La Bomba de Tiempo - DANCE, Sucka

Wow - last night was amazing. I had heard about La Bomba de Tiempo even before I got into Buenos Aires, so I knew it was all about drumming and dancing - right up my alley. A girl I've become friendly with at the hostel, named Norche, and I decided to walk over from the hostel. It's about an hour walk, but all flat and not too hard. Norche is from Amsterdam, and she just graduated college and is now taking time to travel in South America. Nice girl - good vibes. We get to the venue, Ciudad Cultural Konex, about a half hour before the performance is set to begin - 7pm. I took some pics which you can see below, but it's a very cool space. Very industrial. Very open. There are about 50 people there when we get there, and most are just hanging around the outside or grabbing drinks at the inside bar. I grab a fernet and cola, which is the drink of Argentina, and we wait for a bit near the bar. The crowd is a big mix of locals and tourists, and everyone is very upbeat and excited about the show. The atmosphere is electric for sure. I meet a girl from San Francisco who is here on a yoga retreat. I speak with some other randoms. Eventually we make our way into the actual music area of the complex, which is a big warehouse space. We see a couple standing front and center against the railing, and we decided to join them. The guy just finished college at University of Alabama, and his girlfriend is living in Santiago, Chile. They are also totally positive and great to be next to for the show, so I'm getting excited. The stage is filled with about 20 drums of all different shapes and sizes, and the band comes out after about 15 minutes. The crowd pours in behind us and the drummers take their positions. Drummers from all different walks of life - some old, some young, some latino, some white, some black. Each drummer has a red sleeveless shirt on with matching red pants. Everyone has their first name written on the front of their shirts and their back names on the back - classic. Definitely a team atmosphere. One of the drummers is standing in front of all the others and facing them, and he raises a drum stick as if it's an orchestra baton. He starts the drummers off slowly and then builds them into a crazy beat with sounds coming from all over the place. My favorite are two drummer to the far left who are playing congas with very thin sticks. The sound is insanely loud and quick, and it reminds me of some middle eastern music I've heard before. When these two drummers on the congas get going in a syncopated rhythm, it could motivate any army to war. Of course I'm dancing my ass off at this point - front and center. I took a bunch of pics and video and posted the below. Hope you enjoy! My favorite part of the show is that the conductor always changes, so each player then turns into a conductor - very cool. After a few rotations a guy comes out with a mini-guitar and plugs in and starts ripping it!! He plays a great melody that then the drummers match, and then the crowd starts whistling along to it as well. Dancing, whistling, laughing, and having a great time. I couldn't have asked for much more. At one point I look behind me and there's a huge mosh pit of about 25 people. It's not like the typical US mosh-pit, which is much more violent, but they are jumping around and bumping into each other pretty good. I'm glad that I'm against the front railing and not back in the mix. I like my space. So we dance and have a blast for about three hours, and then comes the encore - one of the drummers on trumpet and the guitarist back in the mix. Wow - this was phenomenal. I was in a band in SF with just drums and trumpet, and it brings back great memories of that time. We dance our final dance and then make our way back out to the open area of the complex, where we run into two other girls from the hostel (who I had told about the show). They are just as excited, sweaty, and happy as we are, and it's fun to share in the moment with them. We all grab the subway home and then I showered up and hit dinner at Las Cabras (again!), this time with the two British girls who were also at the show that night. Fun dinner - low key. This time I had the chicken, which was fantastic as well, and then I head back to pass out.

All in all a fantastic day and event. These drummers play every Monday and I'm sorry I didn't make the last few Monday's I was here. Oh well - I sure made up for it last night, cause I was a dancing fool. It's raining again today (Tuesday), so I'm going to go to a museum in the park and then grab some paints and try to do a painting.