BAGABERDE Bar and Grill in Pasig City had an amazing halloween party last Oct. 31st, 2005. The management of what has been tagged as one of the hottest gigspots in the Metro really went all-out on their halloween decorations: There were "corpses" dangling from certain areas in their ceiling, which was almost completely covered in a huge spiderweb. There was even a coffin covered in spiders and skulls right outside the door! Their staff was in full costume too, dressed as witches, devils and ghouls. There were even zombies and other mystical, frightening beings lurking around. The lighting was also well-prepared; deep purple, orange and red were the main colors of all their stage lights that night, along with candles on each table that gave off an eerie red glow.
It was also the celebration of the 25th birthday of the country's one and only Soul Siren, Nina. Her family (mom Nene, brothers King and Ardie, sister Dew-Anne and nephew JC), her "Angels" (Neve De Guzman, Arianne Magsino, Mingky Calinawan and Anja De Guzman), friends and fans were all there to celebrate.
The night began with the Nyoy Volante band being the first to perform. Despite being somewhat under the weather, Nyoy Volante (the man) still managed to deliver a stellar performance; he even sang two new original songs he had written that were included in the band's upcoming album slated for release in early 2006. The presence of a few of his supporters-turned-good-friends/Angels (Corie Miguel, who is also one of his webmasters at NyoyVolanteMusic.com, Peng Totanes and yours truly) "helped him make it through the set," or so Nyoy said later on in the night.
In the spirit of Halloween, Nyoy was dressed to the nines as Neo, the lead character in "The Matrix"; he was sporting a sleeveless black shirt under a black leather trench coat and he even wore black sunglasses and toted a mean-looking (toy!) rifle. He sang a song from the first NV&M album which had been penned by Ogie Alcasid entitled "Simple Lang Talaga" and the classic "Ang Aking Awit". When someone in the audience requested "Betcha By Golly Wow," he launched straight into the chorus but ended up having a coughing fit in the middle of it. "Sorry po, sorry...kinukumbulsyon lang ako ng ubo ko," he joked a few minutes later after catching his breath. He didn't try to hit any more high notes after that though, which was just as well.
A few people in the audience jammed with the band a little later on--myself included. (Nyoy and I turned the Madonna classic "Crazy For You" into a duet.) Althroughout the set, it was not only Nyoy's talent that shone; the phenomenal skill and lung power of John Rey Pagalan (dressed as Zorro) as a sax player and as a singer was also very evident. He sang a few songs, including the band's much-applauded final song for the night, "I'll Be Over You". Steve Gonzales (the night's werewolf and the band's rythm guitarist) also showed immense skill; his guitar-playing was practically as smooth as silk. And, of course, bassist Abe Silva's performance wasn't anything less than his usual best.
Amongst all the band members, though, the "Best in Costume" award would have to go to drummer Maynard Albis, who was surprisingly dressed as an angel himself. He really looked like one since he was sporting a free-flowing, long-sleeved white top with wings sewn onto the back. Needless to say, his drumming for the night was as cool and pristine as he looked.
It's not hard to believe these guys when they say they always put their heart and soul into every performance; they seem to be getting bigger and better with each passing performance.
When the Nyoy Volante band's set was through, it was the birthday girl's turn. Nina, dressed as a pink fairy-slash-princess (complete with tiara and 'wings'), was escorted up the stage by Nyoy. Before she started her set, DJ Li'l Joey of Magic 89.9 lead everyone in the audience in singing "Happy Birthday," much to the surprise of the Soul Siren. After the singing was through, he then asked her what kind of cake she wanted. Before Nina could reply, two "Gig Buddies" (groupies who became a tight circle of close friends after constantly hanging out together at the Soul Siren's gigs), Krista Caballero and Nike Bayhon, ascended the stage with the first of many surprises for the Soul Siren that night: an adorable cake in the shape of a butterfly.There weren't any candles, so the Soul Siren used a lighter as a makeshift candle.
The next surprise was the announcement that there were people from Nina's website's forum who had special gifts for to present to her. A scrapbook of messages/poems and the such from her family, close friends, and numerous groupies/fans was presented first by "Arvee", followed by posters from "Mids" and a charcoal portrait from "Hoyse", who also gave the Soul Siren the VCD filled with birthday greetings from the UNSSSA members (United NSSians Sa Abroad--the Soul Siren's fans who are in other parts of the world).
When all that was done, she finally started her set by singing "Sunshine," and went on to sing lovely renditions of songs such as "Sweet Thing," "I Believe I Can Fly," "Cool With You," "Burn," "Sunlight" plus the phenomenal hits "Love Moves In Mysterious Ways" and "Constantly". Of course, she sung duets with Nyoy as well--together they let the audience hear moving renditions of sweet love songs such as the Teri De Sario classic "Fallin" and "Endless Love". Nina's finale was her sensational version of Chaka Khan's "Through The Fire". Almost immediately after her set, she signed CDs and had picture after picture taken with friends and fans.
Thankfully, it was very well-organized, thanks to the ingenious planning and hard work of the Soul Siren's friends Randy Nivales (NinaSoulSiren.com webmaster) and William Cabelin (moderator at NinaSoulSiren.com), plus the help of the beautiful Ms. Rachel Lim (Nina's road manager).
Orange and Lemons, one of the hottest rising stars in the band scene today, were the final performers for the night; they were there at the special request of Nina, who thoroughly enjoys their music. The Soul Siren actually sat and watched their set...she had a lot of fun. She especially enjoyed their hit song "Pinoy Ako," (the theme song of the phenomenal hit reality TV show Pinoy Big Brother) which brought a number of people (Nina's Angels included) on their feet.
All in all, halloween night was a very fun night at Bagaberde. If they celebrate halloween with a party like that every year, then I can hardly to party with them again in 2006!
*Bagaberde's monthly schedule, details and contact info can be found at
www.bagaberde.com.ph; for booking and/or news on Nyoy Volante's schedule and the band's upcoming album, log on to
www.nyoyvolantemusic.com; to find out where you can catch Nina and for any inquiries you might have, head on over to
www.ninasoulsiren.com; Orange and Lemons can be found at
http://www.myspace.com/orangeandlemons*--mabuhayria@yahoo.comFor
Mabuhay Newspaper
(
http://mabuhaynews.org/)
and
NyoyVolanteMusic.com
(
http://www.nyoyvolantemusic.com/)
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