For Gary V’s 100th Music Museum show, ‘intimacy is what really matters’

Gary V: Back at the Museum [Manila Genesis]

The LED screens showed old videos of Gary Valenciano performing at the Music Museum in 1991. On the stage before us, in real time, a 59-year-old Gary shadowed his 27-year-old self—hitting the same spots, dancing, singing and gesturing on the same beat.

A lot has changed over the past 32 years: The hair is longer and not as big; the fashion, more subdued; the fans came with their children in tow. And yet, it all seemed uncannily familiar. Gary himself is older, hardened by struggles both personal and health-related. But if there’s one thing that still hasn’t changed, it’s his passion for the craft.

“I still feel the fire that burns deep within me … It calls me, it moves me, it challenges me,” Gary said during the fourth night of his ongoing concert series, “Back at the Museum” last month. “It has all gone by so quickly. I have been here for 40 years and counting—40 years of different sounds, beats, rhythms and moves … of moments and people.”

Mark the milestone

Not a lot of pop artists can say that they have done 100 shows and concerts in their career. But here was Gary, holding his 100th at one venue alone.

And so it was only fitting that he marked the milestone with a musical feast. For more than three hours, he treated his fans to a setlist packed with his enduring hits: groovy dance ditties like “Hataw Na,” forlorn love ballads like “Sana Maulit Muli” and inspirational anthems like “Shout for Joy.”

Gary also covered Filipino videoke staples like “On the Wings of Love” and “Just Once,” which he sang to audition for the Kundirana, La Salle Greenhills’ renowned music ministry. He played the drums for his newly engaged daughter, Kiana, and then joined her for duets on “If I Ain’t Got You” and “Can We Just Stop and Talk Awhile.”

And together with his son and concert director Paolo, he brought the house down with a rockin’ medley of The Beatles’ “Hey Jude,” “Drive My Car” and “Come Together.”

From the way he moves and commands the stage, one would have had a hard time believing that this indefatigable man was someone who, in recent years, survived heart problems, hepatitis, tuberculosis and kidney cancer.

“I always do this as a reminder for people who watch me onstage. After doing this for 40 years, people forget the things I face on a daily basis … But I don’t want to enumerate,” said Gary, after taking a glucose test in between sets. “Not bad!” he quipped upon seeing the result.

That’s why he couldn’t help but smile when someone in the audience requested for “Warrior is a Child.” “I’m happy singing that, not because of me, but because I know many of us find ourselves in tough situations on a daily basis,” he said, before delivering one of the night’s cleanest, most impassioned vocal performances.

Creative playground

For Gary, the Music Museum was a creative playground of sorts and a place of many firsts.

It was where Gary debuted “Fool Till the End,” the first ballad he ever wrote that was inspired by his then girlfriend and now wife, Angeli Pangilinan. It was also the only venue where he performed one of his sentimental favorites, “Laughter All the Time,” which captured the sounds of then 4-year-old Paolo’s laughter in the recording studio.

“I think it’s obvious that this is the place I like performing in the most. Because this is where I get to try and experiment with new ideas in my head. It’s not easy putting up new concepts in a big venue, but are more feasible at a place like this,” he pointed out.

“Paolo’s first directorial job … his first time directing me in a concert happened right here,” Gary said of his 2012 series, “On Higher Ground,” which made use of CGI visuals and video mapping technologies—something rare for local shows at the time.

But more than anything else, the thing that makes Music Museum special for Gary is the intimate atmosphere it creates. “The fact that you’re physically closer to me means a lot. I have nothing against big venues, but there’s something about intimacy that really matters to me. The farthest person is just a stone’s throw away,” he pointed out.

And true enough—while talking about the little joys of performing at a smaller venue—Gary was interrupted by a tiny voice from the balcony. It was a child requesting her favorite songs. The fans couldn’t help but let out a collective, “Aww!” Fittingly, in the song “Reachin’ Out,” Gary got down the stage to take photos and shake hands with the audience.

A lucky fan even got to propose to his girlfriend during “Kailangan Kita”—with Gary as a willing accomplice, of course.

While there are songs that benefit from grand productions, there are others that are simply better experienced up close—whether they’re uplifting ballads that demand reverence like “Take Me Out of the Dark,” or rollicking interactive jazz numbers like his take on Chick Corea’s “Spain.” In “‘Di Bale na Lang,” Gary made sure to perform, not for the crowd, but with them.

“Sometimes, we just want to do songs that tug at a broken heart, soothe an anxious mind, embrace a weary soul or lift up crushed spirits. The impact goes deeper compared to when you do it at a bigger venue. There are songs that are meant to be shared in the most intimate ways and places,” he said.

Mounted by Manila Genesis, “Gary V: Back at the Museum” will have another repeat tonight.