Concert at the Park presents Turtle Club Band

This Sunday, October 29, 2006, starting at 5:00 o’clock in the afternoon, Concert at the Park presents Jojo Belen (vocals, guitar), Mansel Manongsong (bass guitar), Efren Veslino (rhythm guitar), Zeus Masilungan (lead guitar) and Jonah de Veyra (drums), collectively known as The Turtle Club Band from Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro. Venue is the Rizal Park Open-Air Auditorium, Manila. Hosting this public service project of the National Parks Development Committee, under Executive Director Carlito A. Fajardo, is Ms. Minett Padilla.

The Turtle Club was formed in February of this year by Jojo Belen (vocals/guitar), his cousin Jonah de Veyra (drums) and their childhood friend Manzel Manongsong (bass guitar). The three are all homegrown Puerto Galera back-up musicians, with the famous White Beach as their performance venue. From their collaboration, several original songs were created, which “showed a lot of promise”. They were – “San ka pa?” (funky groove depicting the party life of the average “Juan”; “Usad Pagon” (a reggae beat that aims to awaken a sense of purpose among ourselves and hopefully, for those people who would listen to it); and “Umaasa” (a song about hopeless love). With the addition of another friend and former bandmate from their back-up days, Efren Veslino (bass guitar), The Turtle Club began earning a name in and around Puerto Galera, with the Coco Aroma Restobar as their regular joint every week-end of the summer months and gaining a mixed following of local youth, tourists and retired foreigners who have settled in the famous beach – all captivated by the smooth mixture of samba, reggae and funk.

From playing ‘covers’, the band moved to creating a new type of sound which they could call their own type of music. They dished out their originals, namely “Am I Dreaming”, “Only for Today”, “Tonight”, “Abutin ang Langit”, one after another at breakneck pace to the delight of their young followers. Their reputation grew which earned them to play with some of the top musicians in the country. This attracted lead guitar Zeus Masilungan to join the band, contributing his energetic presence to the band’s style, which opened a lot of opportunities to play at different bars in Manila. Zeus Masilungan, incidentally, is also with the 18th Issue Band, the 2003 Red Horse MusicLaban grand champion.

At present, the Turtle Club is in the final stage in the recording of their first self-titled album, containing their own kind of songs which are greatly influenced by bands and singers like Lenny Kravitz, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jimi Hendrix, Jack Johnson, Ben Harper, The Doors, Bob Marley and the Wailers and the Police. Aiming to touch lives and uplift the spirit, the band hopes that people who will listen to their music will be able to see their music as a genre on its own, “one that is born by the beach, nurtured by nature and delivered by the wind”.

For their concert on Sunday, the band has prepared the following programme: PARA SAN PA? (Tutle Club Band), USAD PAGONG (Turthel Club Band), FROZEN IN TIME (Turtle Club Band), TONIGHT (Turtle Club Band), BEEP BEEP (Juan de la Cruz Band), AM I DREAMIN? (Tutle Club Band), PROBINSYANA (Arr: Turtle Club Band), BALONG MALALIM (Juan de la Cruz Band), THE HANDS (Turtle Club Band), SAN KA PUPUNTA? (Turtle Club Band) and ABUTIN ANG LANGIT (Turtle Club Band).

For details, visit http://www.nationalparks.ph/catp_sched.htm

*All skeds may be subject to change without prior notice