Artstart’s show becomes reunion of friends picking up where they left off
It may have taken the current iteration of Artstart approximately 30 years to reunite, but if we go by how well its members meshed at last Saturday’s reunion concert at the Music Museum, it sure looked like they were simply picking up where they left off. And it didn’t hurt that the popular ‘90s band had signature hits (Misty Glass Window, Panaginip) that concertgoers were raring to revisit.
After a busy five-year run, Artstart disbanded in 1994 when its members began focusing on individual pursuits. After all, lead vocalists who are as gifted as Ella May Saison, Pido Lalimarmo and Gina Respall (who joined the group following Ella May’s departure) also need room to grow, not just as team players but as solo artists as well.
Take Ella May, who was only in her teens when she joined the band. When she decided to go solo, she didn’t just wax OPM hits of her own like Till My Heartaches End and If the Feeling is Gone, she even managed to crack the Billboard chart with Reminiscin, her 2001 collaboration with American hitmaker CeCe Peniston (Finally, We Got a Love Thang).
Pido also won over new followers as a solo artist and with his Take One band via self-penned tracks like Bakit Di Mo Pansin and his soothing covers of ballads like James Taylor’s 1977 single, If I Keep My Heart Out of Sight.
For her part, Gina has parlayed her evocative vocals and enviable range into musical-theater gold, most notably with roles in “Miss Saigon” and “The King and I” in the United Kingdom. Her most recent stage turn was in the original Filipino musical “Silver Lining Redux” last November.
So given the trio’s enviable skill and experience, the eagerly anticipated reunion show had a lot going for it. More than anything, these gifted vocalists are proving that singer-musicians can pursue lucrative solo careers without compromising their band’s unique identity.
Helmed by Clint Ortiz with producer Ricky delos Reyes, the concert’s well-curated lineup rolled smoothly, except for a couple of false starts and timing gaffes. But given the singers’ time-honed performing chops, it didn’t come as a surprise that the reunion show felt like an exhilarating three-in-one treat, with Ella May, Pido and Gina taking turns to sing tunes that played well to their respective strengths and skill sets.
As expected, Artstart fans were treated to a suite of songs culled from the group’s pop jazz-inflected only album, released in 1993 — including the vibrant Danielle, Lani’s Dream, Only You and the dreamy hit Misty Glass Window, which now boasts more than a million streams on Spotify.
But the band’s reach extends beyond its own discography. For instance, we were thrilled to listen to Gina putting her own spin on a wide range of songs, from crowd-pleasing ballads (like Beverly Craven’s Promise Me and Amy Holland’s I’ll Never Give Up) to booty-grooving dance ditties (Sybil’s Make It Easy on Me, Lisa Stansfield’s The Real Thing), each astutely rendered as if they were also stories that needed to be told.
Pido’s voice was also in tip-top shape even in songs with a high degree of difficulty, like Rick Price’s tricky karaoke staple Heaven Knows. He was just as delightful to watch as he rocked to Phil Collins and Philip Bailey’s Easy Lover or Ronnie Foster’s Easier Said Than Done.
The concert also served as a vivid reminder of Ella May’s prodigious appeal as a performer. She imbued Mariah Carey’s Love Takes Time and Make It Happen with an upbeat energy that’s highly contagious. And when she began scaling the heady trills of Oleta Adams’ Get Here — a crowd favorite — it was like listening to the definitive version of the popular love song.
Ella May may be passionate about performing but carries her special gifts with unaffected charm and grace. And when you see her pulling the microphone off the clip of the stand with a measure of urgency, it’s a visual cue that tells listeners to get ready for the money notes. She is transfixing even when she’s just singing backup or grooving to the music with wild abandon.
Helping Ella May, Pido and Gina string the concert’s finger-snapping elements together were Artstart’s similarly well-rounded band members: Ronald Tomas (on saxophone, flute and second keyboard), Soc Mina (bass), Elhmir Saison (keyboard) and band leader Mar Dizon (drums).
Mar and the boys kept the repertoire more exciting by occasionally seizing the spotlight from the main vocalists. They covered songs that suited their voices to a T, including Phil Collins’ Against All Odds (Elhmir), Ronnie Laws’ Stay Awake (Ronald), and, in an impromptu number, Stephen Bishop’s Parked Cars (Mar) — with Ella May playing the drums as if it were second nature to her! Is there anything this consummate diva can’t do?
It was heartwarming to see the band members giving their all but with egos firmly in check — they left those backstage. They wore their hearts on their sleeve as they happily reconnected with their collective past.
In one particularly poignant moment, we saw a barefoot Ella May just a foot away from the glare of the spotlight sobbing quietly in the shadow as she watched old photos and videos of her teenage self and her peers flashed on the video wall.
Sure, we half expected the US-based songstress to sing Till My Heartaches End or Gina demonstrating her West End-honed pipes with a string of showtunes, but we understood what the concert was for. Perhaps next show, Artstart?
With that being said, we hope to see the group perform in more shows and not just in a one-off jaunt down memory lane. As we told Mar in a Facebook exchange, the concert was as entertaining as it was touching — and it felt like a big and warm hug. So we hope more Pinoy music aficionados would get a chance to see this batch of Artstart in dazzling action here and abroad.
“Yes, it felt like we were lifting each other up,” Gina told this writer after the show. “We will try to be more visible from here on in so that we can also rekindle our connection with our followers.”
As it turned out, the show — described by Pido as “a reunion of friends who are married to the music” — resonated with us as much as with the members of Artstart, whose fondness for each other was palpable onstage and off.
“When we saw each other (at the contract signing), grabe ang feeling ko … I had goosebumps!” Ella Mae shared in a video. “I can’t forget this band because we have a lot of shared memories — good memories!”
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