Kinky, La Santa Cecilia, Las Cafeteras - Silver Lake Jubilee - 5/26/12
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Timothy Norris Las Cafeteras
*Las Cafeteras on the Strict Rules of Son Jarocho Music
*Jubilee Preview: XBXRX Have Been Banned From Venues. So Many Times
Somewhere between $4.90 Singhas at Sompun Thai and the 4100 Bar's beer garden, the first day of this year's Silver Lake Jubilee flew by in flashes of neon face paint, bouncing conga lines and one bright, pink tutu. We have yet to recover.
Fidlar canceled, but XBXRX brought the manic insanity, donning matching outfits that looked like puffy dresses cut out from hot air balloons, and various members climbing the scaffolding and a traffic light. (For the finale, they brought out a guy in a gorilla suit and a guy dressed like Alf, to wrestle.)
Later we settled in to the sweet sounds of Las Cafeteras' teensy, twangy jarana guitars. As usual the son jarocho group -- who walk a sometimes-delicate line where old-time musical tradition meets hipster revolution -- took the stage with a bit more of a bang. "F#@k racism," band member Hector Flores' shirt read. He called to the crowd, "It's time to move, y'all. It's movement time!"
Timothy Norris La Santa Cecilia
Latin Grammy nominees La Santa Cecilia, who play a dancy, cumbia-funk-folk-rock fusion that's 100 percent L.A., have been touring far and wide recently. Just off the bus from San Francisco -- they had to shower at a friend's place and rush over for the show -- they sounded quite polished. "We're happy to spread our music outside of L.A.," smoky-voiced lead singer La Marisoul bellowed, "but oh, it's so good to be home!" As she swung her arms playfully, flipping her big pink tutu in circles, a conga line bounced around the crowd and it was time to stop taking notes and dance.
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