{"id":5520,"date":"2012-07-22T01:30:47","date_gmt":"2012-07-21T22:30:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/patnubay.org\/?p=5520"},"modified":"2019-06-22T10:13:53","modified_gmt":"2019-06-22T07:13:53","slug":"usa-filipino-music-culture-blossom-in-historic-show-at-hollywood-bowl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/patnubay.org\/?p=5520","title":{"rendered":"USA: Filipino music, culture blossom In historic show at Hollywood Bowl"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The world famous Hollywood Bowl seats nearly 13,000 Filipinos for \u201cApl.de.ap takes you to the Philippines\u201d concert.<\/p><\/div>\n

Words and photos by Dionesio C. Grava
\nFirst posted: \u00a0www.pinoywatchdog.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

LOS ANGELES \u2014 It was easily the biggest gathering of Filipinos this side of the Diaspora. The nearly filled Hollywood Bowl on Highland Ave. was a sea of bobbing heads and a babel of regional dialects going into a crescendo when the appointed time drew near. It was our turn in the 14th season of Radio Station KCRW\u2019s World Festival of Music in partnership with the LA Phil.<\/p>\n

Joel Jacinto\u2019s Kayamanan ng Lahi cultural dance ensemble and the Rondalla Club of Los Angeles did the warm up with a Hispanic-influenced dance number. The Harana Kings and the Philippine Chamber Singers of LA brought back homeland memories with their kundiman. Singer-songwriter Ogie Alcasid and Philippine \u201cConcert King\u201d Martin Nievera dished out their shares of Pinoy originals.<\/p>\n

Then the subdued light of the setting sun played magic on the vegetation all around and on nearby hills. Moments later only the illuminated 33-foot tall cross on a hilltop above Ford Ampitheatre was visible in the gathering dusk, an amazing bonus to a night of star-studded entertainment in the open-air amphitheater.<\/p>\n

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Singer-songwriter Ogie Alcasid entertains<\/p><\/div>\n

Notwithstanding the huge iconic band shell of concentric arches that serve as the stage backdrop of the world-famous venue, the nature ambience and the folkloric presentations that evening of June 8 were reminiscent of rural Philippines. The show title was apt: \u200e\u201dApl.de.ap takes you to the Philippines: A celebration of global Filipino music.\u201d It was a night to be long remembered.<\/p>\n

Ted Benito, who collaborated in producing the music and cultural feast with Apl. de.ap and Arvind Manocha, chief operating officer of the venue, placed the total attendance at 12,825. Average cost for tickets was $45.00 each, he said in a Facebook posting. The entire time for planning the event was seven months and the actual production involved a cast\/crew of 200-plus. The value of presenting Filipino artists and culture on stage of the Hollywood Bowl for the first time in history: Priceless!<\/p>\n

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The song \u201cI gotta feelin\u201d brings everyone to his\/her feet.<\/p><\/div>\n

Apl. de. ap, formerly of the break-dance crew Tribal Nation and currently with the multi-Grammy award winning Black Eyed Peas, is our very own Allan Pineda Lindo, Jr. He was curator and a star performer of the show. In the latter role, he was joined by fellow Peas will.i.am & Taboo. Apl\u2019s mom, Cristina Pineda, was in the audience and duly acknowledged.<\/p>\n

Will.i.am and Taboo (the latter said his wife is a Filipina) were a hit and obviously embraced by the crowd. The former, the Peas frontman and producer, praised buddy Apl. de.ap grandly for his generosity in giving back to the community through a charitable foundation for kids. Philanthropy is the right thing following success, he said. Eight days later on July 16 will.i.am was reported announcing at the Oprah Winfrey Show his own scholarship initiative funding seven students $10,000 per year for the duration of their undergraduate education.<\/p>\n

The BEP dedicated a song to SIPA (Search to Involve Pilipino Americans), the organization they credited with helping them in the early years, and to Apl. de. ap\u2019s adoptive parent. In place of Fergie \u2014 the fourth member of the group who was not around \u2014 pop singer and dancer Nicole Elikolani Prescovia Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls provided a delightfully sexy alternative. She is of Hawaiian, Russian and Filipino descent. The group entertained with \u201cBebot,\u201d \u201cTake me to the Philippines,\u201d \u201cWe can be anything,\u201d \u201cRight there\u201d and \u201cWhere is the love.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Some theater patrons continue to drink and loud in conversation oblivious of the performance in the stage.<\/p><\/div>\n

A pleasant surprise was the appearance of newly-crowned WBP-IBF super bantamweight king Nonito Donaire, Jr. The Filipino Flash did the \u201cMga kaibigan Apl song\u201d with Apl.de.ap while clutching the championship belt he wrested from South African boxer Jeffrey \u201cMongoose\u201d Mathebula the day before at the Home Depot Center boxing ring in nearby city of Carson.<\/p>\n

Also in the stellar cast was the five-member Sandwich, said to be among the most prominent rock bands back home. Singer-songwriter Becca rendered Freddie Aguilar\u2019s famous \u201cAnak.\u201d Also contributing numbers were the Legaci, Jeremy Passion, Culture Shock, Bucky Jonson, DJ E-Man and Tateng Katindig and friends. Jo Koy got the crowd in high spirits with sidesplitters. The comedian was a co-host along with KCRW\u2019s Anthony Valadez and filmdom\u2019s Lou Diamond Philips and Vanessa Hudgens.<\/p>\n

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Martin Nievera\u2019s profile fills one of the Bowl\u2019s giant monitors while a nearby hilltop and its 33-foot tall cross serve as backdrop.<\/p><\/div>\n

Other songs heard that evening included \u201cKahit isang saglit,\u201d \u201cIkaw,\u201d \u201cDon\u2019t throw my love away,\u201d \u201cBe my lady,\u201d \u201cKailangan kita,\u201d \u201cDahil sa iyo,\u201d and \u201cBasta tayo\u2019y magkasama laging meron umagang kay ganda.\u201d It was an evening of pop and traditional Pinoy artists, song and dance numbers, of the old and the contemporary, a tinikling that became hip-hop, jazz, soul, R&B, OPM (Original Pilipino Music), traditional Filipino love songs and break dancing. The three-hour extravaganza ended with \u201cI gotta feelin,\u201d which brought everyone to his\/her feet.<\/p>\n

It was a wholesome and splendid way of spotlighting Pinoy talents, Pinoy music and heritage and Pinoy togetherness. Mr. Benito said that he doesn\u2019t know if there will be another event like that at the Bowl in the future. Proceeds from the concert went directly to the LA Philharmonic\u2019s ongoing music education program that benefits children in Los Angeles schools who have no access to music education, he added. The Bowl is owned by the Los Angeles County and the LAPhil calls it home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Words and photos by Dionesio C. Grava First posted: \u00a0www.pinoywatchdog.com LOS ANGELES \u2014 It was easily the biggest gathering of Filipinos this side of the Diaspora. The nearly filled Hollywood Bowl on Highland Ave. was…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":3189,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[25,16,17],"tags":[84,101],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/patnubay.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5520"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/patnubay.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/patnubay.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patnubay.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patnubay.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5520"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/patnubay.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5520\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12233,"href":"https:\/\/patnubay.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5520\/revisions\/12233"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patnubay.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/patnubay.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patnubay.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patnubay.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}