As the Covid-19 pandemic situation has become manageable, ABS-CBN International and TFC Events return to live shows in March 2022. It proved to be auspicious as both the Los Angeles and San Francisco legs of Revelation: The Concert Tour in the U.S. were well-attended. Stellar Filipino artists Dingdong Avanzado, his wife Jessa Zaragoza, and their daughter Jayda wowed the audience who did not only miss the energy of live performances but who are also homesick from not being able to come back to the Philippines.
The Avanzado Family in Los Angeles
The Alex Theater was chockfull of fans from various parts of California, some coming as far as Arizona. It was clear that the audience has been looking forward to in-person events after staying home these past two years because of the pandemic. Annabel De Leon of Rancho Cucamonga happily declared, “Finally we had the chance to get together and connect.”
Avanzado assured the crowd that their only job that night was to have fun, and fun was had as the concertgoers were treated to an array of songs that took them down memory lane.
Dingdong is the original Prince of Filipino Pop while his wife Jessa is touted as the Phenomenal Diva of the Philippines. They had the audience singing along to their hearts’ content and dancing to the songs that were nostalgic, fun, and familiar.
Their daughter, Jayda Avanzado, was also a revelation herself, proving she was an artist of substance as she sang songs from her official debut album. She also accompanied herself by playing the keyboard and then the guitar, showing proficiency in her craft.
Developing and perfecting her artistry has always been Jayda’s mantra. She explains that for her, the highest form of compliment is when people recognize her artistry, “which is something I really work hard at, and I am really proud of.”
Pearl Sarabia of Fontana announced that they had so much fun. “We’ve seen Dingdong before but this one is different because it’s the whole family. It’s a great show!”
Meanwhile, Fely Pasamba of Los Angeles gushed that she loved the concert “because I love to dance, and we love Jessa and Dingdong and their daughter.”
Another LA resident, Ed Rame, shared that “you can feel the inspiration that wrapped the entire theater that truly brought so much joy.” He added that, “It’s a well-conceptualized concert, executed well, and performed excellently.”
Annabel of Rancho Cucamonga also emphasized how the show was refreshing. “It’s a good reminder that God is always faithful, and they brought that message loud and clear tonight,” she adds.
It was indeed a night of fun and many amazing revelations.
In Northern California
The energy was unmistakable, and one could feel the enthusiasm from start to finish of the almost three-hour Revelation Concert of the Avanzado family.
The walls of the 93-year-old historic Fox Theatre could hardly contain the euphoria as the audience sang along and swayed to the songs belted out by Avanzado and Zaragoza. They performed their original sweet and tender love songs and ballads from the movies and drama series to the resounding medleys of hits from Bon Jovi and Filipino rock icon, Sampaguita.
Jayda was quite the revelation as the multi-talented daughter of her celebrity parents. She held her own as she danced, played the keyboards, strummed her guitar, and sang some of her original compositions.
Arlene Renelo was raving at how lively the concert was. She adds that “ Dingdong and Jessa – they did a great job entertaining everybody.”
Bay Area born and raised Reya Paulos happily admits, “It’s my first OPM concert ever and there was just so many entertaining parts. I loved seeing Jayda and ‘Bakit Pa’ was one of the songs I wanted to see, and I got to see it live.”
Edgar Prado and his wife Gem Prado had so much fun. One of their favorite parts was the original songs of Dingdong. Edgar admires Avanzado, saying “He’s very good. All his songs, I know. The couple is very good.”
Kimberly Dado summarized the event when she said, “It’s like we’re singing in a karaoke room with all our friends. It was a blast!”
The Digital Response
Many from the audience held their cellphones high, recording the moment to be relished and shared with friends, while they sang along and danced to the familiar tunes.
ABS-CBN Managing Director for North and Latin America Jun Del Rosario acknowledges that “a concert where the crowd is engaged and having fun is a good concert.” He adds that “It was fun to see the performers and the audience having such a good interaction.”
During the second half of the concert, Avanzado shared how they had scheduled this concert for 2020, but due to COVID, plans took a back seat as the world stood still. And he declares that “The greatest revelation to me as a believer is that God is in control and this concert is a testament to that.” He continues to say that “Thanks to His faithfulness, we are here today in front of you doing what we love to do.”
Fox Theatre General Manager Ernie Schmidt was moved by the concert. At the end of the show, Schmidt went backstage to congratulate the family. He told Avanzado that “you got me dancing to your songs.” He adds, “I truly appreciated the testimony of your beliefs and I hope to invite you back so we can hear more.”
It was good to see the community gather in-person to enjoy live entertainment after many face-to-face gatherings were shut down due to the pandemic.
Del Rosario explains that for TFC to remain true to its mission of serving the Filipinos outside of the motherland, “we need to start investing in things that would somehow bring our community together again. We understand that people are also just starting to get used to going out and socializing again but we are hopeful that by slowly doing these gatherings we can bring big events back to North America, as this is our way of contributing to making our community whole again.”
Sobrang nakakamiss naman talaga manood ng concert..Sana tuloy tuloy na talaga pagbalik sa dati ang Panahon❤️