CEBU, Philippines — It was the 90’s again for giddy fans as British-Norwegian boy band A1 took the stage at the Pacific Grand Ballroom of Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino for their 20th anniversary reunion concert.
This is the first tour that they’ve performed together with all four members – Paul Marazzi, Christian Ingebrigtsen, Mark Read and Ben Adams – on stage after more than a 15-year break.
Put together in 1997, A1 took the world by storm with romantic songs like “Heaven By your Side,” “Like A Rose” and “Caught In The Middle” which have become beloved hits to this day. In 2002, Paul left the group.
While they sang all those fan favorites, the band also performed their latest single “Armour,” a ballad written in the summer of 2017 which is based on the idea of how nice it would be to have sometimes a shield for the heart. As Christian puts it, it talks about protecting the heart from all the bad stuff in the world and how “we can always try to be a shield” for those who matter to us.
The concert, despite being attended by a ballroom full of adoring fans, still felt like an intimate gathering. A1 shared how some songs were written, as well as funny stories of them through the years. How “Walking In The Rain” was written on a rainy day while they were house-sitting, how Paul almost missed the reunion because he fell asleep at the airport, and how they came up with dance steps.
“My favorite parts were sort of us opening up to them [audience] and asking them what songs they want to hear. We do it acoustic, or in a medley, and we change it up every night. We just did it on the fly. We’d like to keep things different,” Ben, now 36 years old, shares.
Even as middle-aged men, the group danced to bops. They also did a medley called “Songs We Never Did” which was basically made up of well, the songs they never did – those that didn’t fit the set list in favor of the more popular songs back in the day which included “Here Comes The Rain,” “I’ll Take The Tears,” “Tomorrow,” “Make It Through Another Night” and “When I’m Missing You.” They also did their own rendition of “Stand By Me” and “Take On Me.”
Mark expressed how much they were looking forward they to performing in Cebu, having been in the city many times before. They were also a bit sad since the Cebu show was the last leg of their Southeast Asian reunion tour which included Jakarta, Singapore, two nights in Manila, and one in Davao City.
But fret not, because A1 announced that they’re not Ghosts of Boyband Past just yet and that we’ll be hearing more from them.
“It’s our way of showing fans that we’re not just back together for the tour. We’re actually back together as a band. We’re writing and recording new music. ‘Armour’ is the first song we’ve recorded with Paul,” Mark, 39, announced in a press conference a day before the Waterfront concert.
As far as what the rest of the songs are going to sound like and talk about, Christian says we’ll have to wait and see.
“One thing’s for sure, every song is not about the same things. I have a friend who says there’s two types of songs: songs that make the world a little bit worse, and songs that make the world a bit of a better place. There are some songs with lyrics that don’t necessarily build you up. We want to write songs that would make the world a little bit of a better place,” Christian, 41, quipped.
The band shared how performing together again has always been on the back of their minds. Why they took a break in the first place?
“When the band split up the first time, we didn’t really speak for quite a long time which is quite strange when you’ve been living in each other’s pockets for five years, so then we weren’t having much communication. And there was always that kind of emptiness inside. We needed to have some kind of resolution as a band, and need to give closure to the fans to help them understand what happened,” Mark began.
From 1997 until 2002, A1 was going on like a machine, and that had taken a toll on them.
“We were all very exhausted at the time. From 1997 to 2002 it was solid. Non-stop. We barely had holidays, barely had breaks. It was almost a requirement, a necessity to recharge our batteries, take a step away from each other,” Mark said, adding how the time apart allowed them to reflect and appreciate each other, all the while having a newfound respect for one other and what they were all doing.
By the time they regrouped, everything fit perfectly and they saw it as an opportunity to make the most of out of it.
“It gave us time to just kind of fall in love with the idea of being a band again. And we have to be honest, we may have been nervous, a bit apprehensive coming into this. But as soon as we got together for the first rehearsal, everything just fell into place. After we did one of the routines, Paul says, ‘Ah it feels so nostalgic.’ And I felt the exact same way,” Mark shared.
Throughout the years, each A1 member had been busy with their own careers. While Christian, Ben and Mark have performed as A1, they’ve also had their share of individual projects. Christian toured as a solo artist and lent his voices to Norwegian Flynn Rider of the Disney movie and series “Tangled.” Ben, who’s been busy with musical theatre, had just finished a staging of “Flashdance” and will be writing “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” Mark has kept his hand in the music industry as a musician, songwriter and performer, feeling fortunate that he gets to do what he’s always wanted. Paul, now 43 and who has been in a few bands and has taken on other projects, has started a family of his own, expecting a daughter in four weeks.
The reunion had come to be when Christian, Ben and Mark were performing close to where Paul lives. The four of them decided to meet up and picked up right where they left off.
“We’ve been in touch for a while now,” Mark said. “As a band, we always felt there were some unanswered questions, and we left things hanging and that we’ve always wanted Paul to come back. We’re certain that the fans also wanted Paul to come back. That was the first time we’ve met in so many years. From that moment, doors were open for us to do new things.”
The group had grown with their music throughout the years and are good at taking things lightly, even making fun of themselves from time to time. While preparing for the show, Christian said that they had to watch YouTube videos of their younger selves dancing.
“We’ve taken the routines and made them a little bit more simple for our age and brains,” Paul chirped.
“We couldn’t remember so we had to watch YouTube clips of us dancing. It actually felt like we were an A1 cover band,” Christian said.
On a more serious note, they were just glad to have Paul around once more. And Paul the same. Ben said that although they didn’t feel incomplete when they performed sans Paul in 2009, they also felt like they had found something again when Paul returned as if in a “There it is!” moment.
As their Southeast Asia reunion tour came to a close in the Philippines, A1 couldn’t leave without some loving words about the Filipino audience. Their Davao show for one, Ben said, was crazy-sold out, more seats added to satisfy the demand, fans coming up on stage, even when they weren’t sure at first that people would actually come.
“They’ve been really amazingly supportive,” Ben quipped. “We’ve done four concerts in the Philippines alone. Take a place like Davao for example, when we were booked we had absolutely no idea if anybody would turn up until we all found out that it was sold out. They knew every song, even songs we think they’re not going to know. Which is handy for us because in our old age, when we forget the lyrics we just point the mic to them.”
For the Cebu show, the fans took it upon themselves to form a pit in front of the stage. One lady was lucky enough to come up on stage and sing with Ben, some received roses from the band before they said their farewell. Others were happy in their assigned seats, clinging to their friends, singing along to the music, and seeing a clearer view of the show from the screen, content on being in the same room as their favorites even after all these years.
When asked how they feel to have fans from all sorts of generations (even among teenagers), and have so many people still know many of their songs, Ben says it’s absolutely flattering.
“They took our music and as a band kept us close to them,” Paul said. “Especially when we sat in the studio writing songs we loved years ago and 20 years on, they’re sang and remembered and listened to by people who are in a completely different generation. That for us is a massive compliment, to have music stand the test of time.”