REtrosPECT is returning to the stage in Vancouver for a much anticipated comeback concert on March 11.
It has been 19 years since REtroSPECT formed in the Philippines, bringing its own vibe to the throwback music scene.
The high energy, retro performing band, however, hasn’t been the same since it lost a few of its core members.
Yet, the year 2016 was a comeback year for the group, taking a whirlwind tour around the globe with its “Retro World” tour.
The band just finished their tour in Manila and the U.S.
“We’re back together,” singer J. Martin Castro said. “But now, they came all the way from Italy, Canada and Manila. And I’m from here (Guam) now. It’s really like a Retro World reunion, literally and figuratively.”
Unlike regular retro bands, however, REtroSPECT brings a packaged performance where old school music fuses with modern music.
The band has plenty of danceable musical influences that range in generation, including Abba, Earth, Wind & Fire, the Culture Club and B-52s. The group still performs original and Tagalog music, and also fuses an electronic club beat to appeal to older and newer
“It’s like what we used to do, but we don’t just play retro music,” Goldie Castro, who came all the way from Canada, said. “We dress up for it. Me, personally, I love especially 70s era. I like the music, I like the fashion. I love the attitude. It’s very us. It’s not that we are impersonating or trying to be tribute artists, it’s us.”
The Castro siblings, Rogel “Ogie” Ramos and one other member back in the Philippines are founding members, and Cabarrios joined the group back in 1999. Some of the members have gone on to have their own solo careers, but the reunion tour is an opportunity to return back “home” to the band they love, they said.
“This is not an easy task to make us tour, to make this happen,” Goldie Castro said. “Em-J came from
Italy and I came from Canada, and you have to take on a huge thing to make it happen. But if you really long for something and you work for it, then you make it happen.”
In Vancouver, REtrosPECT will perform at the Columbia Theatre (530 Columbia Street in New Westminster) on March 11 for two shows. One is at 6 p.m., and the other is at 9 p.m.
Part of the proceeds at the Vancouver shows will go to ANCOP and Migrante BC.