Gary V retraces musical roots

VALENCIANO. Heart-on-his-sleeve sincerity. GARYV.COM

Gary Valenciano’s ongoing concert series, “Tuesdays with Gary,” at Teatrino (extended until Oct. 22) makes a good case against prioritizing foreign acts over local performers: You get great value for money without sitting through bloated production numbers that conveniently draw attention away from lackluster performances that you pay two arms and a leg to see!

When we watched the concert early this week, it was hard to sit still as Gary V retraced his musical roots. The three-and-a-half-hour show once again demonstrates the skills that have made him an electrifying fixture onstage for the past 30 years!

After all, which foreign artist could credibly sing Stevie Wonder/Incognito’s “Don’t You Worry ‘Bout A Thing” or Michael Jackson’s “She’s Out of My Life” one minute, and James Ingram’s “There’s No Easy Way” the next? Nope, Lady Gaga and Maroon 5’s tunes aren’t “in the house,” even as Gary teases the crowd with his winking references to Bruno Mars’ discography.

Price of admission

As Gary launches into his exhilarating cover of Al Jarreau’s “Spain”—a scatting-fueled number that is well worth the price of admission—his wife Angeli Pangilinan-Valenciano, who invited us to the concert, intimates that the jazz standard is special to the performer, because it was his fortuitous audition piece for talent manager, Sandra Chavez. Angeli recalls, “When asked if he could dance, Gary said, ‘I can move’—then, he began to moonwalk!”

Even Ogie Alcasid, who was seated beside us, couldn’t help but sing along when Gary performed his soul-tinged cover of Maurice White’s 1977 classic, “I’ll Write A Song For You,” followed by a medley of glorious Earth, Wind & Fire hits: “Boogie Wonderland,” “In the Stone,” “Fantasy,” “September” and a spot-on rendition of “Reasons.”

With versatile Julianne Taroja (“Tulak ng Bibig, Kabig ng Dibdib”) and “X Factor’s” all-girl group, AKA Jam (“Jump”), framing the must-see concert’s gig-in-a-bar concept, “Tuesdays With Gary” reminds the audience how the compleat performer earned his Mr. Pure Energy monicker.

That night, Valenciano oozed with infectious verve as he eased from one disparate musical genre to the next—from the Stevie Wonder medley (“Lately,” “Overjoyed”) and his invigorating spin on Stephen Bishop’s “It Might Be You” (from the “Just for You” album) to Jarreau’s “Boogie Down”—the first song he ever sang as a “professional” singer via Kuh Ledesma’s “Perfect Company” concert.

Monster hits

Also hard to resist were his soaring arena ballads cum TV theme songs (“Tayong Dalawa,” “Minsan Lang Kitang Iibigin”) and his own string of monster hits: “‘Di Bale Na Lang,” “Paano,” “What More Can I Say?,” “Sana Maulit Muli,” “It’s Over” and “Could You Be Messiah?”

He performs Brian McKnight’s “One Last Cry” with the superb Mackie Miraflor, then sang “Separate Lives,” “Narito” and “Reaching Out,” with steel-voiced LK Saison, May Ann Casal and musical director Mon Faustino, respectively.

Gary admitted that “staying relevant” in the digital age is no walk in the park. It’s this heart-on-his-sleeve sincerity that endears the fit and youthful-looking, 49-year-old performer to his admirers—like, when he got emotional before singing “Somewhere Down The Road,” a song that is, ironically, more associated with his “rival,” Martin Nievera.

He sang Barry Manilow’s enduring ballad for his fans: “I know that heart of yours will come to see/ That you belong with me.” —Happy 30th, Gary V!