Cruising Ventura Hi-way: AMERICA with KALAPANA (Manila 2012)
It was a nostalgic night for all hippie dads and moms, lovebirds, and
early 90s kids to see and watch the bands America and Kalapana live in the
Smart Araneta Coliseum last October 17, 2012.
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| Kalapana (circa 1977) |
The concert started around 8PM with supporting
band, Hawaii’s Kalapana. The band played their hits like “Night Bird” and of
course their smash hit “The Hurt”. “The Hurt” was big then in Philippine radio
in the early 90’s especially when it was done with a disco remix version and
had it played in clubs like Faces; or on a mobile disco of an 18th
year old girl’s debut street party. Sadly, their original vocalist Mackey Feary
already passed away but his legacy and music still lives on. I got their best
of CD in which I wished they could have it signed. They played a 40 minute set
with their Hawaiian chill jazz music to the delight of the crowd.
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| America (circa ealy 1980s) |
Then the main act of the night: America. The London England
formed classic folk rock band is led by two of its original members Gerry Beckly
(vocals, guitars, keyboards, harmonica, and bass) and Dewey Bunnell (vocals,
guitars) with sessionist Richard Campbell on bass, Michael Woods on lead
guitars and long-time drummer Willie Leacox. Original member Dan Peek quit the group in
1977.
The stage showed a big screen on the background with the
band name logo on it and their album covers. America showed up on stage around
9:30PM and started with one of their hits ‘Tin Man’ (in reference to Tin Woodman
from the Wizard of Oz) followed by ‘You Can Do Magic.’ They also played
classics ‘I Need You’, ‘Inspector Mills ‘, ‘Sandman ‘and my personal favourite ‘Ventura
Hi-way.’
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| America live in Manila: Dewey Bunnell (left) and Gerry Beckly (right) |
I was surprised that they played some cover songs like ‘Woodstock’
by Joni Mitchell, ‘California Dreamin’ by Mamas & the Papas but the
highlight of that night was their rendition of ‘Til I Hear It From You’ by the
Gin Blossoms. Gerry Beckly said that ‘Til I Hear It From You’ is one of the
songs they wished they had written before.
“It’s always a pleasure to see Manila on the list, the Philippines
in general,” said Dewey.
Gerry: “We love Manila. If you want to follow where in
the world we are touring, go to our website which is venturahiway.com. Don’t whatever
you do google ‘America’, it does not work” drawing laughter from the audience.
He also said that they perform 100 shows each year for 42 years in which I and
the crowd were quite stunned. He said it
while Dewey was doing some funny trembling knees at the background. They ended their set with ‘Sister Golden Hair.
‘
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| America doing some synchronized guitar dance while playing 'A Horse with No Name' |
They came back to do their encore with a Filipino love
song favourite which was made into a movie title – ‘All My Life’ and ending the
night with their hippie smash hit - ‘A Horse With No Name.’
America Live in Manila Setlist:
1) Tin Man
2) You Can Do Magic
3) Don't Cross The River
4) Daisy Jane
5) Riverside
6) Three Roses
7) I Need You
8) Ventura Hi-way
9) Woodstock (Joni Mitchell cover)
10) ‘Til I Hear It From You (Gin Blossoms)
11) The Border
12) Inspector Mills
13) Only In Your Heart
14) California Dreamin' (Mamas & the Papas)
15) Lonely People
16) Sandman
17) Sister Golden Hair
Encore:
18) All My Life
19) Horse With No Name
The overall reception of the crowd was very good. The
concert was well attended. It also has high profile attendees like our President
Benigno Aquino III and his nemesis, former Chief Justice Renato Corona. DILG
Secretary Mar Roxas and other high ranking government officials were present.
Well, this event served like a ‘Tatay Rock’ flashback
years for me when I was a kid because it reminded me of the time I was playing my Dad’s
record collection like ‘America’, ‘The Doors’, etc., and learning to play
guitars using old songhits. It could have been a more feel-good night if I had
a cold San Mig light beer at hand but nonetheless I had a great time!
This event was brought to you by Ovation Productions.
Ovation Productions
Ovation Productions
America
Kalapana
Big Thanks to Ovation Productions!
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