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Local musical extravaganza at the park
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Posted on Jan 31 2000
The grand opening celebration of the newest radio station on Saipan — 101.1 KCNM — brought together hundreds of local residents to the American Memorial Park where they had a peep of what the new FM band has to offer.
Local residents stayed from 12noon to 6:00pm for the six-hour concert that showcased performances by various local bands and music artists, some of whom arrived on Saipan from the neighboring island of Guam.
The crowd danced and sang with the performing artists, practically chasing the Saturday afternoon heat away with a warm reception of what could be a radio station they now can call their own.
The concert at the American Memorial Park opened the doors for 101.1 KCNM’s Music of the Pacific, the sister radio station of 103.9 KZMI and 1080 KCNM-AM.
The station plays music from throughout the Pacific Region. Its following has grown so big since transmitter testing began in late November.
Station general manager Joe Tighe has said the Northern Marianas deserves a radio station which will play its own kind of music, and those its residents have grown and lived with.
“So much of the music played on radio is based on stateside demographics rather than serving the community. We intend to make 101.1 a reflection of the CNMI and its people,” Mr. Tighe said.
The free concert, the first local musical extravaganza to have drawn such a big crowd, featured performances by the Oloomway Band, JJ Concepcion and Para Y Isla Band with Joe Castro, Ben Lam Lam San Nicolas, Kelvin Duenas and Mike Sablan, Kevin Atalig, KC DeLeon Guerrero and the Midlife Crisis Band, Jess Castro, Barry Toves,
Little Richie Manglona, Emilio Ayuyu, Roman Tudela, Julian Hofschneider and Gerard DeLeon Guerrero. (Aldwin R. Fajardo)
