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| Fr L-R: Terence and me, Chona and Gerry |
When my hubby Terence and I learned that one of our all time favorite music groups is coming to town to do a live performance - we didn’t think twice about buying the high-priced tickets to the concert billed as "Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis,Jr. Live in Manila. " We went to watch the much anticipated show at the Big Dome last July 7. Along with us for the trip down memory lane were our good friends Gerry and Chona who graciously treated us to a dinner of classic Chinese cuisine at Gloria Maris prior to the show. This put the four of us in the same place to strike chord of collective nostalgia and recount the pleasurable soul memories of the resurgence of the 5th Dimension quintet some decades ago.
We were enthralled and blown away by the duo’s opening song "Up, Up And Away” and got entrapped in the sing-along outburst of the audience ( who for sure are Baby Boomers like us ). I would say, Marilyn McCoo still has the marvelous vocal range and power. Her vocal elegance remained remarkable and still looked slinky and graceful despite being in her mid 60s. On the other hand, I deduced Billy is in his early 70s with streaks of gray hair who displayed snail-paced moves but still sounded neat and vibrant. They rendered a number of original songs by the 5th Dimension like “Wedding Bells Blues “ and “Stoned Soul Picnic”. Marilyn’s rendition of the torch songs “If I Could Reach You” and the Burt Bacharach classic “ One Less Bell to Answer “ were definitely legendary. This is what music is supposed to be that we could listen over and over again. However, songs like “Working On A Groovy Thing”,"Ashes to Ashes"," The Two of Us "," Living Together,Growing Together" ,“Saving All My Love”,and “California Soul” to name a few were not included in their choice of repertoire - a real letdown for me. Of course, they also performed a myriad of non-5th Dimension songs.
Marilyn and Billy attempted to finish the show with the Broadway musical classic Hair song“ Aquarius/ Let The Sunshine In," that stirred the frenzied crowd to sing along while giving them standing ovation. The song left an emotionally touched audience to demand for an encore.The duo unleashed a stirring rendition of the song “How Do You Keep The Music Playing” – a fitting piece to close the 2-hour show. It held everyone spell-bound. How we wished they had the same vigor and energy just like in the good old days when they performed and sang loads of songs to the obvious satisfaction of the crowd.
Nevertheless, the concert showcased the old -fashioned yet marvelous vocal talents and style of the acclaimed duo as they sang their greatest hits and musical acts as former members of the celebrated 5th Dimension and as today’s solo performers. There’s no doubting that the charm of their music genre is loved by most Baby Boomers . It never fails to captivate and bring most if not all of these people to cloud nine – and caused especially me to burst into tears !
Aside from the superb performance by the duo, what struck us about them was their unwavering commitment to each other as husband and wife ; how they have maintained the marital bond over the years - an awe- inspiring achievement in the entertainment industry where longevity in marriage can be scarce and multitudes of marriages in our society end in divorce and separation.They have been married for 42 years and will be celebrating their wedding anniversary later this month. Here's a couple who acknowledges God as the center of their marriage and for them the music never ends.
The dazzling performance of the former 5th Dimension stars is worth every buck! Indeed, Marilyn and Billy were such a real musical marvel who deserved the crowd's BRAVOES and SALVOS !
