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| 03 MAY 2007
Spotlight: DEVIRGINIZED BY APO
by: Weena Marasigan
"Those who are watching an APO concert for the first time tonight, please clap your hands."
Many did clap that night in the Hammerson Hall of Living Arts Centre, including yours truly. I was part of a predominantly Filipino-Canadian audience who filled the posh venue of APO Hiking Society's recent concert held in Mississauga entitled 'The APO Experience', the first in the trio's latest seven-city tour.
"That's impossible!" Boboy Garovillo scoffed over the microphone. "Over thirty years in the business and you've watched us only now?"
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| The APO Hiking Society, (from left) Boboy, Danny and Jim, enthralled and tickled the Filipino-Canadian audience in 'The APO Experience', the full-packed concert held recently at Mississauga's Living Arts Centre. |
"Well, you may consider yourselves then as the APO Virgins," the witty Danny Javier said. The audience, male and female alike, sucked that one with laughter. Such response, mixed with lots of singing, toe tapping and applause, was sustained throughout a most enjoyable night.
To say that the Apo Hiking Society did not change after all these years would have been untruthful. While the huge screen flashed video clips from the 70's and 80's depicting the beloved musicians in their heydays, looking at the three singers onstage seemed to have a weird Back To The Future effect.
"You cannot put a price on antiquity," Danny commented later during the after-show appreciation dinner, amidst congratulations and ceaseless picture-taking. (We are Pinoys after all and 'Kodakan' is as essential a part of the dinner as the buffet was.)
The group poked fun at their age and the thirtysomething years of their existence as a musical trio. It's true, one could not ignore that the decades past have made their mark on the guys who forever made the word syota sound so cool in a song. APO looked like they have changed over the years as with all mortals affected by time. But have they really aged? I would not totally agree. Because despite the salt and pepper hair, the somewhat brittle dance moves… this spectator from the eighth row still felt the power of the group's charm in full potency.
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| Song after beloved song and with one punchline after the next, the legendary trio of The APO Hiking Society earned their standing ovation in a flawless repertoire that proved why they remain at the forefront of Original Pilipino Music after all these decades. |
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The energy those three performers emitted from beginning to end of more than two hours of non-stop music and banter would have rivalled a band twenty years their junior. Their music that evening sounded as fresh to me as way back Blue Jeans days when Original Pinoy Music ruled the airwaves back home and pan de sal sold for 3 per 25 centavos.
My personal favourite APO songs are Yakap sa Dilim, Panalangin and Ewan. I used to think no girl on earth could resist a man of any built or bearing if he sings Ewan, with its sinfully sweet refrain of "mahal kita, mahal kita, hindi 'to bola..!" And that Yakap Sa Dilim had gotten so many syotas pregnant when it became a hit. To my great delight, they sang two out of what would have been my three requests during the concert. The songs still evoked a kilig factor. They were rendered with that unique and ageless APOesque sound. This heart of mine was won and I felt wooed and heady, as if I drank of yesterday like fine wine. I had forgotten how delicious it is to just sit back and let familiar sounding lyrics coated in syrup drench the senses. Like the cool afternoon breeze in Laguna wafting on my face as I bite an Indian Mango beneath its tree. Wala nang iba pang mas mahalaga sa tamis na dulot ng pag-ibig nating dalawa… What beautiful Filipino music, the audience must have realized how much they missed it.
And although music was what they came for, the audience received the big comedic bonus they expected from the trio. Subtly green here, a touch political there and mostly insultong personal -APO made the audience anything but bored. Their script was actually… funny. It helped, too, that Boboy, Danny and Jim have honed their timing to one another's pakwela to a degree that it would no longer sound scripted when performed before a crowd. Everything seemed spontaneous and natural, you forget it's actually staged. In effect, the concert goers did not just sing to the tune of old songs, they also laughed at the antics of these old friends who teased and jived with them like mere barkada.
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| After the show, the iPinoy team celebrated their promotional partnership with RST Productions and together with APO, congratulated the dynamic duo of Susan De Leon and Ricky Tanpoco (3rd and 4th from right) for the success of their initial venture. |
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After the concert, we caught up with cute-as-ever Boboy and he said that APO makes it a point to tweak the script and make it more relevant to the audience. Jim Paredes explained to my friend that it's a 'surprise and delight' recipe for a funny show they choose to present each time. For instance, Danny said during the concert, as a prelude to a song about lasting relationship, that couples in Canada have no choice but to stick together during winter… kundi, mag-pala ka mag-isa mo ng snow! (Do the shovelling of snow yourself!) It's simple enough as a wisecrack, but boy it worked! How true that living in North America automatically throws one into survival mode come snow time.
When the show ended, a throng of excited fans lined up for the autograph signing that eventually lead to a photo session. The trio gladly obliged and looked at ease with kabayan adoration. I noticed Jim got the most kisses but none were content until all three signed. One of the most admirable traits of APO as a group is that Boboy, Danny and Jim are all leads. None plays supporting act to a bida. The Cute, The Manong and The Guwapo. Each one of them is somebody's favourite. All three make for a legendary group whose music has transatlantic recall among Pinoys all over the world.
One cannot know OPM without being familiar with APO's contribution to it. It's like saying I was born and raised in the Philippines yet never tasted turon… or halo-halo. As for me, I know APO and I like their songs very much but I, too, was only able to watch their full-length concert for the first time that Saturday night. Iba pala talaga. You've never fully appreciated The APO Hiking Society until you've laughed with them, heard their songs live and joined a whole concert venue filled with Pinoys cheering homegrown music at its finest. I overheard somebody summed the experience in two words, "Ang sarap!"
I was devirginized by APO that night and, no sir, it didn't hurt a bit. |
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