'Franco' survives and solo rocks Greenhills

MANILA, Philippines - When news of the then-dubbed supergroup’s breakup last year, fans were disheartened that they had seen the last of the OPM juggernaut that was Franco. However, when the lights went dim and the fog rose from the stage at exactly 9 pm in the Music Museum, all fears and misgivings were finally dispelled as Franco, now sporting new faces in the band line-up still headed by the eponymous frontman Franco Reyes, began the solo concert with a track from his new album, entitled “Moonset”, and the rest, as they say, was history.

Three years ago, in 2010, the band that was known then as Franco launched its first self-titled album, boasting of none other than a superstar cast from several groups: Buwi Meneses from Parokya ni Edgar, Gabby Alipe and Janjan Mendoza from Urbandub, Ocho Toleran from Queso, and Franco Reyes himself.

The album’s 11 tracks were highlighted by “Cast Away” and “The Gathering”, which won the 2010 Awit Awards and the late NU 107 Rock Awards, respectively.

When the band, however, broke up in mid-2012 to focus on their own projects, the acknowledged heart and soul of Franco, whose name was based on the frontman himself, decided to pursue his dreams in a solo adventure, this giving birth to Soul Adventurer, a new album launched last February. And there is, perhaps, no other fitting way to launch such a highly anticipated sequel by rocking the Music Museum at the Greenhills Shopping Center.

The setlist on Franco’s solo concert was pretty simple and straightforward, which was a mix of old and new songs from both their albums, with Franco himself informing the crowd if the next song was from Solo Adventurer. It was subtly and deftly done, however, as the sequence of the songs was a roller-coaster ride from energetic to the signature reggae beats to the alternative and then ebbing down slightly, such as with the acoustic melody of “To My Dearly Departed”, in which Franco shared that it was a song that he played on his dad’s deathbed – and in which the latter approved.

Though at first, the energy was very much controlled, somber, and almost reverent when they came up on stage, all inhibitions died away when Franco encouraged the audience to, in essence, become one with him.

“Stand up! This is a rock concert, not a Celine Dion concert,” he urged, much to the chuckling of the audience. “You can sit when it’s done.” The audience needed no second telling after that, crowding in front of the stage and rocking their heads and their bodies in unison to the beat, and raising their voices in such fan favorites as “Memorykill” and the homage to the Rastafarian movement “Touch The Sky”; the universal applause and the ringing voices when the opening riffs of “Better Days”, one of their most recognizable tunes on their new album, shook the Music Museum. They also promoted the official music video for the song nearing the end of the concert.

Attended by three newcomers, Victor Guison on drums (which Franco joked was their “pambato naming sa high school”), Dave Delfin on bass, and Paul Cañada, a long time friend, on guitars, Franco launched into the beats of “To Survive” early on in the concert, which Franco eloquently explained was the essence of the second album and epitomized rising from falling, or to turn negative experiences to bad.

As the night wore on and Franco thanked the audience almost after every song, saying that the audience is the heart of OPM and that they feel blessed with them joining him in his concert, an indiscernible pattern emerged from the flow of the songs as their instruments seamlessly shifted from one song to the next. One of the most memorable ones was “Muse”, the fifth song of the night, wherein Franco dedicated the song to the “lovely ladies” in attendance and the lights became a slowly revolving mix of purple and red.
Such was the power of the song that afterwards several women called out their love for him, to which he answered: “Lovely women! My goodness!”

As the audience bobbed their heads, stamped their feet, and raised fists to the air, Franco told them to keep OPM alive, and thanked them, overwhelmed by their show of support: “Salamat, salamat talaga. Maraming salamat. Wala akong masabi.”

Finally capping the evening with “Cast Away”, their most memorable single, and “Song for the Suspect” for a feel-good finale, it was clear that Franco was by no means a one-hit wonder, and that as long as their soul remained, Franco will continue to make music and survive a new generation of fans and critics alike.