In celebration of his 30th year in the entertainment industry, “Mr. Pure Energy” Gary Valenciano puts up a two-night concert at the Araneta Coliseum. Titled ARISE Gary V 3.0, this concert will take place from April 11-12, 2014.
PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal) and other members of the media caught up with Gary Valenciano and his family during the concert’s press conference held on Friday afternoon, April 4, at ELJ Communications Center in Quezon City.
For this concert, fans can look forward to joining Gary V in celebrating his journey since the early '80s. The energetic performer promises audiences will see him perform something they haven’t seen him do before.
Gary said, “Risky yung iba and meron talaga akong gagawin na I’ve never done before.”
For his concert, Gary and his production team decided not to include any cover songs and instead, they picked all his original hits which were arranged to sound “refreshing” and “new.”
He explained, “I survived in the industry because of my songs.
“So it will be presented in a way that will both be refreshing and will be new.”
The 49-year-old singer advises concertgoers to get ready to get exhausted from all the activities in his concert.
He told the press, “It will come a point where… I’m just gonna tell all of you here, if you’re watching, mag-exercise na kayo. Get your legs prepared.”
He added, “I’m almost sure, when people leave they’ll probably go, ‘What an experience!’”
BIGGEST CONCERT. Gary’s eldest son, Paolo Valenciano, will be co-directing what he dubbed as his “biggest concert to date.” Gary revealed that his son asked him to do demading performances for his anniversary concert.
Gary quipped, “Even me, I look at my son and say, ‘Pao, this concert allows me disown you as my son. Why are you making me move so much?’
“But I enjoy it very, very much.”
The singer remains confident about his son’s ideas for his anniversary concert.
Gary said, “Alam naman niya kung ano gagawin ko, e.
“He watches the audience, he gets feedbacks, and then he executes kung ano man ang mga ideas, in a way, where his is not the final say.”
He added, “There’s mutual respect with each other and I don’t know [any] other artist, maybe even in the world, can claim their son once in a while performs with him and at the same time co-directing what probably can be called my biggest concert to date.”
Paolo, on the other hand, told the press that he’s comfortable in directing his dad. But the younger Valenciano admits feeling the pressure of handling his dad’s biggest show in a career spanning 30 years.
“Yung pag-direct sa dad ko actually hindi siya… wala masyadong pressure dun because this is actually the second concert of my dad that I’ll be directing," Paolo recalled.
“The first one was On Higher Ground nung, I think, two years ago sa Music Museum.
“So the pressure there is not that bad but I think it’s the fact na it’s the biggest show that he’s doing.”
Still, the singer-actor-director is glad that the first Araneta concert he’s directing is that of his dad.
“First time ko mag-direct ng show sa Araneta and nakaka-overwhelm siya ng konti,” he said.
“But I’m glad na my first project in Araneta is with my dad.
“I feel like if I do this with anyone else baka mag… siguro umiiyak na ako sa takot.
“It’s exciting and it’s fear at the same time but 60% exciting.”
For this concert, Paolo said the challenge was to create something his dad’s fans or the audience haven’t seen before.
He observed, “I think, one advantage that I have over other directors in this particular project is I grew up watching all his shows.
“Lahat ng Gary V. shows napanood ko so the biggest challenge for myself was how do I create a show to entertain myself.
“Like, ‘I want to entertain myself’ kasi I know a lot of people who have seen the past concerts, maghahanap sila ng bago.
“And for me, if it’s something that I have never seen, definitely hindi pa 'yan nakikita ng ibang tao.”
Gary’s special guest performers include Rico Blanco, MYX VJ Artists Sam Concepcion and Iya Villania, DJ Papi, Tom Taus, A.K.A. Jam, and Sarah Geronimo. Aside from Paolo, Gab and Kiana Valenciano will also participate in the concert.
BENEFIT CONCERT. More than the culmination of Gary V’s 30th anniversary in the showbiz industry, the concert will also be dedicated to victims of Typhoon Yolanda. In fact, the Pinoy pop-culture icon committed part of the sales of his concert to victims of Typhoon Yolanda.
He said, “This concert is for the benefit of Typhoon Yolanda because I was there in January.
“Paolo was there in December and up to now… hindi lang masyado pinag-uusapan ngayon pero there are still a lot to be done.”
Gary also encouraged concertgoers to bring donations in cash or in kind for typhoon victims.
“People can bring goods in cash and in kind.
“There will be people there to accept those things.
“But it’s really for the benefit of the victims of Typhoon Yolanda.”
For ticket inquiries, visit Ticketnet Online at www.ticketnet.com.ph or call Tel. No. 911-5555.