Sarah Geronimo from the 20th-anniversary concert from Viva Live official Facebook

Few Pinoy music acts can fill up a big-sized venue like the Araneta Coliseum. Even fewer can run a show on a shortlist made up mostly of catalogs built up over decades. Sarah Geronimo is one of those that can claim to enjoy both. This much she proved last Friday at the “Sarah Geronimo, The 20^th Anniversary Concert.”

And what a freakin’ opening! Maybe it was experienced on SG’s part, but she certainly blew the top off Araneta during her intro. The build-up was more akin to a rock concert than a pop show, as a dude on electric guitar vamps on what was unmistakably an extended intro to “Dati Dati.” The opening is a statement in itself: Here’s Geronimo, twenty years on, kicking off her anniversary concert with one of her new tunes.  And of course, the first time taking the stage is always the best part, and here SG built excitement—showing up on the big screens first, but off somewhere else (at the venue hallway, obviously) SG eventually made her way into the venue—the coliseum audience had a jolt seeing SG as she weaved her way through the crowd and sang her way to the stage and her first song.

Image by Punch Liwanag

Clearly, feeding off the energy of that big-sized room, SG segues into a couple of fan-fave songs that include “Misteryo,” and “Ikot Ikot.” After which SG uttered her first spiel of the evening with a welcoming “Happy 20 years!..whoo!” And after, immediately kicked off to another number.

Throughout, Sarah G expectedly paraded her greatest hits (so far) alongside the string of singles that she has been releasing of late.

Performing “Cuore” in sync with her dance crew (Upeepz and Vpeepz and The ATeam) then followed by an updated version of her early aught hit “Sa Iyo.”

SG put the effort in not just dishing the hits but presented it a bit differently. Like on the world music-flavored rendering of “Tala,” and during her acoustic-piano set with Louie Ocampo accompanying her on songs such as “Paano Ba Ang Magmahal,” and her hit cover of “Maybe This Time,” “Fallin’” and “Very Special Love.”

Image by Punch Liwanag

And as far as the new songs, it certainly sat well with the familiar ones. Besides the obvious catalog retrospective nature of the show, the concert also reflected SG’s still-changing sonic tastes. From her fan-approved brand of pop ballads, R&B, electronic, dance, and singer-songwriter type of songs that she’s been picking all these years as it reflected her mood-for-the-moment. Among those that stood out was her bluesy turn on “Duyan.”  And recent singles “Alam” and “My Mind” brought recent collaborations with John Roa and Billy Crawford respectively. Elsewhere, Jason Dy, Jeremy G, Kyle Echiverri and Sam Concepción were on hand for a Silk Sonic-inspired cover set.

Sarah Geronimo and Matteo Guidicellin (Viva Live Facebook)

SG’s show was a chance to acknowledge those that influenced her journey. Bringing out the songwriters that brought her some of her biggest hits that include Thyro Alfaro and Yumi Lacsamana (“Kilometro” , “Ikot Ikot”) and Nica Del Rosario (“Tala”) and all sang on a tune. SG also gave props to “mentor and friend” Regine Velasquez before singing a tune with Louie Ocampo on piano.

Image by Punch Liwanag

Clocking in at three hours, the concert had a bit of everything: pakilig moments with husband Matteo Guidicelli singing “The Gift''; emotional turns with SG giving tribute to her family and Daddy Delfin; playful as SG poked ‘di na virgin’ puns (as ate Reg puts it). SG co-director Paolo Valenciano made sure to keep things interesting throughout with video montages, lighting drama, and interpretative dance, to a set design that occasionally spewed flames and made sure that the show ended on a high.

And end on a high it did.