A decade and a half is no mean feat to be in show business, especially if you’re a singer. Either you make waves as a one-hit-wonder or never at all. And lucky for those who pass the one-single hit to gain a foothold on the music scene which market is defined first by age, second by social status, and third, by cultural circumstances that define each one’s taste in pop music.
Erik Santos, winner of ABS-CBN’s star search, Star in A Million in 2003, has remained on the scene, collected awards while earning accolades from critics and fans, and even bestowed upon with labels, among which is “King of OPM Theme Songs.
Tomorrow, the “king” marks his day on his turf with a concert called My Greatest Moments at the Mall of Asia Arena. Indeed, the venue is fit for a “king” as it is now the most august of performance halls in the metropolis.
Santos is teary eyed recalling how he started in the business, incredulous that he snagged the search grand championship and then staying on for well over a decade singing songs he loves to perform for his friends, family, and fans.
The winning moment at that time became his jumping board in carving a niche on the music scene.
He said, “As a way of looking back and thanking everyone that has made me what I am now in the music business, I have a total of 15 guests in my show.” He’d like to name all of them, but he’d rather that his followers, friends, and colleagues come and watch the show.
The concert also cements Santos’ directing flair. John Prats is co-directing the show.
The show, he added, will have a “musical” feel and that’s how his 15 guests that include Christian Bautista, Kyla, Yeng Constantino, Angeline Quinto, Jay-R, Vina Morales, Daryl Ong, Jason Dy, Moira dela Torre and “power couple” Ogie Alcasid and Regine Velasquez come into play.
“About 80 percent of the repertoire are original and I will do all of them with a twist. The show will show my journey in the music industry,” Santos noted.
Erik Santos’ My Greatest Moments concert on Sept. 22, Saturday at 8:00 p.m. at the Mall of Asia Arena. The concert is produced by Cornerstone Concerts and Lucky7 Koi Productions and presented by Advanced Aesthetics by Dr. Venia Javellana.
For tickets please call SM Tickets at 470-2222 or log on to www.smtickets.com.
Disconnect to connect
Fans of NPR Tiny Desk concert, Warehouse Eight co-founder Kayla Dionisio and Kwago founder Czyka Tumaliuan started a series of gigs for musicians to freely express who they are and to closely connect with people in a no-frills setting. They recorded most of the performances and are exclusively launching them all on a no-shoes and no-phone gathering called Echoes at the Warehouse 4:00 p.m. tomorrow until a little close before midnight at Warehouse Eight, La Fuerza Plaza.
“There’s just too much distraction right now. People go to gigs and events to either take photos and videos for their IG stories, or to watch other people’s IG stories. It feels like people always want to escape the present, their current circumstance. You know what I mean? It feels like we’re all discontented, peering into other people’s lives, checking other possibilities of being. Kay and I designed Echoes to help people be at peace with where they are,” Tumaliuan shared.
The event will be divided into two areas: Echoes garage and Echoes bedroom.
Musicians and homegrown art brands that inspire conversations will be at the garage selling merchandise and products, while the performances will happen in the bedroom.
Everyone has to take off their shoes at Echoes bedroom.
“There will be a wall where people will have to pledge not to use their phones so they can focus on soaking in the magical performances and on conversing with other people and directly looking into their eyes,” Dionisio added.
Dubbed Echoes, the project started as a music and video production, but has evolved into a tight-knit community.
“Sometimes, I feel secondary lang ‘yung gig. It came to a point that we’re not announcing who’s playing anymore. But people still look forward to the experience of hanging out with other people who are willing to put their guards down and chill after hours before midnight,” Dionisio said.
“Echoes was supposed to be a nightcap and a YouTube channel, but it has become a family we go home to every month,” Tumaliuan shared.
With no knowledge of music and video production, the two inevitably encountered problems setting up the gig and their YouTube channel. People from the community saw the struggle and started helping. Organically, the two found a new partner to take care of the production, Michael Lorenzana.
“I met Mike when I launched Kwago. He’s a bookworm who loves music and even plays the drums. We discovered that he is a professional photographer and a videographer. He really loves the creative platform Kay and I built. We’re so thankful that we have him on the team,” Tumaliuan said.
“Mike started out as a guest. He sent us a video of his experience of our events and even photos, and we fell in love with these photos and videos every time. There’s just so much love in every shot and sequence. We’re happy to have him on board,” Dionisio shared.
A regular in big gigs, Lorenzana shares that what he loves about Echoes is it brings people closer to the musicians.
“People always use the word ‘intimate’ to describe gigs, but it’s never authentic. Echoes is the only place where you really feel that there’s no gap between the audience and the artists. It doesn’t feel like a performance,” Lorenzana said.
Door charge is P350. But children below 10 years of age will only be charged P150. Tickets come with receipt poem by Dutch poet Roy Voragen.