Glam Week was sent off with a bang. Not just any kind of bang though, but rather the banging of feet from the zapateado (tap dancing) and Latin alternative sound that Las Cafeteras brought to the Light Hall stage on Thursday evening. The two hour plus show was full of energetic singing and dancing, advocating for important social issues, and remembering heritage all through the power of music.
Summer Osborn, who is a crowd favorite and well-known guest at WNMU, opened up for Las Cafeteras with a three-song set. She got the crowd going with her last song, “All the Lesbians,” which encourages crowd participation in screaming, “Hell yeah!” It always gets a good crowd reaction, and definitely never gets old.
The seven person band, Las Cafeteras, started their set with the song “Siquisiri,” and it certainly set the tone for the rest of their performance. The song was very upbeat, and had a lot of people already dancing in their seats. The music was infectious with Latin flair, and even if you didn’t understand the words, there was enough emotion from all four of the vocalists to get the idea. Dancing was encouraged all throughout, and on two separate occasions, there was a good sized crowd up in the front of the theater enjoying themselves getting lost in the music and the message.
The highlight of the evening was the zapateado that Hector Flores, Leah Rose Gallegos, and Denise Carlos performed to much excitement from the audience. They stomped around on two small and lifted up platforms, and it was like a new instrument added to their already extensive array of strings and percussion.
Las Cafeteras have been together since 2008, and their experience definitely showed at last night’s show. This band is truly the perfect blend of Latin and alternative music with Spanish lyrics, and they displayed it in two of their songs that were very strong lyrically, vocally, and instrumentally, which were “Ya Me Voy,” and “Playa.” It was an overall amazing concert experience, and if you can go out and catch them at any of their future shows, I would recommend it to go and see them. No matter your background, Las Cafeteras has something special and enjoyable to offer everyone.
The event was sponsored by Target, WNMU Office of Cultural Affairs, the Western Institute for Lifelong Learning, and the Center for Gender Equity as part of the second annual Glam Week at WNMU.
