The New Minstrels reunite to sell-out crowd

Ding Mercado once said that no great song came out of the '80s. "It was the time of M.C. Hammer," and that all the good ones can be found before that and most of them were from the '70s. Anyone can easily refute that statement but Ding was a member of The New Minstrels and that name easily conjures up memories of sweet '70s love songs. Those were the reasons for the sell-out crowd at the Metropolitan Museum on the evening of Feb. 12. They came to wattach Ding and the other members of The New Minstrels in a reunion concert and they walked in primed for a trip down memory lane with the famous pop group performing the best tunes from the pre-'80s era.

The New Minstrels was a showband formed in 1974 with four boys and four girls fronting an eight-piece band. Thanks to its pop version of Mike Velarde's classic Buhat, the group easily made it to the top of the hit charts and with its successful debut concert at the Cultural Center of the Philippines established itself as a dominant force in Philippine music. But just like what usually happens with such groups, the members soon outgrew being a Minstrel and went off to get married or in pursuit of their individual dreams. So seven albums and many concerts later The New Minstrels officially died.

But last Saturday the boys and girls who have since matured were together again. Annette Belen and Vic Baclagon could not make it but all the other founding members were accounted for. Eugene Villaluz, Ding Mercado, Louie Reyes, Cesar de la Fuente, Eileen Dolina and Aida Balmaceda. Ably filling in the vacant slots were later Minstrel recruits Ray-An Fuentes and his wife, the former Mei Ling Gozum. Also around for the event were official Minstrel arranger Babes Conde and Emy Munji who was the musical director of the first CCP concert.

Save for a few exceptions most of those who came to watch seemed to be of that certain age. They were those who grew up and experienced life during the '70s. These were the kids who wore extra-wide bell-bottoms and bare-midriff tops. They were those who while sowing the seeds of the revolution underground also went to Wells Fargo and danced until the curfew hour at Rino's or The Flame, No wonder they knew all the performers by name. It was also obvious that they must have seen a similar show or shows years before for they enthusiastically applauded the first few notes that introduced every number.

And how they loved each of them. The Way We Were, You Make Me Feel Brand New, Close to You, September, Rock Steady, Kahit Na Magtiis, Balut, Dahil Sa'yo, Who Can I Turn to, What Kind of Fool Am I, Too Young, I Say a Little Prayer for You, I Who Have Nothing, Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, Louie and Eugene's award winning song Nothing I Want More and many others. Loads and loads of memories unfolded as the evening wore on and the audience continued to want more. In fact, they wanted so much more that the New Minstrels ran out of songs and had to reprise the famous Buhat for their final encore number.

Surprisingly Ding chose Lionel Richie's Lady, a hit from the '80s as his Valentine song. Louie Reyes went further back to the '30s with a lovely take on My Funny Valentine, while Eugene went for the truly new, the showstopping This is the Moment from the '90s musical Jekell and Hyde. But no matter what era the songs came from, The New Minstrels did choose to do some of the best for this concert.

What they did prove though was that there was indeed something special in those groups that came about during the '70s. I cannot think of any group these days with members who can perform as well as The New Minstrels did last Saturday night or even as they used to do 25 years ago. Or can you for that matter come up with one or two to rival the Circus Band or the Ambivalent Crowd or the Hot Dog, who all emerge during the '70s?

Have we lost the singers? Are we also losing the music as more and more groups try to emulate recent successes like the Eraserheads and Parokya ni Edgar. Well, times change but aren't you glad that reunion concerts by The New Minstrels are still possible.

The New Minstrels perform again tonight at the Met Museum for a special show for the Balikatan Sa Kaunlaran National Foundation. If you have no tickets for that one, check out the Siete Pecados at the Philippine Plaza where they are set to do another show.