Went with Jonathan and Chris to Hiro Ballroom for the Mondo Music Festival last night, and saw some amazing bands!First off, it was Burkina Electric. This group comprises of three natives of Burkina Faso, one German, and I think one Austrian (I couldn't quite figure it out, because they kept joking about where they were from). The music itself is quite interesting, in that they mix traditional vocals, lyrics, and rhythms with electronic sounds, distortions, and equipment. The instruments include an electric guitar, a digitalized table of some sort that works as a sampler (i really wanted to get a closer look at this instrument, it was an intense piece of equipment!), drums, and a pair of "wands" that trigger different sounds and rhythms depending on their position relative to each other. Meanwhile, the singer, Mai Lingani, has a captivating voice, is beautiful, and can really move. She dances along with a couple of choreographers, although one of them was sick and did not perform last night. The dancing ranges from tame rhythmic bobbing back and forth to what could be best described as tribal interpretive dancing. There were a lot of quick, expressive motions involved in the dances, making for a theatrical presentation. And a lot of the basic steps reminded me a lot of samba and other Brazilian dances, which is just the dose of nostalgia I need in the midst of deadline, and right before my trip :P All in all, it was a great experience. I would recommend checking out their website, even though it's not extensive, if only just to hear the two songs they have on video there.
Next up was Zemog el Gallo Bueno. I don't have much to say about these guys. They annoyed me. I don't really like to trash talk people that are working hard to make a living, but damn, this was disappointing. It was Latin music, mostly the party salsa/merengue hybrid stuff that involves a lot of call and response and yelling. It was not very original, most of the beats seemed very very similar, and the singer was definitely not as good looking as in the first band. He was like a Puerto Rican version of the lead singer from Creed, and it seemed like he had the same self-adulation as that guy. Really not a good time; or maybe I'm being too bitter.
The next band, Jose Conde Y Ola Fresca, was also a latin music band, but they were quite a bit more talented. Their music had different beats and melodies, the singers had good voices, they knew how to engage the crowd, they knew how to do great solos (they even borrowed the best member from the previous band, the bassist, for the night); just a better band. Not to mention By this time Chris was good and buzzed, but he still would do nothing but bob his head (what is it with midwesterners and dancing?). Jonathan and I were starting to burn up the dance floor; it was only a matter of time before we started moving up to the front and bumping into everyone around us. All we needed was for the music to go up yet another notch.
And it did. Budos Band is absolutely fantastic! They're a bunch of guys from Staten Island who play AfroSoul music. The horns, oh the horns! Every single one of the 12 member carries his own weight, and the music really grips you and makes you move... ...I completely zoned in, and wasn't paying attention to anything but me and the music for a solid hour! Just feeling it, moving to every beat, to every toot of the horn... ...it probably looked like I was having a seizure to everyone else, but what the hell do i care? It was the first time in months I had this intense of a moment with the music, so I just rode it until they finished. The type of song didn't matter either; they had slow songs, ominous songs, happy songs, hyper songs... ...I was moving to it all. I would HIGHLY recommend picking up some of their music!
Budos Band- Budos Band IIMusical bliss.
