Gary V soars on Higher Ground

MANILA, Philippines - Because he’s been at it for so long — some 29 years — you expect that each time you go see a Gary Valenciano concert, he’s bound to, at some point, do something you’ve already seen. Maybe he’ll sing the same song (just with a different arrangement), maybe he’ll do that medley again, or maybe he’ll try a stunt he’s tried so many times before — well, you get the picture.

But to his credit, Gary manages to bring something new to the table each time. At his recent On Higher Ground concert series at the Music Museum, it was the production design that kept the audience on its toes. The Genesis production team with the aid of the Videosonic team used a technique called “video mapping” that had multiple images of Gary V singing and dancing with the actual, real-life, flesh-and-blood Gary onstage. Gary showed how far concert technology has come — or how imaginative and creative an artist can get when he really dares to push the envelope.

As we took our seats at the start of the concert, we looked at the stage, and what we saw had us thinking: “Huh?” There were no places for the band or the back-up singers. In fact, there was really no stage design to speak of, except for a big white raised backdrop with two short ramps. There was nothing painted on it, no logo of the concert, nor were there any pictures of Gary anywhere. But the reason for that was revealed soon enough when they started projecting interactive images and light designs during some of the numbers (to say any more would spoil the surprise — this is something you’ve got to see for yourself). It certainly made the show much more visually interesting. This kind of technology was used by Taylor Swift in her Fearless concert tour in 2009, Madonna during her historic Super Bowl stint, and may have been used by other Filipino artists in the US, but this is the first time I’ve seen it used by a local artist in the Philippines. It is interesting to note that simultaneously Mr. Pure Energy and perhaps also Mr. Technology actually also launched a free phone app on the week of his opening night… another first for any Philippine artist!

Gary himself directed the show, with son Paolo as associate director. I think this arrangement, while not all that typical, works to his advantage because no one knows Gary and what he’s capable of doing onstage better than himself. That Gary has Paolo to pass the baton to and to help him execute his vision is a welcome development. The rapport and bond between father and son was evident, even with Paolo up there in the director’s booth and Gary onstage. While Paolo has made a career of his own as a well-respected rock singer and video producer, I’d say he also has a very promising one as a director. He could choose to go either way. Through his appearances in ASAP this year, his eight-month stint as guest lead vocalist of Rivermaya, and his rock gigs as lead vocalist of Salamin, his rock band, Paolo has proven himself to be an excellent singer, but if the choice were up to me, I’d also steer him into the direction of, well, directing. Gary sings, brother Gab dances, he directs. Together, all three of them can work magic on the concert stage, but each in a different arena.

But as always, you go to a Gary Valenciano concert for the music. On that score, On Higher Ground didn’t disappoint. Well, maybe there were songs we hoped he would sing (you always want to hear your favorites), but truth be told, their absence from the repertoire was hardly noticed. If you’re going to see this concert expecting to hear all the vintage Gary V stuff, well, you’re going to miss some real good ones with the exception of Di Na Natuto, Eto Na Naman and Look in Her Eyes, to name a few. When he sang Eto Na Naman during the encore, we half-expected him to segue right into more vintage ’80s material, but he didn’t. Instead, he treated the audience to a sampling of current hits, including the hyper Party Rock Anthem (by recent Manila visitors LMFAO) which the younger members of the audience lapped up. The older ones, well, they tried their best to keep up.

Among those we spotted rocking it out with Gary on opening night were Jericho Rosales (with girlfriend Kim Jones, who also has a “moment” toward the end of the show; watch for it!), the Genesis bosses Angeli Pangilinan-Valenciano and Gina Martinez, Gary’s son Gab (with rumored girlfriend Coleen Garcia), G Tongi and husband Tim Walters, Zsa Zsa Padilla, Karylle and sister Zia Quizon, Khalil Kaimo, Maricris Bermont-Garcia, Felichi Buizon, Yael Yuzon of Spongecola, Jugs Jugueta of Itchyworms and Jhong Hilario. As the audience yelled, “Sample! Sample!” Gary joked that Jhong watches his concerts to scope out his moves so he can perform them in It’s Showtime. Jhong took the jibe good-naturedly and for a while there, we thought he was going to give in to the call of the audience for him to go up onstage and show off a few moves.

One of the best parts of the show, to my mind, was the medley of inspirational songs performed by Gary with guest Julianne, one of the newest members of the Manila Genesis family and, as Gary pointed out, winner of the Best New Artist and Best Female Recording Artist trophies in the 2008 Awit Awards. To her credit, it was the first time ever that both awards had been bagged by a single artist. It just goes to show how much promise this girl has. (Incidentally, she opened up for Gary during one of his stints at the Music Museum, and this time, they lifted her to the actual show itself, as one of his guests, a fitting tribute to her musical talent.) In his spiel to introduce the segment, Gary brought up a comment made by his musical director Mon Faustino that the best thing about her voice is that it’s so “pure” — and it was. Her spot number Fly, a song she wrote was simply breathtaking. Gary did a medley of some of his well-known inspirational compositions with her like Take Me Out Of The Dark, Break Me and Search And Know and it was certainly a refreshing twist, to see him do that number with Julianne on vocals and acoustic guitar.

Another pleasant surprise was seeing the Rage Band’s frontman Juan Miguel Salvador share the stage with Gary. The screams that accompanied his solo were enough to prove his captivating charisma and longevity as a live performer. According to Gary, the Rage Band, as originally conceived, was supposed to consist of him, Randy Santiago and Juan Miguel, all schoolmates at La Salle Greenhills. “But I went solo, and Randy went on to do his thing, and this man,” he said, pointing to Juan Miguel, “was left to carry on.” Save for a few extra pounds which the audience didn’t seem to mind anyway, Juan Miguel was a welcome sight onstage.

It was good that for the most part, Gary didn’t descend into the realm of the typical or predictable in choosing the songs he would perform that night. When he started talking about Al Jarreau, you could almost read the thought bubbles saying, “For sure... he’s going to perform Spain!” Instead, he did Love is Real, a cut from Jarreau’s 1980 studio album This Time. Not as well-known as Spain, perhaps, but a real show-stopper.

ABS-CBN presence was marked as the songs that have continued to keep this amazing vocalist relevant with the masses brought tugs to one’s heart although I’ve seen him perform this “teleserye medley” a number of times. One never fails to swoon every time one hears his renditions of the soap opera theme songs that have become his anthems everywhere he is asked to perform. It would have been interesting to hear him do those songs again though, with a twist — the way he did the inspirational medley with Julianne, with just a simple keyboard with musical director Mon Faustino and Julianne on guitar. Overall, maybe the concert could also have used more upbeat songs. At one point, it seemed to lean heavily on the ballads but when Gary sang his composition Even For A While, while he played the piano, one just sighed because of the simplicity and freshness of the number. Gary is an artist who is capable of making his audience cry but — and this could be just me — I would have loved to dance just a little bit more that night!

I am pretty sure Gary has many other tricks up his sleeve in the coming nights. He mentioned a contribution of Pop Princess Sarah Geronimo. That was just opening night (April 12), and there are still a few shows left (April 26, 27 and May 9 and 10, all at the Music Museum). Oh and by the way, the opening act Quest is outstanding. His spoken word introduction of the main performer of the night was a masterpiece in itself. We heard that National Basketball Team coach Chot Reyes was so impressed with one of his songs, Sige Lang, he wants to use it as a theme song of his team. If breathtaking concert technology, fresh new acts and a powerhouse performance are your cups of tea, this is one concert you won’t want to miss.

Congratulations to the Genesis team for 25 years of pure energy performances.