The quartet of Bamboo Mañalac (vocals), Mark Escueta (drums), Nathan Azarcon (bass), and Rico Blanco (keyboards, guitars, vocals) — collectively known as Rivermaya — turned back time as they made their return to live television on Sunday, January 14, 2024, via ASAP Natin 'To.
Rivermaya is poised to stage a reunion concert on February 17, 2024, at the SMDC Festival Grounds in Parañaque City.
The band's ASAP guesting is highly anticipated as it has been decades since the four were seen together performing on one stage.
Like many bands in the '90s, Rivermaya was a regular visitor of ASAP to promote new albums, latest singles, and upcoming shows.
The band was introduced by Janine Gutierrez, Darren Espanto, and Maymay Entrata, and right off the bat launched to play "Elesi."
"Elesi" was from the band's third studio album Atomic Bomb released in 1997 by BMG Records (Pilipinas) Inc.
Atomic Bomb was Bamboo's last album with Rivermaya after he decided to stay in the States at the conclusion of the band's U.S. tour.
Rico took over Bamboo's place and oversaw the band's revolving door of members before leaving in 2007 to pursue a solo career.
The band has not disbanded, with Nathan and Mark alongside longtime guitarist Mike Elgar continuing to play and record as Rivermaya today.
This makes the reunion concert a get-together of the classic lineup that listeners from decades ago came to love.
STIRRING NOSTALGIA
Rivermaya's ASAP Natin 'To appearance became one of the trending topics on X (formerly Twitter).
The clamor for a Rivermaya reunion had been going on for years as many of the band's contemporaries have staged reunion concerts to satisfy fans' nostalgia.
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Getting the classic Rivermaya lineup together was a challenging task though as the members appeared non-committal with the prospect of performing together for old-time's sake.
Read: Rivermaya reunion concert happening soon?
But on November 6, 2023, it was confirmed that Bamboo, Mark, Nathan, and Rico were getting back together for a reunion concert, fulfilling the wishes of their fans, old and new.