Tuesday, January 14, 2014

No Borders Tonight: 25 Years of Reggae with Los Cafres





This past September 27th, hundreds of reggae enthusiasts from both sides of the border, including myself came together to celebrate a night dedicated to the 25 year anniversary of one of the biggest Argentinian reggae bands of all time: Los Cafres.
 
After several forgotten items and heavy traffic I arrived at the most visited city in the world and my hometown, Tijuana. This beautiful city has recently been growing and gaining back its popularity as a hangout spot for the young and old on either side of that dreaded fence.  “La Revu” is back to being the iconic strip which most of us grew up hearing fantastic stories about.
 
Even though doors opened at 6:00 PM, when I arrived about an hour or so later, the line to enter circled the block but moved quickly despite its length. The locale wasn’t empty and the people were arriving in slow batches at a steady pace; but I was hoping for more-- then again, it was barely 7:30 PM.
 
Klandestino kicked off the party approximately at 7:40 PM and played a set which was about 25 minutes long. Army Roots and one of my favorites from last night Araiz Da Vida brought the roots to El Foro. Other local bands like Jah Es Uno, Don Shak, and Jammin Green Shop also made their appearance last friday night. But definitely one of the most outstanding bands was San Diego’s own Piracy Conspiracy whom besides bringing the sick grooves to our ears also delighted our vision with vocalist Mel’s admirable show woman skills and guest Tlalok MC.
 
This last band’s set lasted approximately 50 minutes and they left the stage at 11:30 PM or so. By now the concert hall was practically at its full capacity, the crowd anxious to see the headlining band. Los Cafres drumset was unveiled and every single piece of this musical puzzle was slowly being put together by the roadies.
 
Unfortunately for my back and feet, midnight came and no band. The bordertown public was beginning to get rowdy and chanting the classic  “*uleeeeeeros! *uleeeeeeros!” The minutes dragged on and the anticipation was growing more with each one that passed. Twenty minutes later the musicians walk onto the stage and begin with the intro.
 

 
 
 
El Foro had officially transformed into a melting pot where fans from Tijuana, San Diego, Rosarito, Ensenada, LA and all surrounding regions had suddenly become one. No borders here, suddenly the almost six hour wait was totally worth it.
 
Five minutes later, Guille walks on stage wearing a crimson Xolos Jersey, khaki slacks, a cap and his signature smile to the tune of Caprichos and continued with the slow death of Flaca Huella. “How beautiful it is to see Tijuana once again!” he exclaims wide-eyed admiring each and every one of the individuals that came together to be part of this once in a lifetime event.
The gang continued performing songs from their 12th and newest album, El Paso Gigante like: Dale!, and with Mientras Tanto, the atmosphere mellowed down while everyone grooved in unison. The romanticism advanced with the beautiful lyrics of  Imposible, El Angel, Kaos and Una Perla en mi vida,  just to name a few.
 
The show was definitely not going end without “rolas” from the other 11 albums like Flor del Portrero, Hace Falta,  and Tus Ojos.
However, it was the classics like: No Puedo Sacarte de Mi Mente, Aire, and Sinsemilla that lit up the the night and moved everyone to sing, jump, dance and just go crazy with the Argentinians. By now there were girls climbing onto the stage determined to hug the vocalist. By the way, they all succeeded and one even managed to steal a kiss from him. The guys jammed to a few more songs before playing Sinsemilla one more time and abandoning the stage at 1:32 AM.
 
The fans were not ready to let them go and began chanting for an encore while stomping on and pounding on whatever they could to get them to return. Sure enough, five minutes later they came back on stage with Secreto Mio, also from their last production. After this song, a representative of the promotion house hosting the event went on stage to present the band with certificate of recognition for these past 25 years of successes. Guille thanked everyone present and proudly showed off their award.

 
The countdown had begun and the hits started coming one after another, Momento, Dulce Muñequita, Casi que me Pierdo, and Si el Amor se Cae; all songs which have come and stayed with Los Cafres’ throughout this 25 year musical voyage. The night ended promptly at 2:00 AM with one of my top three favorite Cafres songs: La Receta because “el reggae es belleza y no monotonía.”
Although the band’s set consisted of a roughly hour and a half show, I can honestly say everyone left satisfied. The wait was worth every second, the fans all had a great time, no fighting no silly business just love, great music and good vibes. Frontman Guillermo took advantage of every opportunity he had to shake a fans hand and that huge smile which he had when he first set foot on the stage, never left his face.
 
Photographs courtesy of : WOR (World of Reggae)

 
Written by Lilly Lopez  @lilly_lopez_ (Twitter) @lilly_lopez25 (Instagram)


Ariticle originally published September 29, 2013 10:43 PM on Tijuana Eventos

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