Acel, Aia, Barbie, Hannah, Kitchie, and Lougee return for ‘Tanaw: The Repeat’
In November 2022, OPM rock fans were treated to an evening of nostalgia and music with “Tanaw,” a gathering of some of the most talented alt-rock goddesses of the ’90s and early 2000s: Acel Bisa, Aia de Leon, Barbie Almalbis, Hannah Romawac, Kitchie Nadal, and Lougee Basabas. These ladies will again grace the stage, this time at the Newport Performing Arts Theater, for “Tanaw: The Repeat” on Feb. 9.
They are now known as “Tanaw Collective,” and as such they are bound to explore new creative avenues such as collaborative music releases, apart from joint live performances. To start off, they released their interpretation of Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide” across digital streaming platforms on Jan. 31. They will also perform the song at their much-awaited reunion show.
Beyond their comfort zone
In an interview with Super, the collective, sans Kitchie who is still in Spain, talked about the different ways “Tanaw” has helped shape them as individuals and how they relate with one another.
Being part of “Tanaw” has allowed Acel, Aia, Barbie, Hannah, Kitchie, and Lougee not only to shine during their respective sets, but also to collaborate and let the other performers on stage have their moment. They also learned to go beyond their comfort zones and performed as a girl band. Hannah, a guitarist, for instance, played the drums during the show. Aia, also a guitarist, played bass guitar in some parts of the concert. Acel played the keyboards even though she’s been playing the guitar since her days with Moonstar 88.
“Kaya ko pala ‘to,” Hannah recalls telling herself when she assumed drum duties. “‘Yung collective belief nila na ‘hindi, kaya natin ‘to’ and ako naman ‘sige, kaya natin’ parang they [Tanaw Collective] make me brave … as well as in other areas in my life. Yung conversations namin, they make me brave, they give me confidence.”
Collaborating, of course, doesn’t mean that they all agree on how they arrange songs they’ll perform as a group. When asked how they manage their differences, Aia looked back on past experiences and said, “I’ve laid my life down for other people. I attend to other people’s needs. And kahit nakakapagod man siya, it filled my cup in ways that I never imagined or thought. It made me wiser. It opened a space in my heart to accommodate everybody. Parang I was more aware of other people’s gifting … So ganun rin, ‘O baka may gusto siyang sabihin.’ Kailangan niya ‘tong space na ‘to. She needs this. She needs that. What is my role here?”
Safe space
“I think we manage it better now as a group and as maybe more mature people,” Hannah chimed in. “We give space for everybody’s opinions. You respect each other … I can also accept ‘pag sinabing ‘parang hindi ok ‘yun’–ok lang. Kasi nga safe space eh. Pwedeng ok, pwedeng hindi. Pwede mong sabihin and pwede rin nilang sabihin. And walang hard feelings or anything like that because you know it’s coming from a place of love. At the end of the day, you all want to create something beautiful.”
The reunion show will feature new interpretations of the five performers’ respective original songs, complemented by symphonic backing from The Manila String Machine. New songs will be added to the repertoire. But apart from these, the audience can expect something more.
“What really would be felt, I think, is the authenticity of the gifts that we carry,” Aia said. “And the message … it’s not always intentional, but it’s basically who you are. So you bring a gift to the stage, and that will be felt. So, it’s like mirroring a gift that’s in us, in all of us.”
Barbie added, “For me, the most beautiful thing about this collective, really, is the friendship. It’s really God-given and sometimes neglected in a person’s life. But I’ve come to a place in my life where I realize what a gift it is and what a vital part of life real friendships are. And I think that’s the message we carry as well. Hopefully it can be highlighted in people’s hearts that they’re not alone, that there are people that they can open up to. Hindi mo naman kailangan sobrang daming best friend eh. Kahit tatlo, apat, lima. I hope that our music, our message, will let them know that they are valuable, loved, and I pray that it will maybe help them find their own people, too.”
Tickets for “Tanaw: The Repeat” are available through tanawtherepeat.helixpay.ph.
