Ruben Blades

[Pacion]

Ruben Blades is going to be performing with the Spanish Harlem Orchestra (SHO) here in London towards the end of July.

Apparently he has worked with Oscar Hernandez before SHO and it seems that this performance is the first and last time they will be performing together since. Ruben is "returning to politcs in Panama".

Hmmm, 7.30pm (on a Monday!!! :shock: ) start, so it looks like I will have to tell my boss :nope: I will be seeing you on Tuesday morning, from about 5.30, so that I can leave the office by 6.30 :( :lol:

I know, I know. Not all concerts can be on a Friday or Saturday night but, it would be nice :oops: :lol:

[borikensalsero]

Pacion, you are in for a treat. Last night I got a call that the spanish orq was going to have their 2nd Album release party at Flamingos.

I rushed out of work, went home did my thing, got in the car and flew into NY City. When I got there the band was already playing but Ruben hadn't sang yet. A couple of songs later, he comes up, and starts singing. WOW, the band was hot, he was great. Even Jimmy Bosh got a chance to do a trombone solo on the last set. They were wonderful, bought the CD as well, and I like it a lot more than their first!

To top it off there was a show, where Miss Universe/miss Puerto Rico from a few years back was in the dance show as well. Way hot, it is supposed to be on broadway sometime in september.

To treat it us all, Frankie Martinez was asked to come up and do a little something, something on stage. He did a few things and seemed very shy about it, but was still hot.

Then, Griselle Ponce and Frankie busted out to a fast fast Orquesta broadway song/descarga, and where joined by Ismael Otero and another girl, Boy it was fantastik.

The night turned out beautiful. Ruben, SHO, and Jimmy Bosh make a great team! I had so much fun!!!

[peachexploration]

Boy, are you guys lucky! :D Hopefully, will get salsa vibes like that sent our way this summer. :)

[borikensalsero]

I got SHO latest CD, I must say that I like it way most bestets then their frist. It is slower, more flavor, it has a rather "funny" bonus track by Ruben...

I like it, I really like it. What I like about it? I don't know, I just like it. I got it Monday night at flamingo's. Did I say I like it already? well, I did.

[peachexploration]

I like it, I really like it. What I like about it? I don't know, I just like it. I got it Monday night at flamingo's. Did I say I like it already? well, I did.
:lol: :lol:

I ordered mine. It's on its way. After your review, I can hardly wait. :D Please hurry Mr. Postman!!! :banana:

[Tasek]

Nice review boriken, just one question now?

Did you like it???? you weren't entirely clear on that ;)

[Pacion]

Then, Griselle Ponce and Frankie busted out to a fast fast Orquesta broadway song/descarga, and where joined by Ismael Otero and another girl, Boy it was fantastik.

The night turned out beautiful. Ruben, SHO, and Jimmy Bosh make a great team! I had so much fun!!!

Ehem. It couldn't have been all that great as I wasn't there :roll: :roll: :twisted: :lol:

Sounds like it was a tremendous evening. Yes, I would have loved to have been there but :tongue: but hey, one day, one day :wink:

Their performance here should be interesting as it will be held at the same venue where Africando performed and the ushers/security guys were telling us that dancing was not allowed :shock: :lol: Boy did we show them :twisted:

[salsaholic]

I'm still waiting for my SHO CD to arrive but the amazon site tells me it's probably dispatching tomorrow - so i cant wait!

The tracks I've heard so far are excellent


Graeme

[borikensalsero]

Nice review boriken, just one question now?

Did you like it???? you weren't entirely clear on that ;)


crapola!! My bad! I forgot to mention that, yeap, I did like it! Never will happen again.

[borikensalsero]

Then, Griselle Ponce and Frankie busted out to a fast fast Orquesta broadway song/descarga, and where joined by Ismael Otero and another girl, Boy it was fantastik.

The night turned out beautiful. Ruben, SHO, and Jimmy Bosh make a great team! I had so much fun!!!

Ehem. It couldn't have been all that great as I wasn't there :roll: :roll: :twisted: :lol:

Sounds like it was a tremendous evening. Yes, I would have loved to have been there but :tongue: but hey, one day, one day :wink:

Their performance here should be interesting as it will be held at the same venue where Africando performed and the ushers/security guys were telling us that dancing was not allowed :shock: :lol: Boy did we show them :twisted:

You know, as I was standing there looking at Ruben Blades sing and thinking of the history this man has in salsa, I began to question why the room felt like it was missing something, not until you mentioned it, did I know what it was. PACION was absent! Imagine had you been there, what a memory, one to record in history most certainly!

[Pacion]

rotflmbo

Such a charmer! :lol:

[peachexploration]

Boriken, oh my stars!!! Forget the green socks. That is the absolute SEXIEST PICTURE that I have ever seen. (She says while laughing histerically and gasping for breath.) :wink:




Oh please! Make it stop! Too Funny! :lol:

[borikensalsero]

Boriken, oh my stars!!! Forget the green socks. That is the absolute SEXIEST PICTURE that I have ever seen. (She says while laughing histerically and gasping for breath.) :wink:




Oh please! Make it stop! Too Funny! :lol:

I gots the body to go with the rest... :ladiesma: what can I say, God has gifted my presence on this earth with unmeasurable good looks.

[squirrel]

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I also looooooooooove the new avatar, boriken...

it's soooooooooo ... you! :wink: :wink: :wink: :wink:

[Pacion]

The concert came and went :cry: it was great on some counts and not so hot on others :roll:

The not so hot first. Many, many, many people sat and behaved as if it was a classical concert for most of the evening :roll: There were some people who I recognised who could/did dance but they didn't get up tonight. I don't believe it was a sudden attack of shyness :roll: :?

The great. One wow! Jimmy Bosch was not there but Ray de la Paz (that guy could sing me to sleep ANYTIME), Oscar Hernandez (he could play the piano whilst Ray de la Paz is singing :lol: ) and a couple of other people who I recognised from the concert last year.

The brilliant. Ruben Blades! He moved across the stage, he danced, he shock hands, he danced some more. Oh, and he sang, and sang, and sang! His whole body sang with him. There was a funny moment, when he took out a digital camera and started taking photos of the crowd :shock: :lol: As one of the finale songs, he sang Pedro Navaja I believe it was. It was amazing! It started off really slow and in english with a couple of the musicians accompanying him on the congas and another instrument. Then Oscar Hernandez came back on stage, started accompanying him on the piano then, another musician or two joined it. The tempo gradually speeded up and oh it was fantastic! I am not sure if there will be any more performances before he reenters Panamanian politics but oh wow, I would vote for him just on his voice and stage presence A....Lone!

The funny. There were some people at the front of the stage for "crowd control". One girl still managed to get on stage and the guys had to quickly jump on to carry her off :lol: One guy kept trying to keep the crowd (who were very orderly) away from the stage, including when they wanted to give Ruben Blades a cuban flag to wave on stage :roll: When the audience closest to the stage tried to touch hands with him, these guys were trying to stop it. So, what did Ruben Blades do? :lol: Touch hands with these same guys! :lol:

It was an excellent concert, apart from not many dancing until towards the end of the concert. Maybe because of the prices of the tickets (which were a bit on the high side), there were still quite a few empty seats and they reduced ticket prices by 20% if booked on line. :? Still, for the people who where there, (about 80% full?) they sure made up for the missing 20% with the noise and clapping :lol:

[Vin]

I definitely agree with you Boriken, Ruben adds something really special to the mix with SHO. I really likled the first one, but the second album spoke to me.

[borikensalsero]

indeed vin, the second album has something the first didn't... Hmmm wonder what it is... :D

[SalseraLaura]

ok since were on the subject of SHO...i just thought id share one of my greatest salsa moments with everyone reading this...please dont take this as me being conceited..this is just how it happened.

i went to see SHO in dublin, ruben blades was not with them, but omg the music was just electric..there was a good crowd of salsa dancers there although there were alot of ppl just watching at the back. i was dancing all night, the music was just inside me :D then i danced towards the end of the night they played "la banda" and i was on fire i mostly freestyled with the guy i was dancing with...a lot of shines!!!! :) then i noticed the singing had stopped abruptly, i looked up and they were all just looking down at me dancing i was like :o then i thought nah they cant be looking at me, so i just kept dancing, then frankie vasquez was like "you go girl".

that was the last song of the night, after the concert i was talking to some dancers that i knew about the concert and the band came out. frankie said to me that my dancing was amazing and it touched him to see his culture being embraced by someone in ireland. some other comments i got from other members of the band were..."wow where did you learn to dance like that?" and "i was wathing you from the stage dancing, i really enjoyed it"

so theres my little story, i was walking on a cloud for days afterwards....the concert was amazing though, seriously never pass up a chance to go see them play.