Booked solid: A hectic concert calendar

AJ RAFAEL: One of the interesting concert artists coming to the Philippines in early 2012

A hectic concert calendar awaits live music fans this year.

The Smart Araneta Coliseum alone is booked with the following shows:

The Stylistics, January 26

Martin Nievera and Sharon Cuneta, February 11

Ogie Alcasid and Regine Velasquez, February 14

Engelbert Humperdinck, February 15

Avril Lavigne, February 16

James Ingram, February 17

Bryan Adams, February 18

Evanescence and Bush, February 19

98 Degrees, A1 and Blue, February 25

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, March 12

Cyndi Lauper, March 17

Hanson, March 30

LMFAO, April 11

More gigs in other venues include:

The Ventures, January 17, CCP Main Theater

AJ Rafael, January 18 (5 p.m. and

8 p.m.), Music Museum

Katy Perry, January 22, SM Mall of Asia open grounds, Pasay City

Taylor Dayne and Edwin McCain, February 15 (Waterfront Hotel Cebu) and 17 (World Trade Center, Pasay City)

Rachelle Ann Go, The CompanY and Basil Valdez, February 13, Resorts World Manila

Rico J. Puno, February 14, Resorts World Manila

Now let’s see which of these concerts would be interesting to watch:

The Rachel Ann Go, The CompanY and Basil Valdez show looks promising because it combines youth, experience and talent in one package. This would be the first time for the three artists to perform together at Resorts World’s Newport Theater, which means their choice of songs would be very crucial.

The Martin-Sharon and Ogie-Regine team-ups are expected to be crowd-drawers, but it would be best for these veterans to present something new.

AJ Rafael is a Filipino-American singer whose debut album, “Red Roses,” went to No. 7 on iTunes and No. 13 on Billboard’s “Heatseekers” chart. He created a buzz through YouTube and social networking sites. From what we’ve seen through his videos, AJ’s music has an R&B bent, although we’d like to see how he’ll distinguish himself from the rest.

Many of the foreign acts are returnees, which means the promoters made profits the last time around and were upbeat that the fans would not hesitate to buy tickets again.

There’s really nothing wrong with bringing these artists back, so long as they can still hack it. Think of blues musicians aged 60 and above, including other legendary acts such as Eric Clapton, the Rolling Stones and their peers who still have the drive to go on tour—not just for the money but to simply keep the music playing.

On that note, it bears watching how the Stylistics, Ingram, Adams, OMD, The Ventures and the rest would fare. We’re actually looking forward to catch the quirky-voiced Lauper and the hip-hop duo LMFAO.