MANILA, Philippines?Mike Hanopol has grown a hermitic white beard to go with newfound spirituality. Wally Gonzalez resembles a regular guy with an easy-going lifestyle. Pepe Smith has remained irrepressible.

For the past several years, the trio collectively known as Pinoy rock?s first supergroup, the Juan de la Cruz Band, has had two reunion concerts and a few unannounced club gigs that revealed how they still enjoyed playing together.

On the second night (Saturday) of the ?Fiesta ng Musikang Filipino? concerts at the CCP, JDC?s music took on a grander, majestic feel with the 40-piece Manila Philharmonic Orchestra and the solid backup of bassist Dondi Ledesma, keyboardist Wowie Posadas and drummer Wendell Garcia.

The ?Fiesta? gigs marked the first time that the band?s original songs were heard with a symphonic touch.

The show kicked off with MPO playing a few numbers with Radioactive Sago Project and The Jerks.

The orchestra, conducted by Prof. Rodel Colmenar, also performed an exhilarating version of Bamboo?s ?Hallelujah.?

Befuddled

It befuddled us why the New York-born, Korean-Italian violinist Lucia Micarelli was given three spot numbers, in which she interspersed Antonio Molina?s ?Hatinggabi? with Bach?s ?Tocatta? and Led Zepellin?s ?Kashmir.?

Sure she was great, even mesmerizing as she bowed the strings like someone thoroughly possessed. But to play Bach and Led Zep?in a show called ?Fiesta ng Musikang Filipino?? Well, okay, it?s a fiesta anyway, and Micarelli was a guest.

Surprisingly as well, JDC opened with ?Laki Sa Layaw? which was of course the biggest hit of Hanopol?s solo career. It became apparent that the show would freely focus on each of the band member?s individual contributions to local contemporary music.

This allowed Gonzalez to play his classic instrumental ?Wally?s Blues??a staple listening fare in neighborhood drinking sessions, but which, now enhanced by the MPO?s string and rhythm sections, sounded like an epic fit to be heard and studied by conservatory schools.

Because Smith never had a solo hit, his spot number came on ?Titser?s Enemi.? It suited him fine, given his jester character that he played to the hilt all night, except that his vocals were noticeably hoarse. This condition, along with a problem with his damaged jaw from a past vehicular accident, kept Smith from giving his best.

Natural flair

Then again, people have always seen him?a survivor of the hippie culture?s decadent lifestyle?in a chemically-induced state. Whether real or imagined that night, the image, combined with a natural flair for street humor, allowed Smith to carry on and even provide the audience an absurdist kind of entertainment.

The best part of the show happened in ?Beep Beep? and ?Himig Natin,? with the orchestra pulling out the stops and demonstrating the beauty of refining the rawness of rock tunes. The latter, Smith?s stream-of-consciousness ode to despair which became a youth anthem in the ?70s, sounded like a lullaby and then became a political cry when The Jerks? Chickoy Pura joined in.