I've just been hit by el ciclon. La charanga es un show, espectaculo, pelicula,
canyon (sorry
don't know where the accents are on this computer), whatever- it's a phenomenon.
I had
the wind knocked out of me by Mr. David Calzado.

I had low expectations for this show and I'm not sure why. Since SCSP I had
cooled my
feelings about them (like most of us). I had seen CH in Cuba only in 2004, and
I was left
lukewarm, probably due to the pelvic-heavy sugary boyband/screaming gyrating
maniac
chiquiticas. I was expecting this times 10 now that he's got his "dancing boys"
up there.
And yes, it was there- but it didn't matter! This is a tightly oiled machine.
Not a note out
of place, it was an explosion of sound.

Props to the chicos caramelos for putting on a show that feels like it's the
first time they're
doing it, fresh and exciting-these dudes deserve every penny David gives them.
They are
truly the hardest working boys in timba (I especially feel this way when I think
of Mandy
checking his watch multiple times in one song). And the instrumentalists, ni
hablar.
They're having a great time up there and the level of musicianship has not
wavered in that
area.

They played mostly off the new album, including Chico caramelo, el canyon,
Mentirosa, me
palpita, el expediente. I was ok with that actually, I had been trying to give
the new album
another go and I like it more than before but they didn't play my favorite, #2.
Otherwise,
all they played was SCSP which I have to admit brings me back to really good
times, Ay
amor (1.5 times) and encore with... Pa'que se entere La Habana!!!

The encore was where the special guests came in. Bamboleo was in Toronto on a
layover
en route to Japan, and de momento David calls Tania up. Her breasts come out- I
mean
she comes out on stage in all her glory and then pretty much dominated the mic
for 20
minutes, not singing, but just talking crap, and slowly bringing out all of
Bamboleo
onstage. They took over CH's instruments, and everybody was there grooving, and
she
proceeded to personally molest every one of CH's boys, one by one.

Oh, and the cintura, I almost forgot. I'm not even sure what song it happened,
because
the song went out the window when the mulatona got up there. Several then
followed, but
this one was special and she knew it. She had on a sparkly short skirt- like a
skating
skirt- and took center stage to show us all that she was only wearing a gstring.
She was
over 6 feet tall and made quite an impression. Her bare ass took over, meanwhile
to the
right one of the new boys was on his back with 2 girls on top of him- and like
that for a
while. But that was the only uninteresting part of the show! Yes, some of the
choreography is super campy, but not nearly as bad as I though it'd be.

Re: the new boys, they are what they are. The dude that dances in the Chico
caramelo
video is defined by his chest, poor boy. David really milks him. He did the
splits various
times, lots of acrobatics etc. The guy that stands stage right to Aned is
probably the
weakest singer (I can't remember what he sang now). But I feel weird about Aned
now.
He's still my shining star, but I feel like these new guys are pushing him into
the
background. Their muscles are way bigger, and Aned kind of looked skinny and
strung
out next to them. Even Leoni got way more screams than Aned- but hey, you can't
feel
too bad for the guy.

Major props to Sohpie. The venue was huge, and there were probably a couple of
thousand people there- and the sound was unbelievable. I was surprised at how
many
non-Cubans there were, either they have a bigger following than I though or
promotion
was very, very good. I was accompanied by the wonderful timbageek Michael
"Nunca
pescado, siempre tiburon" Craghead, who was also pleased by the show-- Michael,
what
did I forget?

Charanga Habanera obviously isn't what is used to be, but it's still on fire. I
thought I had
lost a little respect for them, but now I'm not so sure. Have fun in Montreal!!