Gary V in Singapore: Fan Review

Gary V had a one-night show at the Suntec Center in Singapore last Saturday. A long-time fan from Singapore gives her impression.

(We welcome your personal accounts/concert reviews. Please send them to us right after you watch Gary’s shows. We’ll post the most interesting on this site. Thanks!)

A First-Hand Account: Gary Valenciano’s 2007 World Tour Concert in Singapore
By Amelia Chen

What can I say??? It was another stellar performance as expected from Gary Valenciano. I said this show would make my whole month but I was wrong. I think it made my whole year!

I have not seen anything like it before his “Revive” concert in 2001, and have never seen anything since, until last night at the “Relevance” concert. And from me, that is really saying something, since I’ve been to tons of performances, and have ticket stubs a few inches thick to prove it. Even international acts like Ricky Martin, Mariah Carey, Bebel Gilberto, etc etc do not measure up. The only one who is probably on par is Lea Salonga, although she sings more of Broadway, so they really belong to different genres. Other fellow countrymen/women of his I’ve seen include Kuh Ledesma, Regine Velasquez, Lani Misalucha and Martin Nievera (twice also). And yet as my friend so aptly put it, Gary V is my “all-time favourite”.

It is not difficult to see why, which I will explain using a comparison to Hong Kong’s Four Heavenly Kings, pop idols who made it really big back in the 1990s and still have a strong following even now. He has a boyish appearance like, but slick dance moves better than Aaron Kwok, is more good-looking than Leon Lai, with charisma superior to Andy Lau, and a voice as good as Jacky Cheung. And the last, having earned the moniker of “God of Songs”, is one which is tough to even measure up to. Yet Gary has something the other four lack: A strong Faith. And listening to him, you feel it is not an act, but truly something he feels from the heart and wishes to share. That in itself is special and instantly endears himself to any Christian in the audience.

One thing which never fails to amaze me is of course his boundless energy on stage, despite being a diabetic. Sure, he has a minicomputer hooked up to him that monitors his blood sugar and dispenses insulin accordingly, but even then, you wouldn’t know unless he told you about it (like he did on stage last night). His energy so infuses his music, that in the opening song “Shake It Off”, which I never really got when I listened to it, came to life for me last night as I watched him perform live. For the first time, I finally understood the song, such is his stage presence. For indeed, Gary is one of the people who are entertainers (as he refers to himself) in the true sense of the word. Listening to him alone, or watching on film or television simply does not do the man justice, for his personality is what really comes true in a “live” performance.

He performed not only new songs but also old favourites, following “Shake It Off” with “Growing Up” from way back in the early part of his career. He also did two medleys of pop songs from the 1960s and 1980s, the latter being in the encore section of the show. Throughout the three-hour long performance, he did lots of favourites, including “Take Me Out Of The Dark”, a song he refers to as his concert “anthem”. What I definitely enjoyed were the new arrangements on “Di Bale Na Lang” (rock) and a medley consisting of “Hataw Na!”, “Sa Yahweh Ang Sayaw”, and “That’s Why” and “Shout For Joy” (latin). I do love the last medley in the encore part of the show where he did lots of Tagalog favourites, including mine: “Muli”.

An interesting feature is also how his whole family has taken to joining into the show, with his Mum and daughter on video and his second son Gabriel as a dancer (with friend Justin from the Manoeuvers). You’ve heard of the family von Trapp? Welcome to the family Valenciano. Incidentally, they are a very good-looking family… Gabriel is as tall as his Dad, though the shoulders are broader. Yet Gary himself is no slouch, as shown in his one and only costume change (for the encore) when he wears a tight muscle tee which shows off his pectorals and biceps. (Thanks to wife Angeli, I think, his son Gabriel looks much better than Gary did at his age when he first started out singing…)

I’m making a guess that using the family in the performance is also a way to cut costs, as well as to bring the family closer. I don’t blame him, with the music industry suffering under the ease of file-sharing practices and piracy. Which is why I bought lots of albums and a DVD, including “Relevance”, “Pure Heart” and “Revive”, though I already have the songs for those albums. I like Gary so much that I do want to keep him in business so that he’ll be back for another concert.

My only quarrel is that I didn’t get to shake hands with him though he made two forays into the audience. This despite buying tickets in the fourth row of the centre aisle in front of the stage. It’s as if because we had the best view, we didn’t get to shake hands… (Ok, and maybe I was a little disappointed he left out “Letting Go”, “Lift Up Your Hands” and “Break Me” too.)

(If you’re wondering, I’m the Native Singaporean Chinese sitting in Section 102, D14. The one who knew the lyrics – if not the meanings – to the songs, even the ones in Tagalog. And I was one of the few who did not take photographs nor videos, law-abiding citizen that I am. For the record too, I did not stand up until the end not because I did not enjoy myself, but because I’m rather tall and would block the people behind me, which I figure isn’t very fair since we all paid good money to see him. Something which the people in the second row weren’t aware they were doing… The couple next to me who kept going in and out of their seat should’ve been more considerate too, but that is more social etiquette of the concert-goers which is not in the performer’s control.)

All in all, I would call this a masterclass in showing how a concert should be conducted. Kudos again and I do hope he comes back soon. (Hopefully it doesn’t take him another six years and one month to find his way to our shores again…) As I told my friends, it’s a pity he has only one show. Or else I’d go for each and every one there was! Five stars, without a doubt! (And while Valenciano says he doesn’t mind if the people who didn’t like his show visit other websites, it is probable he will only garner accolades for his performance last night in the guestbook for his official website: www.garyv.com.)