MPO respect, even as they blend styles and trade overtures this weekend.