AMP Big Band Swings Online

Photo: Kuya Mel's FB Page

How are singers, performers, and actors dealing with the pandemic and empty movie houses and concert halls? We thought Our Brew should publicize their virtual gigs, tell people where to catch and watch them.

Before the pandemic shut down Metro Manila’s jumping night life, the AMP Big Band were the undisputed rulers of Monday night swing.

That’s right. While the hoi polloi whooped it up Fridays and Saturdays, regulars at AMP’s Monday gigs at Balete at Kamias, a venue for all things jazz tucked in a corner of Quezon City’s Kamias district, preferred to unwind on the first day of the week simply because they could.

With Metro Manila in varying stages of lockdown since last year and the future of live gigs uncertain, Mel Villena, AMP’s bandmaster and chief provocateur, has been sharing videos from choice performances on his Facebook page.

Here are a few of them.

Villena has also tied up with Mitch Valdez for Mel and Mitch Online, which features select musical guests. He also appears on GMA 7’s Centerstage.