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| Bamboo |
Bamboo Mañalac, one of the Philippines ’
most popular and most charismatic recording artists, has released a brand new
single entitled Carousel. This new
track is included in the repackaged edition of Bamboo’s latest album, the Gold
selling No Water, No Moon, released
by Polyeast Records.
A
press conference was held at Cerchio Restaurant and Lounge in line with the
release of Carousel. Before I
head towards this event, I’d like to recall the instances wherein I've seen or met Bamboo after I saw him at Radio Republic's Live at 2299 show.
The 25th Awit Awards
During
the 25th Awit Awards held
last November at the new Glorietta Activity Center, Bamboo was one of the major
winners bagging the Best Performance by a Male Recording Artist award for the
song Questions. He also served as the
closing act at the awards ceremonies bringing the house down with a rocking performance
of In This Life. I didn’t have the
chance to meet him before or after the awards ceremonies but I didn’t fret that
much since I knew that I would be seeing him a few days after that.
Rock-A-Ballad at the Metro Concert Bar
In
early December, Bamboo gave his fans an early Christmas treat as he headlined in
Rock-A-Ballad, his first ever concert
of note since becoming a solo artist. Held at the Metro Concert Bar, he
performed a mix of old songs from his Rivermaya and Bamboo the band days along
with some covers like Wonderwall by
Oasis. Tucked in the middle of it all were a section devoted solely to his new
material from No Water, No Moon. As
expected, he sang a handful of encores in which The Christmas Song was among them in keeping with the Christmas season.
Bamboo
was backed up by his regular band led by Ria Osorio (keyboard) and Kakoy
Legaspi (lead guitar). Ardie De Guzman guitars (rhythm guitar), Simon Tan (bass),
Junjun Regalado (drums) and Anjo Inacay (cello) completed his band for that
night. I was able to sneak backstage after the concert and briefly met Bamboo although he had to leave right away since he was being mobbed by a lot of people.
Ria Osorio was the Master Jammer during the whole month of March in Radio Republic ’s Java Jam, a weekly show hosted
by Zach Lucero wherein two artists collaborate and jam together. As the Master
Jammer, Ria would have a different guest per show and incidentally, Bamboo was
her first. I knew that I couldn't miss the opportunity to see Bamboo once again knowing that the last time was cut short. I dropped
by the station and was able to meet him and witness yet another live performance from him as well.
Bamboo noted that this was the first time ever that he, Ria and Kakoy (who came
in as a late and yet very welcome addition on that show) performed as a trio.
He mentioned that the three of them form the core of No Water, No Moon.
Aside
from the songs that they performed, the discussion also turned out to be a very
entertaining one. The three discussed how they work together, how they throw ideas at one another and quite interestingly, how they spend their down time while
on tour. And it was during this time when Ria presented me a music sheet of the
piano part for Morning Rose, one of
tracks from the new album. Of course, I had Bamboo sign it.
Carousel Press Conference
And
now we go back to Carousel and the launch/press
conference. He introduced Carousel to
the members of the press present there as he performed it to start a short set
composed exclusively of No Water, No
Moon tracks (Morning Rose, In Shadow, Ikot ng Mundo, Questions
and In This Life). As usual, Ria,
Kakoy, Ardie, Simon and Junjun formed his band for the occasion.
I’ve
said before that No Water, No Moon
featured lush orchestrations, colors and textures which directly contrasted the
monochromatic and predominantly black album package. The tracks are more
subdued, introspective, personal and philosophical. Carousel, found at the very end of the repackaged album, offers a
change of pace as it is the most uptempo of all the tracks and one with the
most pronounced drum beat. Also not heard in this track are the strings and
brass sections leaving just the band to rock things out. But the presence of
the children’s choir still managed to tie this up with the rest of the older
tracks in the album like Please and All Hail the Fool.
Bamboo
mentioned that he was asked by Polyeast Records to come up with a new song as
the label geared on re-releasing his latest album. A new single along with a
high profile stint as one of the judges/mentors in the upcoming The Voice of the Philippines, and being the newest brand ambassador of Globe Telecom's Tattoo@Home, Bamboo is poised to have the spotlight on him once again (as
if he ever left it).
Since
I can never get enough of Bamboo, I still made an effort to drop by Greenbelt
a few days after to see him at a mini-concert that was organized by Alveo Land . Bamboo performed a set that
was almost identical to what he did during Rock-A-Ballad. Too bad that I wasn’t
able to meet him after the concert but I was able to have a few beers with Ria,
Kakoy, Simon and a few others afterwards.
The repackaged edition of No Water, No Moon released by Polyeast Records is now available in record stores nationwide. Carousel and the rest of the tracks are also available as digital downloads at MyMusicStore Philippines and in iTunes.
No Water, No Moon (Repackaged Edition)
Tracks:
1.
In Shadow
2.
Please
3.
Morning Rose
4.
Back on My Feet
5.
Questions
6.
Spin
7.
In This Life
8.
Down the Line
9.
All Hail the Fool
10.
The Only Way
11.
Just Go
Bonus:
12.
Ikot ng Mundo
13.
Carousel
Text by RAd
Photos by RAd and JR Bustamante
