Wency CornejoFormer AfterImage lead singer Wency Cornejo did not go through midlife crisis as artist. “I don’t call it midlife crisis,” Wency said. “I think it should be called midlife rebirth.” Rattling off reasons for this, Wency talked about relocating to Davao eight years ago. “I said to myself at the time that music has to take a backseat,” he said. “I sort of described myself as semi-retired artist.” But he eventually returned to the scene “as I realized there are certain things I have not done yet.” “That’s why this year I joined Atlantis Production for a play,” he said. “After that, I also realized I have not written a song for another artist which became a hit. All my songs that are popular were sang or performed by myself. That’s another objective of mine in the next coming months or years.” This resolve makes him feel “new.” “I’m trying out things I never thought I would ever try in my life. There are many ideas running through my head right now,” he said. His participation in “The ’90s Live!” concert last year also triggered his newfound interest in live performance. “Being a part of the production team last year was quite a heavy thing for me. I was, for lack of a better word, a director supposedly, sort of a producer. It was difficult for me but I was really blessed to have a good team behind me.” The concert was such a big hit that Wency thought “we’ll have another instalment but with a different concept.” “The show itself, I was again very, very surprised. We didn’t expect people will come in hordes to watch us. By the end of the show, people were dancing and singing,” he said. On Nov. 17 at The Theatre at Solaire, “’90s Overload!” features the best-selling acts of that era namely Cooky Chua of Color It Red, Dodong Cruz of The Youth, Glenn Jacinto of Teeth, Jek Manuel of IAXE Band, Lei Bautista of Prettier Than Pink, Myra Ruaro of Put3ska, Naldy Padilla of Orient Pearl, Noel Palomo of Siakol, Paco Arespacochaga of Introvoys, Perf De Castro of Rivermaya, and Stephen Lu of Rizal Underground. “I realized that singers and musicians from our era are generous with their time and energies. Not one of them asked how much the TF (talent fee) would be. Their only question was, ‘Who are performing with us?’” Wency admitted the performers weren’t close with each other in the ’90s. “At that time, we don’t get to bond with each other. We’re in the same era but we were never really close. The only person I remember being close to is Paco Arespacochaga and Cooky Chua. They’ve been the closest artists to me ever since. “But now, it’s like we’ve newfound “old” friends. That’s how I feel about it. It’s a beautiful feeling.”