This past weekend, Crown Center played host to over 20 different Latin bands, many of which were local. Here are five Kansas City bands of the Hispanic persuasion that got cuerpos moving and pies tapping.
The lead singer of this five-man Tejano band from "Chorizo Springs, Argentine," Steve Reyes gave lots of shout outs to the damas and gave the crowd easily danceable grooves once the sound board was set. La Mañana Band also performs as All Funked Up, a country-classic rock-jazz-R & B outfit. Heavy on the fiesta privada scene, the Mañana Band switches easily between Spanish lyrics and English on-stage banter.
Miguel "Mambo" de Leon y Orchestra
Miguel "Mambo" De Leon loves to remind the crowd to "baile, baile." This eight-man band attracted a sizeable audience with its salsa and cumbia sounds. With the front of the stage cleared for dancers, the orchestra's cover of the Police's "Every Breath You Take," was smooth and a crowd favorite. Miguel de Leon has been performing for over 27 years now, so his onstage presence is
completely professional, as is his long-winded onstage banter.
The self-described "New Wave Salsa" band has the KC mercado covered when it comes to Latin alternative rock. Less than a month away from their CD release show at Czar Bar, Making Movies spent the previous night performing in a MySpace Latino-endorsed show in Chicago. With dreadlocked hair and skinny pants, Enrique Chi leads a bass player, a drummer and two other auxiliary percussionists through fairly emo-tinged songs in both Spanish and English. The result? Bea-heavy, bilingual indie rock that is muy delicioso.
Pozeidos de la Sierra
This Norteño band was impossible to find on the internet. With eight musicians on stage (most behind their own synthesizer), Pozeidos de la Sierra played that accordion-heavy oompah music. A highlight of the show was their danceable cover of Richard Marx's "Right Here Waiting."
Pedro Chavira y Trio Rancheros
The Fiesta KC program read "Trio Rancheros," but I counted quatro rancheros on stage, all playing guitar. Pedro Chavira's operatic voice belted out traditional ranchera music on stage and off when he came down into the audience and sang to the mothers in the crowd.
Bonus!: Click on the delicious asada tacos for a slide show from Saturday night at the festival.
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