November 21, 2008 Friday

Malaya Newspaper

Laid-back music artists Juris Fernandez and Chin Alcantara have found themselves in cloud nine, realizing they’re about to participate in a once in a blue moon big stage collaboration featuring themselves alongside two of their musical heroes: Side A and Freestyle.

The members of MYMP (Make Your Momma Proud), known for their acoustic flavor that brought them to widespread recognition, are both puzzled and ecstatic that they were picked to play in equal billing with such notable artists.

"Kinalakihan ko ang music ng Side A while Freestyle is way ahead of us in terms of being in the scene. This is really big," expresses Chin whose guitar playing has helped mold the sound of MYMP, complementing the vocal charm of his partner Juris.

The act behind popular renditions of familiar songs like "Tell Me Where It Hurts" and "Only Reminds Me Of You" will perform in a concert called "Back-To-Back-To-Back" scheduled on December 1 at the Araneta Coliseum. The one-night only concert is set to gather the biggest hits of each band, assuring music fans that every number has the recall to make their tickets worth every cent.

This would mark the first time that MYMP, which recently released its album "Now", will get on stage with both Side A and Freestyle – two bands that have already played back-to-back in previous shows. This makes their participation a key factor in making the triple treat a concert to remember, especially that there would be production numbers featuring all musicians together on stage. The singing half of the duo admits, "Medyo kinakabahan kami kasi they’re seasoned bands talaga and this is not a normal gig."

It should certainly be not an ordinary night as each group delivers its most popular recordings live in front of an expected mammoth crowd at the Big Dome, confident of having a good sound trip back into memory lane with songs such as "Forevermore", "Hold On" and "So Many Questions" from Side A, "Before I Let You Go", "So Slow" and "Bakit Ngayon Ka Lang" off Freestyle, and of course, tunes like "Get Me" and "A Little Bit" courtesy of MYMP which scored 7X platinum with their two-disc set "Versions and Beyond" in 2005.

Its album "New Horizon" turning gold in barely three months last year, MYMP is recognized as "Best Acoustic Act" by MYX Music Awards, "Best Performance in a Concert" by Aliw Awards, among other citations. The group is happy to reveal that their recent work is their most cohesive yet, having hit the target bull’s eye concept-wise. "For us, mas satisfied kami sa album namin ngayon kasi alam na namin saan papunta ang music namin. The public just identified us with the term ‘acoustic’ but we’re really a country act," Chin proudly stated.

Half-jokingly, he said that his only worry come the December 1st big night is the crowd might fall asleep when their on performing since they’re not as upbeat as the other two. He need not be bothered anyway; people have loved them because of their lullabies and not a soul would care to take a nap and miss a bit.