MANILA, Philippines—It’s 9 p.m. on a Sunday and a sizeable crowd of Westerners and Asians are gathered at Hard Rock Café in Glorietta, Makati.

At a corner table near the stage, the members of Zoo, the featured band, are chilling out before showtime. There’s no trace of anxiety or nervousness in this group of seasoned performers, veterans if you will, who play music for a living and probably won’t mind doing it all night, so long as there are people still watching.

Zoo is the band whose vocalist was Arnel Pineda, before he was offered the once-in-a-lifetime chance to be the new frontman of the rejuvenated American pop-rock group Journey.

Life goes on

With Arnel busy with Journey’s current world tour, life goes on for Zoo. It has a new vocalist, Reujen Lista, who’s not exactly a greenhorn in the live music scene. He has more than 10 years of experience fronting other bands, notably Advent Call during the period when Karl Roy first left it to pursue other directions.

“It’s still a rock ‘n’ roll life and we’re here for the girls,” Reujen says with a wink and a smile. He’s apparently joking, although it’s a typical musician’s statement that gains credence at the sight of a few tables nearby with women, by their lonesome, waiting for the music to start.

“Seriously,” Reujen continues, “there’s something new about Zoo aside from my joining the band. Ngayon, lahat ng miyembro kumakanta na. We’re still making adjustments although I believe we’re heading in the right direction. Arnel is a tough act to follow and definitely I’m not out to imitate him. The main difference with Zoo now is wala na yung mga high-pitched vocals na si Arnel lang talaga ang makakagawa.”

A few moments later the band starts playing.

The ‘plakado’ way

Right on the first song, a cover of Toto’s “I’ll Be Over You,” the new Zoo makes its presence felt. Drummer Neil Baruelo is singing lead vocals while Reujen backs him up in the chorus. Guitarist Monet Cajipe, the most senior member in the group, lets out flying solos straight out of the original record.

Zoo has no qualms playing songs the plakado way. The members earn their keep as a cover band and they enjoy what they’re doing. If this country is home to some of the best and the worst cover bands, there’s solid evidence that Zoo is high on the list among the most pleasing lot.

Keyboardist Edgar Mendoza takes his turn to sing in Crowded House’s “Don’t Dream It’s Over,” as Reujen shakes a tambourine. The mood gets warmer as more people come in, the scene resembling that of Olongapo or Ermita, with a number of sailor-type Caucasians watching intently while nursing their drinks.

After interpreting Spandau Ballet’s “Gold,” Reujen takes a request, dedicating the next number to a group of Australians in the audience. The song, Men At Work’s “Land Down Under,” transforms the atmosphere and suddenly the place is grooving on a reggae vibe. When the band switches to Norwegian new wave with A-ha’s “Take on Me,” Reujen prances like a mad athlete.

Slowing down with Hall & Oates’ “Every Time You Go Away,” Neil takes the mic again and impresses everyone with his confidence. Playing drums while singing is a mighty task and Neil does it with grace.

More retro-pop rock

More retro pop-rock is heard — Climax Blues Band’s “I Love You,” REO Speedwagon’s “I Can’t Fight This Feeling Anymore,” Bryan Adams’ “Summer of 69” and Billy Joel’s “You May Be Right,” all with Reujen on lead vocals as he danced like he owned the stage.

The first set ends as Zoo retreats to the band room for a breather. Monet takes a swig from his beer and looks happy. So there’s life after Arnel, we tease him. “Yes, and we have high hopes with Reujen around,” Monet says.

Everyone in the band likes what’s happening and acknowledges manager Bert de Leon’s efforts. He joins them in the band room and asks, “Does everybody have their passports? We might be doing an overseas gig soon.”

More beer is passed around, as talk gets animated.

The most outrageous compliment the band had, says bass player Emil Bondoc, happened sometime ago when two guys kept sending cash for every song request. We kept playing them, Neil recounts, until we noticed the money had piled up to P13,000.

There’s hardly any negative issue that has been raised by Zoo’s growing audience at Hard Rock, except the occasional comparison between Arnel and Reujen’s singing voice.

The second set reels off with three successive Eagles hits — the first of which is a request. “Love Will Keep Us Alive” soars with Monet’s slide guitar solo; “Hotel California” makes us rediscover its reggae bass tempo which Emil seems to have perfected; and “Life in the Fast Lane” becomes more interesting because Reujen playfully slips in the lyrics to Juan de la Cruz Band’s “Beep Beep.”

A surprise request for Air Supply rouses us from momentary disbelief. The band accedes, more gladly because the note says the guy would like to hear it so he can propose to his future wife.
Human jukebox
As Neil sings “Here I Am,” it becomes clear to us that Zoo is practically a human jukebox in which no song is too corny to play.

As the band runs through Tears For Fears’ “Everybody Wants To Rule the World,” Simple Minds’ “Don’t You Forget About Me,” Ram Jam’s “Black Betty” and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama” with almost note-for-note precision, the crowd looks like it had just feasted on a belly-busting aural buffet.

“We need time to write our own songs,” Reujen says. “Yun ang problema, kailangan magkulong sa kuwarto at yun lang ang gagawin.”

But the band has proven it’s capable of doing it, too, having recorded its debut CD “Zoology” (MCA) released September last year featuring Arnel and Monet taking turns in songwriting chores.