The band’s first show took place on Friday at the Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. The museum has a very nice auditorium although its sound system wasn’t designed for 10 piece amplified bands. Add to that the fact that the band showed up very late for the sound check and you have a recipe for audio difficulties. We never really had a sound check per se, so it was a bit difficult hearing things in the monitors during the show. However, the band turned on the energy and the crowd was with us from the beginning. Despite the audio troubles and lack of rehearsal, we played fairly well and the energy of the band combined with Koulsy’s stage presence turned it into a very successful show. I’m still struggling with the guitar amplification issue as I was told there would be an amp for me but there isn’t. So I’m plugging directly into the sound system which is never a good thing for electric guitar. Had I known, I would have brought my POD with its amp simulator and I would have had no problems. I’m struggling with the idea of buying an inexpensive processor to get through the tour but I hate to buy something I already own and pay the much higher Mexican prices to boot. Regardless of my personal sound issues, I think the band will knock people out on the tour!
Napoleon the pianist and his girlfriend invited me to a fandango last Saturday. A fandango is a kind of festival/party of Son Jarocha, the traditional music of Vera Cruz and the surrounding areas. It’s far and away my favorite genre of Mexican music and I got to hear some of the best because it was a pretty big fandango. I met a requintista, named Ramon Gutierrez Hernandez, that they tell me is the best in Mexico. He was a very nice guy and one heck of a musician. Check out a video of him playing:
I have decided I have to buy a requinto and learn to play it. I also met a young player named “El Negro” who, as it turns out, will be playing with us at our concert at the National Museum of Anthropology on the 7th. The fandango took place in the yard of an old convent. They had a tent set up where you could buy traditional food and drink from the regions where Son Jarocho was developed. I ate some tasty enchiladas and flautas and drank a beverage called “el torito” that kicked my ass something fierce. There is another instrument used in Son Jarocho called the jarana which is a chordal instrument and much simpler than the requinto. I was able to watch someone play a tune and learned it quickly. Someone loaned me a jarana and I was able to sit in on the jam session which makes up the second half of the festival. It starts out like a concert with proper groups doing sets on the stage and after the closing act (in this case Son de Madera, the band of Ramon Gutierrez Hernandez) all hell breaks loose and there are 50 musicians playing and 20 people dancing and hundreds more just listening and hanging out. I was really bummed that I didn’t bring my camera because it would have made for some great photos for this blog. I’ll try not to make that mistake again.
