7 HK-based Pinoy bands take part in Concert at the Park

MANILA, Philippines — Seven Hong Kong-based Filipino Bands helped rock the atmosphere at Hong Kong's 2008 Concert in the Park last November, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Friday night. An article posted on the DFA website (www.dfa.gov.ph) Friday night said each band's repertoire included acoustic Cuban music, rock, contemporary pop, alternative/club rock, jazz and reggae. The Philippine Consulate General in Hong Kong, together with the Hong Kong Leisure and Culture Services Department (LCSD) and the Hong Kong Musicians Union (HKMU), took part in the concert at the Hong Kong Cultural Center open-air Piazza last Nov. 9. Deputy Consul General Kira Azucena, LCSD Chief Manager Vivian Yeung and HKMU Chairman Jun Santiago opened the concert with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. With the theme "Making music with an international ftevor," the concert featured seven bands with Filipinos - The Los Sacramentos Acoustic Band, The Lost Boyz Band, Gaddi's Harmony Band, Adam's Eve Band, Buzz, Advent Call and The Dream Girls Band. The Concert in the Park series has been an annual activity of the Philippine Consulate General and the Hong Kong Government for the past 22 years. It has become the most abiding symbol of the long-standing friendship between the people of Hong Kong and the Philippines, the DFA said. "It is also a tribute to the Filipino musicians, who first began to settle in Hong Kong in the 1970s and were the first Filipinos in the city whose talent and presence positively influenced and enriched Hong Kong's cultural landscape," it added. Always well-attended, the Concert in the Park this year had a record 9,000-strong audience. Among the concert's sponsors were; Afreight (Asia Pacific) Ltd., Jollibee (HK) Ltd., Philippine Products Store, Barkadahan sa Smartone, Philippine National Bank, Cashsense, BALtrans Logistics and Toll, Good Evening Kabayan Media Group, Metrobank, Social Security System, Black Panther Consolidated Martial Arts, and the Pinoy Photographers' Club HK. - GMANews.TV