From the first song (an opening volley to heat up the atmosphere), it was clear that this band was something different. An hour and a half later the Les Arènes audience erupted in applause and a euphoric Eric Duffau shouted "La Révélation!, la Révélation!". Next year, Grupo Fantasma will be the headline act at the Tempo Latino festival. Last night, they came on before Choco Orta. What is the secret to so much success? According to Jose Galeano and Beto Martínez, it is all down to the emphasis the band puts on live music. "We like it when the audience dances. It's as simple as that", they explained a few hours before the concert. And that was undeniable. They put everything into it and their energy was immense. But there was something else, which only dawned on me during the fourth or fifth song, and then it all made sense: it was The Commitments doing salsa. They have the same fighting spirit as the characters in Alan Parker's film, but above all, they have that soul-brass-strings format that makes them unique, a wonderful counterpoint between the brass and string sections that gives their sound that Chicano rock and New York salsa feel, although it is actually Colombian cumbia that they are playing. The music style, oddly enough, is not that important. They have the ability to play what they want and you can be sure that they can play it well. For that, they need a very strong rhythm section that links to the other two: an exceptional drummer, Johnny López, and a remarkable kettle drummer, Galeano himself who had to stand in for two band members: Adrián Quesada, as bandleader and Matthew Holmes, as conga player (both have just become fathers). He was fantastic, but so was the rest of the band, especially when the nine members grabbed their microphones and told the audience with a conspiratorial wink: "sácatelo bailando, sácatelo gozando" (dance the stress away, and enjoy it".
Grupo Fantasma was followed by Choco Orta, the Santurce sonera that wants to follow in the footsteps of the great Graciela. Petite and vibrant, Orta did not stop pacing the stage while she was singing and also when she was not. She was restless, nervous, self-conscious, constantly encouraging herself. Her body trembled as she sang, and jumped as she improvised. She then played the congas and later the timbals, and she would have done the same with every instrument if she could have. She was accompanied by a group of musicians who remained true to her songs at all times, and featured two musical heavyweights: the veteran trumpeter Félix Vega Jr. (ex Justo Betancourt) and the very young singer Papote Jiménez (ex Pulpo Colón). Exceptionally good in the mambos, Choco Orta's band delighted the audience and that was exactly what she was trying to do with her pulsating style.
José Arteaga
