Mr. Pure Energy Gary Valenciano culminates his 30th anniversary in the showbiz industry with his biggest concert to date titled ARISE Gary V 3.0. The two-day concert series was held from April 11-12 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
For his concert, Gary V focused on his 30-year journey as a singer and some recent events in his career.
VIEW PHOTOS: Gary Valenciano's "ARISE Gary V 3.0" concert (Part 1)
1980s. Gary V opens the night with his '80s hit song "Di Bale Na Lang," singing and dancing with vigour and the pure energy he is known for. It might come as a surprise to some people that Gary will be actually be turning 50 this year!
Thirty years may have passed since people first heard of "Di Bale Na Lang" yet the song is still a familiar tune for most people. Young concertgoers might have probably heard the song on the radio and the young-once may have heard the song during their own bagets days. In any case, people were singing, or at least humming, along to the tune.
Gary V became nostalgic as he addressed the crowd: “We always have our list of favorite artists; pero one thing that I learned in the past 30 years is that the songs, well, despite the fact that people love to move, it's the songs that made the effort to move the hearts that really matter.”
Heart breaks, rejections and letting go are some of the elements featured in Gary’s tracks from the 1980’s. The dance moves and sweet sounding melody concealed the painful lyrics as people swayed along the beat.
“In the 80's, I'm moving like this [Gary V dances,] pero ang pinapatugtog sa radyo are songs like this one [“Growing Up”], which is the very first single that came out 30 years ago.”
Gary V sang more of the 80’s favorites such as “Di Na Natuto” and “Hang On.” When he exits the stage, Ryzza Mae Dizon appears on screen and introduces Gab Valenciano’s breakthrough and journey to become an Internet sensation today.
The Youtube star and Super Selfie creator inspired one of the production numbers in the concert. This involved Gary’s fun performance with colorful mascots emulating his son’s crazy dancing. The costumes and dance moves are from the '80s but the concept is modern. Gab's Super Selfie takes “selfies” to the next level by doing a video performance rather than taking a still, motionless photo.
1990s. Gary V dedicated this portion to talking openly about his beliefs. “Now, all I know is that, in the '90s kasi I became bolder in the way I would express myself especially when it came to my faith.”
The veteran singer shares that nothing has changed; he will always have faith in Him and continue to spread the good news about God. Gary V is vocal about being a Christian and the night was filled with songs of praise for the Good Guy above.
Sarah Geronimo, Rico Blanco and girl group A.K.A. JAM joined him as he gives a new twist to his old songs: “Sa Yahweh,” “He's Enough,” “That's Why,” and “Babalik.”
“It's new because it’s part of my latest album called With You. It's old because it came out in the '90s.”
The version still sounds fresh because he tapped talented singers to back him up. After all the dancing, Gary stressed: “Isa lang ang masasabi ko sa inyo… [long breathing]
“Kaya pa.”
VIEW PHOTOS: Gary Valenciano's "ARISE Gary V 3.0" concert (Part 2)
2000s. The third part of Gary V’s concert focused on his hits from the 2000s. The singer started off with a ballad performance of “I Will Be Here”—his first hit single in the 2000s.
Before the performance, Gary’s relief efforts with Unicef Philippines for the victims of typhoon Yolanda were flashed on screen. Gary was proud to say that part of the sales of his concert will be donated to the typhoon victims.
Gary also dedicated the song to his father, Vicente C. Valenciano, who succumbed to cancer at the age of 87 on May 28, 2013.
The singer told the audience in the middle of his performance, “There’s also a typhoon for me last year and that’s why I dedicate this song to my father.”
After his performance, Gary then recounted his experience of taking pictures or selfies with his fans in the middle of his performances.
He explained, “It’s not that I don’t like the pictures, the pictures are fine but I don’t know if you know the timing of the song.”
However, the singer was worried about the funny faces he made on the photos. He quipped, “It doesn’t just end up on phone, it ends up on Facebook and it goes around the world in seconds!”
After his performance of “I Will Be Here,” Gary introduced his next song “With You,” which is the title track of his latest album.
Gary told concertgoers, “Everytime na magpeperform ako on stage, people ask me ‘Si Gab ba? Sasayaw ba si Gab?’
“Lumabas na [kanina]. ‘E, yung isang anak mo na si Kiana?’
“[Sabi ko], ‘Paminsan-minsan.’ Then Paolo.
“One day, when I come up with a book., I will share you every detail of what happened on Paolo’s wedding.
“Today, I’m so proud of this man. He’s not only my son but he’s also co-directing my show as well.
“He has worked with other artists too.
“Pero bilang co-director sabi niya, ‘Dad, I don’t like this part of the show.’”
He added, “Siyempre may mga ideals na dapat respetuhin ko. I have to respect that too.
“Kaso ang pangalan nung concert Gary V Arise 3.0 so it’s still my concert.
“So, I make the decision pa rin and I decided I want this song to be a part of it. Too many events happened last year.
“My Gabriel left for the States. He may be there a lot longer the next time he leaves.
“And then, my father went to heaven.
“And Paolo walked down the aisle and said 'I do' to a wonderful wife named Samantha [Godinez].”
Gary’s daughter, Kiana Valenciano, emerged on stage and joined him in his performance. The father-daughter tandem brought a flawless performance of the song as scenes from Paolo and Sam’s wedding were flashed on the two-storey LED screen.
Gary’s repertoire also includes a medley of his songs that were used as theme songs for some movies. These include “Sana Mulit Muli,” “Kailangan Kita,” and “How Did You Know?”
The gospel-pop singer also performed a medley of his songs used in ABS-CBN teleseryes such as “Tayong Dalawa,” “Minsan Lang Kita Iibigin,” “Ikaw Lamang,” and his personal favorite “Hanggang Sa Dulo Ng Walang Hanggan.”
After the medleys, Sam Concepcion went out on stage and performed the song “Saytay” with Gary Valenciano. The La Salle Dance Company dressed up as common concertgoers and surprised the audience when they started dancing in the VIP area.
Gary, Sam, and the dance crew roamed around the VIP area and invited members of the audience to dance with them. After the song, Gary told everyone that he was impressed with the crowd’s energy.
He quipped, “You really convinced me that many of you have the energy enough to take pictures.”
After the song, electronic dance music DJ Papi gave updated versions of Gary V’s songs including “Hataw Na!”
For his encore performances, Gary performed the songs “Shot For Joy,” “The Warrior Is A Child,” and he finally ended the first night of his concert with “Take Me Out Of The Dark.”