America

It was by some twist of fate that our stay at the Waterfront Hotel coincided with the performance night of Amercia, one of our favorite folk-rock bands of the early seventies.  Apparently, the band, composed of Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell, is a big hit on the nostalgia circuit, and they informed the audience that they do some 140 shows every year!  This is their 3rd time around in the Philippines, and the concert hall at the Waterfront Hotel was jam-packed, with an estimated 5,000 people in attendance.  The front act was the Hawaiian group Kalapana, and because we got in a bit late, we only heard them perform their last song "The Hurt," which was one of their bigger hits.  After a brief intermission, America quickly came onstage and in quick succession, performed some of their big hits including "Ventura Highway," "Tin Man," "Don't Cross the River," "I Need You," "Daisy Jane," "You Can Do Magic," "Muskrat Love," "Sister-Golden Hair."  They even had "California Dreaming" in their repertoire, apparently in reference to several collaboration shows with the Mamas and the Papas.  The audience, including myself, couldn't help singing along and clapping to the beat. Of course, the finale was "A Horse with No Name" one of their biggest hits.  As they introduced the song, they told us that the most asked question of them is that if they every got to give the horse a name!  Yup, one nostalgic night, with plenty of memories in the background...