Orishas Llego

If you read this blog then you probably know that I've made a few posts about one of my favorite musical groups, Orishas. Well they were in town during the last few days, first to perform at the Billboard Latin Music Awards and then a concert at La Covacha. I attended both events.

Since I work in Spanish language advertising I was able to obtain a pair of tickets to the Billboard awards which were held at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, FL. The show was pretty good and Orishas performed their song "Naci Orishas" in the first hour or so of the show. After Shakira performed, my wife and I decided to go to the casino to eat and gamble a little. When the show ended we went to the Telemundo after-party which was also held at the Hard Rock complex (think Pleasure Island and Downtown Disney, that's kind of what it's like with different clubs and stores and so forth). It was a great party. I was hoping to catch a glimpse of Orishas and was disappointed that I didn't.

As we were leaving the after-party, I see the glow of a TV camera's light. One of the Telemundo hosts was interviewing Orishas, right there on the street. I yelled "Orishas Llego," which in addition to the obvious is the title of one of their songs.

They happily acknowledged me. Remember, the audience at the show went largely to see Shakira and the other more well known artists and while Orishas is very popular in Europe they haven't really cracked the US market. They were probably happy that someone recognized them. After their interview was over I asked if they'd mind taking a picture.

They were very gracious. My wife, Ana Ivette, is 5 feet 10 inches tall and was wearing 3 inch heels. I'm 6' 2". So, together, we are pretty tall couple. One of Orishas said "with you two being so tall your kids are going to be giants."

Last night was the concert at La Covacha. The doors opened at 10PM and if I have one complaint it's that the show didn't start until 1:30 in the morning. But when they got going it was really an excellent show.

There was really no mention of politics except that between two songs they asked for 5 seconds of silence in memory of all those who had died in attempting to reach the States across the straights of Florida. One thing that stayed with me was that it seemed that they were really happy to be so well received in Miami. They hadn't performed here in several years when they played at a small nightclub on South Beach. At one point of them said "You didn't come here to see us, we came here to see you." Now that might be a line they use everywhere but at the end of the show, Roldan the singer said "we promise we won't stay away, we'll be back soon."
I wore my Miami Mafia T-shirt under my shirt and halfway through the concert I took it off and began waving it like a banner. I don't think the band saw it but the people around me cheered. One guy came over with his video camera and wanted to get a shot of me with the shirt. Towards the end of the show I was able to get a little closer to the stage and I attempted to throw the shirt on stage just to see what they would do. But it landed between the stage and the barriers that keep people back about 3 feet from the stage. When the show ended, I retreived it and gave it to one of the girls I noticed was part of the entourage. I told her it was a gift for Roldan from Orishas. She took the shirt and was still hanging on to it when I saw her about half an hour later through a window where one can see the artists and their entourage partying in a private room. So I think he'll at least get to see it.

Anyway the music was great. I'd say there were 2000-3000 people there. Here's a short 7-second clip of the show. The sound is obviously inferior because I shot this clip with a digital camera not a vide camera. But it gives you an idea what the atmosphere was like.