Missing PH like crazy—The Moffatts reunion concert

The Moffatts, from left: Scott, Clint and Bob PHOTO COURTESY OF KAMERAKI STUDIOS

In 1998, during the peak of its fame in Southeast Asia, the teenage Canadian pop band The Moffatts flew to Manila for the first time to do shows. One of the group’s stops then was SM Megamall, where tens of thousands of fans, mostly giddy young girls, reportedly trooped.

It was easily one of the most memorable experiences in the music career of The Moffatts—composed of siblings Scott, twins Bob and Clint and Dave.

“I believe there were like at least 10,000 to 15,000 people inside the mall, and then another 10,000 outside. A lot of girls were climbing the rafters. We had not seen anything like that before. It was crazy!” recalled Bob who, together with his brothers, likewise took the stage at the Araneta Coliseum that year, and at the Folk Arts Theater in 1999.

Almost 20 years later, the group behind such hits as “Miss You Like Crazy,” “If Life is So Short” and “Girl of My Dreams,” is back in Manila, for a farewell concert on Feb. 18, also at the Big Dome (call 9115555).

However, Dave, who played the keyboards for the group and now works as a yoga instructor, will not be able to join this reunion.

And despite the group members—now in their 30s—pursuing music outside The Moffatts after it broke up back in 2001 (Clint and Bob play together as a duo called Endless Summer; Scott intends to embark on a solo career), they vowed to perform all of their hits in their coming show.

“Filipinos have been so supportive of our music and everything we have done—you always have been there for us,” Scott said at a recent press conference, which was also attended by some of the band’s most loyal, longtime fan girls. “It is cool that these girls are the same age as we are. We are all adults now!”

Excerpts from the interview:

How did you find out that you were big here in the Philippines?

Clint: Someone came up to us and told us that we have a No. 1 record in Southeast Asia, in the Philippines, and that people were buying the records like crazy… And then finally we came here… That visit had a huge impact on our lives. I remember playing at the Araneta Coliseum and feeling as if we were The Beatles.

People here have been incredibly kind to us, so we thought it would be nice to come back and do a show once more.

What was it like being famous at a very young age?

Clint: We were really tight-knit. And so, even though we had the type of success we had … we still felt like we were ourselves all the time. We did not have people around us who made us feel that we needed to be different.

We were just brothers who hung out all the time. We are friends. And I feel like, through the years, we have always remained that way. We have not really changed, to be honest.

Fans here saw you as rivals to Hanson, another band of young brothers.

Bob: I actually was able to meet those guys. My wife is a big fan of theirs. I took her to a gig in Nashville, Tennessee, and we got to see them. It turned out that they were big fans of ours, too, which I thought was really cool. They were nice guys. Nothing but mutual respect.

What do you miss most about the 1990s?

Clint: I liked most stuff I hear on the radio—pop music just felt good. There’s a lot of great music today, too, of course, but everyone who grew up in that era will probably feel the same way as I do.