Time to party with the Blocks

It all started with their common love for music.

All Jose Reambonanza and Angelo Dela Cerna wanted was to release their passion for good music when they got together and jammed, playing their favorite songs at the family residence in the southern Philippine province of Cagayan de Oro, which was then equipped with a complete set of instruments.

Encouraged by the emergence of alternative rock bands in the mainstream music industry in the Philippines, Mr. Reambonanza and Mr. Dela Cerna formed their own group of six and started playing at school programs in Cagayan de Oro City in the late 1980s.

The band witnessed some members come and go until the more determined individuals stayed that include band leader and keyboard player Mr. Reambonanza, lead guitarist Mr. Dela Cerna, Levi Anibersaryo who plays the bass guitar, and drummer Jimmy Palmos.

As it has always been the case in both alternative and mainstream bands the group has been replacing lead vocals one after the other, from the time it was established as no more than just a local group of young music enthusiasts up until it opened its wings for more opportunities.

Called the Blocks, they joined two competitions in the country, which was participated in by some of the equally-talented musical groups, from where they went home victorious.

There was no stopping the Blocks since then.
After the group’s creation in 1988, the Blocks started traveling around the Philippines and eventually expanded their horizons through regular gigs at popular night hangouts in major Asian countries that include Myanmar, Malaysia and Indonesia.

The group’s versatile style on stage and explosive performance brought them to Hyatt Regency Saipan’s Gilligan’s in 1998 when the band did a front act for a two-night concert by popular Philippine actor Aga Muhlach.

Having been in the music scene for over five years, the Blocks never failed to pack the venue from the time they first performed at the Gilligan’s up until their first three-month contract two years ago expired showcasing its world-class performances.

When the band returned to Saipan in 1999, a new female vocalist — Shiela — was introduced. Her powerful voice brought out the sexiness in her, complemented by the grooves of lead male vocals, Shucks.

The kind of Filipino hospitality they have so diligently shown their Saipan audience brought members of the Blocks closer to the local party animals, which saw Gilligan’s jam-packed each night of the group’s five-month gig.

Just when it was about to return to Saipan for its third comeback in three years, the group lost two talented vocals earlier this year who both made a decision to leave the band and put their respective personal lives on top of their priority.

Then enter Mary Anne Malayaw, who squeezed through long queues for a series of audition.
Ms. Malayaw practically sang her lungs out in front of other band members before they finally decided she has everything it takes to help carry on the kind of performance the Blocks has been known for.

Ms. Malayaw is also a veteran of Philippine bands, having been a part of a group of Filipino music enthusiasts performing at several jam-packed venues in Phuket, Thailand.

The Blocks had to travel back to Cagayan de Oro to find out the qualities of a male vocalist which members failed to see in several other male singers who signed up for auditions in the Philippine capital of Manila.

At 22, John Dayday provides the lacking element of youthfulness in the group, bringing more life to each performance, virtually taking awed women, old and young alike, from their seats to the dance floor.

But the Blocks is not stopping there. Band members vowed to satisfy their love for music by giving Saipan’s discriminating party-goers the kind of songs they come to Gilligan’s for.

The Blocks delighted Gilligan’s crowd with songs from as far back as the 1960’s and 1970’s to as contemporary as those of the Backstreet Boys, Shania Twain, Britney Spears, and Santana.

The group has been performing professionally for the past eight years. The Blocks’ live performances have filled up venues at various five-star hotels in both in the Philippines and major countries in Asia.