Side A: Then and now

The sky was overcast the entire Saturday afternoon. Without a drop, though. Which made it perfect to spend the night out when the 36-year-old Side A Band staged its first major concert in a big venue. Even the sky smiled down on them.

The concert was undoubtedly much-anticipated by Side A fans for a long while. Two online shows were staged last year. Then, there was a highly successful live concert that happened last April at 19 East in Parañaque.

In fact, before the full-house show at the Newport Performing Arts Theater of Newport World Resorts last Sept. 24, Side A staged a well-received performance in Ilocos Norte, followed a concert in Cebu City.

Past and present members of Side A joined onstage for the first time in a back-to-back, full-length concert, Side A: Then and Now, Redux 360-Degree Experience. Not even them thought the show would happen. Last April, the present members merely guested in the first live concert of Side A.

At the start of the show, all the members of the band then and now were onstage playing their instruments. Lead singers Rodel Gonzalez, Pido Lalimarmo, Yubs Esperat and Leevon Cailao were strumming their lead guitars.

Joey Benin and Ned Esguerra were on their bass, while Naldy Gonzalez, the only remaining original member, who is still with the present batch, was on keyboards. Two drummers – Mar Dizon of the original group and Ernie Severino from the present batch – were on high energy unsparingly playing their percussion instruments.

Visibly missed was US-based Side A original bassist Kelly Badon, who was not able to join them. In the online concert, though, Kelly performed with Side A.

Before the then singer-musicians started performing after they sauntered onstage, they briefly displayed their expertise in the instruments they were respectively playing, much to the delight of the full-house audience. Side A manager Lito Fugoso was at the helm, with the help of the Gonzalez brothers.

An original piece of the band, Di Pa Huli, penned by Rodel three decades ago, was what opened the concert. Then, the band immediately broke out to Top 40 songs that made it to their repertoire in the ‘90s – Rosanna, You’re the Biggest Part of Me and Reminiscing.

Throughout the concert, the members dished out memorable tunes of Side A, like Eva Marie, their debut single released in 1989 that Joey wrote for his better-half. The song undoubtedly catapulted the band to the top of the airlanes and sealed its recognition in the local music scene.

They also rendered So Many Questions and Aking Awitin. “This concert will not happen without you,” Rodel acknowledged the audience.

There were other originals that made it to their repertoire – Sana Naman, Forever Stay, I Believe in Dreams, Misty Glass, Pain in My Heart, Set You Free and Pido Lalimarmo’s haunting Windows of Our Souls.

Songwriter Dingdong Eduque, who was in the audience that night, gave Side A such hits as Forever Stay and Set You Free, which the 63-year-old Rodel impressively belted out without missing a beat.

The original Side A took centerstage and rendered a few songs in their Calesa Bar days – Hey 19, (Whenever I See Your) Smiling Face and You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling.

Aside from being merely performers, Side A members are also musicians and songwriters, who churn out original tunes to this day. Their old hits were reimagined and new tunes that they wrote are consistently uploaded on Patreon, a membership platform that carries content.

Joey’s pandemic composition, O, Diyos Ko, Ned’s environmental take in (Ibigin ang) Mundo and the beautiful, new ballad, Clueless, that will be released soon.

For the first time, singer-songwriter Clara Benin joined Side A onstage. While she merely watched from the sidelines before, she was truly honored that she got to perform this time with the artists whom she truly respects.

With Rodel, Clara rendered her original, Wine, while she showed everyone how she wrote and delivered Blink. One song that is Clara’s favorite “in the whole world” was Side A’s Tila, which she sang with its songwriter, Leevon Cailao.

Side A gave a special treat with the tunes of prolific songwriter Randy Goodrum and crooned such hits as Toto’s I’ll Be Over You, Michael Johnson’s Bluer Than Blue and Steve Perry’s Foolish Heart, a song that Side A also recorded.

The much-awaited hit, Forevermore, naturally made it to the Side A repertoire that night. The ballad that Joey Benin gave their fans back in 1998, was reimagined to date by a number of singers.

That night, Joey even rendered a Tagalog version of Forevermore, much to the thrill of Side A fans. They ended the concert with one of their biggest OPM hits, Tuloy Pa Rin.

After more than three decades of performing and doing music, Side A is still at it. Undoubtedly. The original members may have gone their respective ways, but they have obviously not given up on what they love to do.