MANILA, Philippines - I remember the very first time that I actually had my first view of the Bloomfields up close. It was during a Miriam College Grade School fundraising concert at the Celebrity Club two years ago. Bear in mind that the show was before an audience composed of very young female students, chauffeur-driven and mother-chaperoned. To my great delight, the Bloomfields guys (all in their early 20s, garbed in crisp suits and ties and speaking in fluent La Salle English) appeared like young men young mothers would gladly accept 10 years later as beaus of their well-protected daughters.
As they started playing their covers of Beatles’ songs, with so much fun and energy, the grade school kids, their parents, the strict teachers and even the yayas started swaying, nodding their heads and stomping their feet to the irresistible, infectious rhythm. It did not take long before everybody was on the dance floor jigging to the rock ’n roll beat.
Now, Rocky Collado (the 25-year-old bedimpled graduate of Industrial Design at the De La Salle College of Saint Benilde, who amazingly can play drums and sing wonderfully at the same time), Lakan Hila (the unassuming 27-year-old who finished Industrial Engineering at the De La Salle University who is awesome on both the keyboards and the lead guitar), Louie Poco (the 25-year-old UP Diliman product with a degree in Industrial Design and the most electrifying of them with his gyrating movements and antics on the stage and atop tables! yes, tables!) and Dino, (the youngest at 22 currently studying Asian Music at the UP who, with his smooth and soothing voice, is just like the rest of the boys, a veritable babe-magnet — to the young and not so young alike, hahaha), have somewhat matured and discovered that there is so much more that they can do.
Soon, they will be releasing a new album (eagerly awaited by their countless fans, this writer included), that will showcase their talent not only in singing but also in composing and arranging. The album Hit the Ground Running consists of all originals, with five songs in Filipino and five songs in English, and was made through these young men’s own efforts without the help of any record label. On their own, the Bloomfields were able to record the album (and had it mastered in Abbey Road Online Studios!), get a nationwide SM Mall Tour, shoot their video, and do radio airplay, and still managed to play at gigs almost every day. (Whew!)
The Bloomfields’ band members whose live performances cause girls to scream and dream at the same time and their daddies and mommies to shake and boogie without shame, are, thank God, offstage at the Eastwood, (where they perform every Wednesday), ordinary and humble young men whose feet are firmly planted on the ground. They have nothing else on their minds but to give their followers good music and pure, clean entertainment. From a high school boy band to one of the most popular bands in the country today, the Bloomfields have surely come a long, long way.
(Donate old clothes for Quezon City fire victims to the District 3780 Rotary Center, Roces Avenue corner Mother Ignacia St., Barangay Paligsahan, Quezon City. E-mail author at celebrationsdot@yahoo.com or text 0927-5000833).