Being in Colombia during any of the "puente" (3 day) weekends or during "dias festivos" (the holidays) is a real treat. I was reminded of how relaxing an evening stroll through the Florida neighborhood can be with vendors sweeping up/dancing to the overwhelmingly positive melodies of Vallenato, the official music of Colombia after Salsa.
Hailing from the Caribbean coastal region, Vallenato originated from troubadours wandering the countryside with flutes, guacharaca, caja and accordion. The singing is always very emotional and sometimes the singer goes out of tune intentionally to show how emotionally invested he is in the song. Vallenato contains four beats or "airs" that affect a song's ryhtym: son, paseo, merengue, and puya.
One can find many vallenato troubadours walking around the Estadio neighborhood of Medellín, looking to be hired out by folks in the nearby outdoor bars or sometimes just looking for a shot of guaro and a jam session with their fellow trovadores.
Rx Bandits have always been one of my favorite bands to see live. Coming out of the short-lived 3rd wave ska movement with heavyweights such as Reel Big Fish and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, one would have expected them to suffer a similar fate once the music world decided it didn't want to hear ska anymore.
Instead of folding, Rx Bandits worked to develop a more progressive sound, while maintaining the brass hardware (trombone, sax, trumpet) indicative to the ska genre. The horn-inspired prog rock was fantastic to see live, with the music lifting the crowd off their feet to dance, clap and sing along to the music. I made a point of seeing RxB every time they came to Los Angeles. Unfortunately, I think the horn players weren't happy with the direction the band was going because every year I saw them, they seemed to have one less horn player.
I saw them in Seattle at El Corazon, which is a dive reminiscent of OC's Chain Reaction. The crowd was good, but pretty young and not that up on all their old numbers. The oddest thing was that at this show, they had forgone their last horn player, leaving the guitar players to play out the melodic horn lines. Not the best RxB show I've seen but a proper sendoff for a band that had been one of my favorites to see live over the last 5 years.
Here's a great vid of them doing a little cultural diplomacy in Venezuela:
It seems that everywhere I've gone this week, I've encountered elderly men singing. It's not uncommon in Medellín for older men to spontaneously break into song. Whether it be a janitor humming along to an old vallenato number or a father strolling along in the park singing to his daughter, these older Paisas seem capable of tapping into the numerous latin ballads floating in the air and broadcasting them to the those around them, if only for a few seconds.
It's commonplace for many of these same older men to be seen with one headphone on their ear, the other dangling around their neck. I had always assumed that like the men who wear these at sporting events, these Colombians were tuning in to keep in touch with the gambling line. This myth was refuted today when I was talking to a friend's father who suddenly interrupted the dialogue with a whimsical: "y los ojos siempre mostran la verdadero amor" to which he nodded in my direction, expecting me to recognize this classic love song. It seems that these older Colombians through electronic apparatus or reminiscing to their glory days keep their spirits high by singing classic melodies throughout the day. For the uninformed observer, this is a fascinating experience that will continue to make me smile whenever I hear it.
For my first Broadway show, I made a point to check out FELA! The musical about the life of Fela Anikulapo Kuti, a pioneer of Afrobeat music and activist who brought the suffering and injustice of 1970's Nigeria to mainstream media. Already nominated for 11 Tony Awards, I knew this musical had to be good based on Fela's compelling life story and spectacular music of his group, which got the audience moving about in their seats the whole show. If you want some good rump-shakin' politically charged funk (think James Brown meets-Hugh Masekela and Public Enemy), check out some of his singles, such as Army Arrangement.
Still feeling a bit out of place in the LA metropolis, I figured I'd accelerate my immersion back into US culture by attending one of the biggest music festivals in the country. I'd to Coachella way back in 2003 when you could buy individual tickets to each day but a lot had changed since then, mainly the sellout crowd of 70,000+ per day which meant herding music fans through long gates and lines.
The heat and traffic kept many potential fans at the numerous day/pool parties going on during the day, though on average, our group showed up around 5pm to enjoy the music for each day that lasted til 1 or 2 in the morning. I was exposed to a lot of new music I'd missed by spending the last 9 months out of the country and can honestly say that the quality of the performances was the best of any music festival I've ever been to. Coachella is quickly becoming the must-see music event of the year in the US and I'm hoping to be able to come back as often as I can.
Some highlights:
-With mostly indie and electronic names heading up the festival, Jay-Z had the most to prove and delivered by incorporating a live band and putting on one of the best stylistic performances I've ever seen. Much to my chagrin, Jay-Z did not hop on a NY-bound helicopter directly after performing and stuck around to support some of the lesser-known indie bands. Here's Mr. Carter doing one of my faves, check out the killer set design:
-Thom Yorke paying homage to the electronic nature of the festival, playing some music that Radiohead would never play, really upbeat and dancy.
-Jack White jumping around to every single instrument for the Dead Weather.
-2Many DJs putting together a hilariously creative audio portion to accompany their hard and heavy mash up of eletro and dance music.
-MGMT kind of sucking but bringing the crowd together with their singles
-Discovering amazing new acts like Miike Snow (who stole the show on Sunday for me), The XX and Passion Pit.
-Biggest letdowns for me were Gorillaz, Infected Mushroom and Orbital who just couldn't really contend with the caliber of the other acts sharing the stage.
-seeing Them Crooked Vultures with John Paul Jones (of Zep fame) on bass and Dave Grohl, who is a MONSTER on drums. They were the first act I caught on Friday and to see a band having that much fun on stage is something so entertaining and nostalgic for me:
As much as I may complain about how El Poblado is the most gringo touristy area in Medellín, I still usually find my way there at some point for the weekend. I still prefer staying in the Calasanz neighborhood. Poblado's fiesta's is only a 15 minute Metro away and you can actually get away from it out here if you favor seeing the sights. A friend took me to "Galeria de la Fama," a kitchy little bar that plays Colombian classics from the 60's 70's and 80s. The scene is more like karaoke sing along as these canciones del amor are played on big screens. It's called "musica para planchar," or "music to iron your clothes to" and brings hordes of girls downing aguardiente belting out heartbreaking lyrics to songs such as this:
Most of the songs have a Grease-meets-Bollywood vibe and while fun initially, after an hour of soppy love songs, I was ready to leave. I had the fortune of meeting a friendly Paisa who invited me to accompany her and her friends to Santa Fe de Antioquia. Leaning towards spontaneity (which I always do), they picked me up the next afternoon and we headed out. Santa Fe is an old Colonial town that gets a fair amount of day tourists coming from Medellín. We stayed at the very friendly Sweet Home Hostel there, whose Colombian owners were the perfect guides for exploring the area. After a delicious asado of steak, yucca and arepas, we ended up at a good ol' fashioned Paisa cockfight. Much more established than the last cockfight I saw in Indonesia, the roosters here fight in a wooden arena with about 100 or so spectators drinking, gambling, and squabbling. The fights themselves are pretty vicious, after one rooster is wounded enough, the victor climbs atop the vanquished and pecks out their eyes!
More than anything, I was surprised (but not really) to have the smell of BBQ sauce wafting through the bleachers, no doubt to baptize the vanquished on their way to rooster heaven. The cockfighting place also had a dance floor, which we took over with a lively troupe. It's difficult to explain the awesomeness that transpired sans photos but I can tell you that it was glorious: I learned to dance the Merengue, we did the limbo, staged a mock bullfight, and our waiter could breakdance (and took the opportunity to show us his mad skillz). I attribute all of this to the owners of the hostel and the wonderful Paisas that were staying there with us. Special shout out to my 3 new Paisa amigas who were kind enough to invite me and even lend me money after having difficulties with the ATMs there. Their type of hospitality is unparalleled, and serves to keep me here for some time longer.
Yesterday was the birthday (129th) of the City of La Plata, which meant only one thing: TONS of music and celebration in Plaza Moreno. This is the second all-day fiesta I've seen in two months here, the other being the first day of spring.
The sweet smoke of chorizo wafting through the crowd as they sip on their fernet y colas and maté; there is something distinctly carefree and Argentine about blowing off a whole day of work just to hang in the plaza. I checked out a couple pop/rock groups who weren't really that catchy before returning later at night for the fireworks. When I came back, the night vibe had changed, as well as the crowd. There were some folk-type bands playing tributes to some of the greats like Mercedes Sosa and Victor Jara. These didn't mix well with Metalero Oscar, who was quick to label them as "yanqui hippy music." Still trying to figure out the difference between "Folk" and "Folklorica," but I'll get back to you on that...
"Freaking Yanqui Metal!" My Colombian friend Oscar yelled, "you love this stuff!" While I couldn't condone the current travesty of a "metal" band we were viewing, in truth, it was probably closer to the melodic type of stuff I do listen to.
My friend Ihintza had brought us to the North end for a metal show that goes down every couple of months. The venue was cozy and reminded me of venues I'd played during my punk rock days. The first band took the stage and was a mix of "hardcore, metal and prog." The singer couldn't sing but had an amazing penchant for the dramatic. Halfway through a song, he throws down the mike and runs off stage. The music continues to crescendo to its most epic moment, when suddenly, he appears ABOVE the crowd in the rafters, screaming down (sans microphone) onto the audience. It was a cool moment. Though the band's songwriting abilities were questionable, their stage presence was great. They won me over when the singer started a song by stomping in the middle of the crowd, who soon followed suit until the whole venue was shaking.
The second band continued some of the stage antics by having the singer jump and mosh into the crowd during their set. But they were all over the place with their songs. The guitar player, who was wearing a Misfits shirt announced "Les gustan los Misfits??" before launching into a cover of "Saturday Knight," the Misfits WORST song and Danzig's obnoxious crooner ballad. To make matters worse, this was one of two covers the band played, the second being a Limp Bizket-type version of Britney's "Hit me baby one more time" with screaming on the Choruses.
The third band was decidedly most metal on a night that didn't really have any metal but by then (3 AM), everybody had already left the venue. Ihintza and Oscar were not the only ones disappointed. About a dozen other goths and metaleros congregated in the lounge during the screamo/hardcore bands, drinking beer and complaining about the lack of "brutality." Regardless, we had a fun time and on the walk home, I even got a train to toot its horn for metal by throwing up the horns of "rawk". All in all great night, as any night with live music usually is.
“The railroad sharpened the umbilical destiny of Buenos Aires: progressively and irredeemably it made it into a head severed from the body. The iron ways were a dream of the metropolis, and they stretched out its predatory tentacles across the pampa.”
-Ezequiel Martinez Estrada “X Ray of the Pampa” 1933
While the Argentinean train system may have been at its peak during the 30's, privatization and poor management resulted in the miles of unused track and ghost stations that can be found across the country. There are tons of abandoned stations here in La Plata, which are in the process of being converted into cooperatives or craft stores.
The "Galpón de Tolosa" (Tolosa Train Shed) is a perfect example of the La Plata community taking things into their own hands. Abdandoned for decades, it has been a year and a half since students and neighbors have converted the old train shed into a community center hosting everything from gardening to yoga classes.
Walking towards the center Sat. night, I could see several bonfires burning around the center; the scent of youth and anarchy was in the air. We huddled around a bonfire sipping on wine before going on a tour of the center's "self-sustained" vegetable garden. I was honestly impressed with the center itself, though repainted, it still maintained a very bohemian vibe. Cheap cover and cheap drinks weren't too shabby either. The first band we was sort of a bluesy/indie type group (John Spencer Blues Explosion with better harmonies) which I dug. The second band ended up driving most of my entourage outside, as it was bad indie noise rock (anything where I can't make out the melody is rubbish!).
As we were leaving, I saw spray painted on a wall: "Galpón de Tolosa, La Plata, Argentina, Planeta Tierra" which seemed fitting for our exit, as well as the title of this post.
Tonight, while in the hunt for live music, I stumbled upon this folklore Peña. I was familiar with Peñas from my time in Peru, where most of the "legit" flute and folkorica bands would play. My friend Ali and I peered in the window and upon seeing 6 of our friends rocking out to some 4 part harmonies, we had to go in.
The first group was traditional Argentine folklorica: flutes, lots of drums, guitars and even a xylophone-type instrument. The experience was enhanced by my friends Ihintza and Narua, who broke out their songbook and launched into some folklorica from their Basque homeland. The second group looked like a family project, complete with the weird wacky uncle on bass. They were sloppy to start, but ended up rallying behind their super talented frontman who could play pan pipes, flute, guitar and every other indigenous instrument he could get his hands on.
One of my frequent criticisms of bands are the ones that try to cover too many genres within one set, which was exactly what happened here. We had Peruvian flute ballads, Mapuche Andean sonatas, Guaraní galaguetzas, you name it. The venue Salamanca had a great vibe however, very cozy; reminded me of a Native American longhouse, will definitely return before my time here is up.
