Noong isang buwan ay ginanap sa Araneta Coliseum ang New Ground concert ni Kitchie Nadal. Ito ang kauna-unahang pagkakataon na naranasan ng singer-songwriter na magkaroon ng solo concert sa isang napakalaking venue. “Wow! It was spectacular. It turned out na sobrang saya pala niya. No’ng proposal pa lang, ‘Can I really do it? Araneta ‘yon,’ parang ayoko. Nakaka-intimidate kapag sinabing Araneta. When I was there, everybody was happy and relaxed. Over the years, after 20 years, I feel na, with me and my band mas tight kami as a band. Nerve-wrecking siya pero I was really happy that I did it,” nakangiting pahayag sa amin ni Kitchie sa Fast Talk with Boy Abunda.
Nagpakasal si Kitchie at Spanish journalist na si Carlo Lopez noong 2015 sa Pilipinas. Nagsimulang manirahan sa Spain ang singer-songwriter mula nang magkaroon ng anak noong 2017. Para kay Kitchie ay masayang karanasan ang mamuhay sa Madrid kasama ang sariling pamilya.
“He’s very supportive. Okay ‘yung taste niya sa music. He loves music. He loves going to concert. Kaya siguro kami nagkatuluyan dahil pareho kaming comfortable, like we really trust each other. We got married, we had a baby then we decided to move to Spain na. I’m really happy kasi iba ang lifestyle doon eh. Talagang I was able to focus on my family, hands-on with the kids. Ang dami kong natutunan do’n, house chores, lahat. I really love how to focus on them,” kwento niya.
Kapag wala sa Pilipinas ay nakakapagtanghal pa rin si Kitchie sa iba’t ibang panig ng mundo. “Siyempre nami-miss ko. I do shows but siyempre not as much as I used to do here sa Philippines. Siyempre do’n parang selective na ako. Before coming here to Philippines nag-show pa ako sa Canada, sa Malta. Meron naman kasi there are lots of Filipino community all over the world. Mas maliit siya, for me fun nga siya. Parang mas intimate, feeling ko ang meaningful ng dating. Parang you get to unite the Filipinos there,” paliwanag ng singer-songwriter.
Malaki ang pasasalamat ni Kitchie dahil kahit ang mga kabataan ngayon ay nakikilala siya at alam ang kanyang mga napasikat na kanta.
“Wow! Siyempre nata-touch ako. Parang, ‘Bakit alam n’yo ‘yung mga songs ko?’ Then nagugulat ako sa mga gigs na, they really show up. They approach me and they tell me, ‘You know my mom introduced me to your music.’ I really loved it,” masayang pagbabahagi ng OPM rock icon.
Posibleng manatiling muli sa Pilipinas ang singer-songwriter upang ipagpatuloy ang kanyang karera.
“Anything is possible. We’re open to anything. I was just happy to be living there and then nagkaroon lang ng opportunities eh. I don’t know how it happened, basta nagkaroon lang ng demand to come back here and do concerts, and I said yes. Kaya ayoko ring magsalita nang tapos kasi parang, ‘yun nga eh, ‘yung concert, I didn’t even think about that. Never in my wildest dream that it’ll happen in my 20th year or 21st year,” pagtatapos ni Kitchie. — Reports from JCC