The Happenings - What Can I Say About Them?

I'll sum it up in 1 word: "FANTASTIC"

Who would think that after 4 decades they'd even sound better than they did in the 60's.

Lead singer and band leader Bob Miranda is fit as a fiddle. He jumps, stomps, kicks and cavorts onstage like a teenager. His voice -- pristine and in great shape supported by the glorious vocal harmonies of Bob Kulik and George Rizzi.

Bob who was a revelation to me had a thousand voices. One moment sounding uncannily like Neil Diamond, then next moment like Frankie Valli.

George Rizzi, the musical arranger/vocalist played guitar licks that would put any level 1 guitar player to shame.

What started as an experiment turned out to be a wonderful experience!

Dennis Tufano (Original xBuckinghams' Lead Singer), Marty Grebb (former Buckinghams and Chicago) and Bruce Conte (Original Tower of Power) rehearsed for just 3 sessions and turned up a wonderful performance of The Buckinghams and Chicago hits at the Aliw Theatre for 2 nights (Oct17&18). The legendary Trio backed up by very talented Filipino band members rocked the theater and garnered ooohs and aahhs from the dominantly adult crowd.

Their set opened with "Kind of a Drag", followed by a jazzed up version of "Why Don't You Love Me". Next was "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" where Dennis was joined on vocals by Marty Grebb. "I'll Be Back" a Beatles classic, Dennis mixed up the lyrics but nobody complained, considering that this was his first time to perform it in 3 decades plus.

Bruce Conte had the spotlight when he performed a soul stirring guitar solo on Santana's Europa.

Marty sang a bluesy Ray Charles' song, followed by Chicago's "Make Me Smile". The crowd raved how close he sounded to the original. Marty later intimated to me that he could sound uncannily like Terry Kath (the Chicago member who sang "Make Me Smile" died by an accidental gunshot to the head) but he started in showbiz with a quartet call The Exceptions that included Peter Cetera who later on became a member of Chicago.


Bruce performed a soul stirring version of "You're Still A Young Man" which he knows by heart because he was a Tower of Power original.

"Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" was the song Dennis and Marty shared vocal spotlight followed by Buckinghams classics "Hey Baby" and "Susan". Thundering applause greeted the first few notes of "Don't You Care" and the set closed with The Chicago classic "Beginnings".