Polish your dancing shoes and get ready to boogie the night away with The Groove Band.
The seven members of this year-old Philippine cover band are in town to play their wide range of contemporary R&B and Latin pop hits until the end of March.
PHOTO COURTESY OF HARD ROCK CAFE
One of the three vocalists, Carol Torres, who is an energetic dancer on stage, describes the band's sound as "fast and dynamic, like a fully-charged battery."
PHOTO COURTESY OF HARD ROCK CAFE
The soft-spoken 23-year-old was previously a TV and theater scriptwriter in the Philippines. The Groove Band is her first professional band, but she says she's quickly engrossed herself in the music.
Torres says: "Good music is about delivering different genres to make yourself unique at different phases and bring out your identity."
The band used to play 1970s and 1980s hits like Dancing Queen by ABBA, or the Bee Gees' classics featured in Saturday Night Fever, but now the band is experimenting in techno and Latin pop tunes, such as Madonna's Music and Madison Avenue's Don't Call Me Baby.
Torres and the other two vocalists, Shieza Marie Buban and Joey Paras, were classmates at the University of Santo Juans in Manila. They went in different directions briefly after college but rejoined under the Groove Band.
Buban shares a similar view of the band as Torres. "Groove is fun, energy, power, colorful and alive," says Buban, who sings with a lush, rolling voice.
Buban began singing early and at the age of seven competed in a national singing competition. She won her first national contest at 12. Despite her extensive singing experience, Groove is her first band.
But The Groove Band is not just about bubbly pop tunes. They also try to infuse messages into their music. Buban says she tries to make her songs uplifting and positive. She cites her favorite dance song Shackles, for example, by the pop duo Mary Mary.
"The lines such as `Take the shackles off my feet' encourage people to break free from the pressures of life and to be strong."
She also likes the popular dance hit Don't Call Me Baby by the Australian act Madison Avenue. "The song is about women being independent and having their own identity, instead of being looked at as belonging to a man."
The band's only male vocalist, Joey Paras, however, sees Groove as a personal and self-affirming medium.
"It's a powerful feeling to know that you have the capability of doing something that you like. For us, it's all about singing and dancing well."
One of Paras' idols is Ricky Martin, and the resemblance to the Latin pop star is uncanny when Paras dances to the songs Cup of Life and Living la Vida.
"I research how [Ricky Martin] dances and sings to do my moves," says Joey, whose shake-your-bon-bon jiggle is stiff competition for Ricky Martin himself. Paras was previously a TV actor and host and was more into rock n' roll, but he says his current band has opened his horizons to new and fun styles.
"I have no complaint at all about traveling and performing," says Bong Borbe, who is the classic aloof bass player on stage with sunglasses and a slight goatee.
The band members are excited to have the opportunity to play in Taiwan and all say they they hope to get out and see Taipei as much as possible. But with performances every night until 2:30am, they barely make it out of bed in time before the next show.
Performance notes
What The Groove Band
When Until March 31, Mon - Sat. 9:30pm - 2:30am
Where Hard Rock Cafe, B1-1, 100, Tunhua N. Rd., Taipei (台北敦化北路100號B1-1); tel: 2712-2828 ext. 11.
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