My sister and I fell in love Saturday night at the Getty, with the same charismatic, hot man - Julio Briceño, the lead singer from Los Amigos Invisibles. Truth be told, I love all the crazy band members from that magical Venezuelan band. I've been a big fan since a good friend of mine from Ecuador turned me on to them back in 2000, when we were roommates and sophomores in college. There was many a time when my friend would be on her laptop in our dorm room, smoking a cigarette and typing out a term paper, as Los Amigos blasted from her computer speakers. That year I would download "Sexy" and "Disco Anal" through Napster, and then buy Arepa 3000. I tripped out when I heard this group go from disco to house and even to merengue and salsa with ease, all the while giving me the impression that they were having a great time playing their crazy music.
The energy at Saturday's show was amazing. The show started with some wonderful music courtesy of some polished DJs, and then Forro in the Dark came on stage. I hadn't seen them before, and I was pretty happy with their playing. They definitely got the energy up and had me dancing with their mix of forro, baiao (if I'm not mistaken) and a little cumbia.
Los Amigos Invisibles is one of the best groups I have ever seen live. It's not just because their music is awesome and fun, but also because they are wonderful performers. They love playing together, and it shows in their performances. They're all passionate musicians, and up for doing crazy stuff like covering Greek songs for no particular reason but having a dope time and wanting the audience to share in their love of music.
The only other time I had seen Los Amigos Invisibles live was last February for my birthday, at the House of Blues in Downtown Disney. The show was amazing. The crowd... not so much. Pretty shitty, in fact. Not everyone, of course, but enough to leave a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. See, being a Latino in LA means several things. There are lots of Latinos here, if you haven't noticed. This can be good, and this can be bad. Good, because the Latino community as a whole is bad-ass and wonderfully diverse. Bad, because there are some unfortunate segments of the Latino community who don't realize that Latinos are diverse. Especially, I'm sorry to say, in good ol' Los Angeles. In New York Latinos come from all over Latin America, and you can see it. In LA, where the majority of Latinos come originally from Mexico and Central America, it's a bit harder to see the variety. There are people out there who, despite the fact that my parents are from the Dominican Republic, cannot wrap their minds around the idea that I'm a Latina. They see the big curly hair, the African features, and see solely a black or mixed woman, not a Latina. So, when I was with my sister at the Los Amigos concert back in February, we were getting some of the crappy "what's your kind doing here" vibe and/or having the White Latinas look at us like they were better. When I was studying in NYC, that shit just would not happen. Yeah, racism is in every part of Latin America and continues to exist among Latinos in the States, but in NYC I felt more accepted. In LA, where I've lived all my life and should feel more at home, the bullshit does not end. It lessens as I get older, and I care less as the years pass, but it can still get frustrating.
Saturday's crowd, though, was great. Yes, the shitty, catty Latinas were there giving me funky looks while they flipped their black hair over their bony shoulders, but they were outnumbered by the Latinas and Latinos who smiled at me and my sister and shared with us the same goal: to get down and have a great time, because, who really wants to waste their time being stupid when you can dance to some sweet music and watch some world-class performances? I don't know about you but certainly not me, that's for sure.
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