By Evelyn Posada
La Sopita Series — the monthly showcase of Colombia’s overflowing musical talent–kicked off its second showcase on Thursday night at PAX. La Sopita is the brainchild of Colombian artist, writer, and director Camila Alvarez, who after reconnecting with her roots in recent years, and discovering a lot of great musical talent, decided to create a bridge for them to reach a greater audience. Here in the Magic City audiences are embracing this new talent with open arms.
The night began easy with the melodic sounds of Peruvian-born Jorge Velasquez (from the local band Hunters of the Alps). While gently playing his guitar, he confessed: “Todas las canciones son “medio romanticonas” (All the songs are pretty romantic). It was an intimate and unpretentious set with melodies and lyrics from the heart.
Nacho Londoño (Colombian) of Eagle Chief (formerly Arboles Libres), hit the stage to play some of his solo songs. He began with “No Estás”, a melancholic, à la Bob Dylan tune with his harmonica and guitar. He also played some Eagle Chief songs like “C’mon”. Members of The Tremends joined him on stage to do a cover of Mexican singer/songwriter Agustin Lara’s “Aventurera”. Later in the set, Alejo Rozas of The Tremends joined Nacho on the drums and they rocked out an improvised jam. Nacho was also joined on stage by Ketchy Shuby’s Jason Hernandez, as he sang “Recuerdos” an angelic hymn that gave chills to the crowd.
The live music concluded when The Tremends. The Miami based trio got on stage and kicked off their set with their newest song–“Now We Know”, and followed with their old hits “Espana” and “Estoy Molesto”, two harder catchy grooves sung in Spanish. Then they went into “Uh Uh Uh Uh Uh”, from their new album “Right Time” (on iTunes), followed by a new favorite “Warm Beside You” a delightful beatlesque tune that was written by drummer Alejo Rozas. Leandro O’Brien (former MTV Latino VJ), remarked: “It’s [Warm Beside you] the song The Beatles let get away.” The show was concluded with the band switching instruments to play “Right Time” (Alejo playing bass and Alex, who is also Colombian, on drums). They were joined on stage by Jorge Velasquez on lead guitar.
Featured Colombian artist Miguel Navas (Savan), hit the decks to close the night. He began with a sip of Aguardiente (fire water) and followed with a minimalist EDM set. He had different layers of beats, sounds and instruments, and slowly added on the Colombian flavor with more Afro-latin beats and instrumentation. The music began moving everyone who was still alive. It was inevitable. Especially after he brought in some Cumbia rhythms with some female vocals. All who had legs were moving them, sipping their aguardiente. It was a perfect end to a wonderful evening. A beautiful vision by Camila Alvarez showing the rest of us that Colombians know how to rock it, they know how to party, and they know how to make it last all night.
