I know, I know…you’ve all probably missed reading about all my crazy adventures and misadventures.  And if you haven’t missed me, well…well…well.  The truth is, for the last few months, I’ve been very busy.  Yes there have been some trips and photo ops, which I will share someday.  But for now I want to share something else…and it’s my blog so I’ll share what I want to…La lang.

Well you are all probably thinking that the only thing that I enjoy is having all camera lenses pointed at me and being in the spotlight, and you may be right.  But there’s one other thing I love and that’s music, 80’s music to be precise.  I may enjoy occassional tunes from Pink or Katy Perry or my favorite boy bands, Westlife and Boyzone.  But the real soundtrack of my life are those songs from my not-so-distant past.  So imagine how excited I was when I found a way to get both–the spotlight and 80s music.  Ok calm down, I have not transformed into  Geleen Eugenio’s long, lost twin sister.  I just discovered The Mike Bon Gang.

Here’s how it happened….

It actually all started with a blind date…or as we chose to call it…a pseudo blind date. My friend called me last August and said,  “I want you to meet this guy, he likes to sing, you like to sing.  And there’s this band that plays 80’s music and they let people jam.”   Not the most romantic set-up, but hey, meet a guy, 80’s music, sing….How can you (meaning me) say no to that?  So I said, “Game”.  Just 5 minutes after meeting the guy, I knew the highlight of the evening would not be the “DATE” but rather the music.  And thankfully, the band aka The Mike Bon Gang was really good.

They were just three guys, Guitar, Bass and Drums, who all sang vocals on various tracks.  My friends and I were quite fascinated becuase though there were only three guys performing, it sounded like there was a full band hiding under the floorboards or something.  Mike plays guitar and does lead vocals, Cholo, drums and vocals and Jonathan, bass and vocals.  And, what was even better?  Their playlist was filled with selections from the soundtrack of my life.

For a moment I was back in Cow Palace watching Tears for Fears perform Everybody Wants to Rule the World and Shout.  And then when they played A Little Respect from Erasure, suddenly I was catapulted back to the Erasure concerts at Shoreline Ampitheater and the Warfield!  And then my friends and I were surprised to hear The Promise by When in Rome, which brought back memories of my days in San Francisco.  In between there were other great songs like With or Without you, Upside Down, Electric Dreams etc etc etc.

 

But our hands-down favorite part was when they started singing Human by the Human League.  If you’re not familiar with the song, it’s actually a duet between a guy and a girl.  It’s an all male band, so we were confused. Especially when we heard the girl’s spoken part, “The tears I cried aren’t tears of pain, they’re all to hide my guilt and shame.  I forgive you and I ask the same of you.  While we were apart, I was human too.”  We were looking around to see if it was a recording or if there was a surprise guest (think ASAP) and were laughing when we realized it was the drummer speaking and singing in falsetto.  They followed this with Nothing’s Gonna Stop us Now, another male-female song.  And again there was that voice.  I guess you could say that after those winning moments, my friends and I were officially fan-girls!

 

So we all eagerly sang along and aloud and would even do the back-up singers parts.  Then i heard my name being called.  One of my friends requested that I be called to sing. I did the “no, i’m shy routine” but as we all know, I’m not THAT shy.  So eventually, with a lot of prodding (ok there really wasn’t much prodding) I got up on stage and sang a few tunes, including a not so new wave (but also my trademark jamming with a band song), Crazy for You.

When the band finished their set, my “date” disappeared faster then you could say “Depeche Mode”.  We ended up staying and hanging out with the band for a while.  We were back the following week and the week after that.  Between and after their sets, the band would join us for a round or two of drinks.  We’d even make comments on their playlists.  Involved???

I left for the States for a bit, but upon my return, the first thing on the agenda was a surprise party for a friend with The Mike Bon Gang as musical guest.  As expected, our other friends enjoyed their music too.  After that, we became regular fixtures at their gigs like the ones at Craft Rock and Grill at the Fort Strip.

Some of us would even go all the way to Roxas Blvd to watch them at The Pier.

And because I always take every opportunity for a photo op, we’d even have a “let’s pose with the band” moment.

And yes, I have sung with them a few times….after all, if there’s one thing you can’t count on, Inday will always find the spotlight.

And so have some of my friends…

So there, if you’ve been wondering what I’ve been up?  I’ve been pretty busy.  In fact, already making plans for their next gig, April 23 at The Pier.  You should go check them out…and while you’re at it, check out the The Mike Bon Gang facebook page!

That’s all for now…bow.