Loving Stomp, meeting Tahiti 80

Missed the part about humming a song from the show when one comes out of the theater. There were no melodies. You had to settle for handclaps. But there were joyous smiles all around after the first Manila performance of Stomp last Tuesday at the Bulwagang Nicanor Abelardo of the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Why not when the cast had given the audience a unique symphony of noise and comedy that left everybody amazed and wanting more.

Stomp was the brainchild of Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas of Brighton, UK. The music of the show is actually percussion but it is different in the sense that the instruments used are everyday objects like kitchen sinks, dustbins, brooms, mops, pails, tires and others. How the noise these make turns into music is what makes Stomp a wonderful experience. The show first played in Edinburgh in 1991 and has since then gone on to Broadway and other parts of the world. Total as of now is 15 million people in 48 countries in five continents and the number continues to grow.

The cast of Stomp, there are only nine of them, makes one realize that the human being is an extraordinary creation. You attain perfection when mind, body and heart are in peak condition. The mind because you cannot just learn those routines by rote. There is science in the way sound is used, how they come together and one after another and a single misstep can be disastrous. The body, because it calls for precise, very precise precision, drop-dead timing and extreme dance steps.

And most of all, heart. Stomp is hard on the ears, the hands, the feet, etc. Only somebody who loves what he is doing would put himself through this punishing job show after show after show. This company is all heart. They obviously love what they do. No wonder we cannot help but love them back.

Stomp runs until Oct. 23 with performances at 8 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday matinees at 3 p.m. Catch it and have fun with something exhilaratingly different.

From the UK, we now go to France. While we get music from a lot of acts from other countries, the US, the UK, Australia, Korea, etc., we hardly hear anything from France. Must be because most of us, common folks, do not speak French and that we think of the French as Old World with classical leanings or if we go by the bottom line, snobbish.

This is not the case with Tahiti 80. This indie pop band records only in English. This makes their music easily accessible to all and must be why they have made it big in many countries outside France. Well, not yet in the Philippines. But we will soon be introduced to the music of Tahiti 80 and knowing how Pinoys like catchy, refreshing tunes with hints of the sonic ’70s, I am sure that Tahiti 80 will win a lot of new followers after their coming visit.

Tahiti 80 is made up of Xavier Boyer on vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards and piano, Pedro Resende on bass, programming, keyboards, percussion and vocals, Mederic Gontier on guitar, vocals and keyboards and Sylvain Marchand on drums, percussion, keyboards and piano. Music producer and concert promoter Toti Dalmacion is bringing the group over for the 10th anniversary celebration of his Terno Recordings which will be held at 6F The Tents at Alphaland Southgate, Pasong Tamo Extension cor. EDSA in Makati City.

Among Tahiti 80’s big selling singles are Heartbeat, Made First, A Love From Outer Space, Yellow Butterfly, 1000 Times, Soul Deep, Big Day, Changes, Here Comes, Chinatown, All Around and Unpredictable. The songs are dreamy and filled with youthful energy. You can drive to them, dance a bit and maybe sashay around while imaginings of brightly lit Paris bistros fill your head.

More good news. Performing along with Tahiti 80 are two of the country’s most innovative bands. This is also your chance to watch Up Dharma Down and the Radioactive Sago Project together. Tickets are available at Team Manila in Rockwell, Trinoma and Mall of Asia and Fully Booked at Bonifacio High Street, Greenbelt 5 and in Katipunan.