Bamboleo at The Forum

It’s like I’m back at my old school discos: surrounded by very attractive women and people who are much better at dancing than me. But rather than retreating to the stacks of chairs at the back of the hall and staring at the floor, I’m actually enjoying myself and am free from being so painfully self-conscious.

One of Cuba’s finest bands is on stage and is tearing up The Forum with a rambunctious mixture of the island’s music. To try and pin Bamboleo down to an exact style is pointless. On one hand, Cuba is home to a variety of styles and mixtures of many different influences. On the other hand, you’re wasting valuable dancing time.

Bamboleo are just one of the bands making up the Picante! festival of Latin music in London this summer. They are billed as Cuba’s most popular salsa group and the reason for their acclaim is not hard to understand. The band is packed with a tight percussion section featuring batá drums and guiros. Up front are the singers who not only are as incendiary as the band but also show the audience the way in which to bend and move to the music.

Yet despite the presence of the band and the exotic nature of the music, the event is a curiously British affair. There are people attempting to salsa whilst trying to hold on to a pint of lager. Standing in front of me throughout most of the evening is a man that you would hardly expect to see at an event like this. He is a grey-haired elderly gentleman with an Open University backpack swaying backwards and forward as he cannot help but bob away to the music in his own idiosyncratic fashion. Yet the place is filled up with people like him, none of whom fit the stereotype of Latin music lovers but who have come to have themselves a good time.

Long after the live music has finished, a lot of the crowd continue on whilst some of London’s top Cuban DJs Javier De La Rosa, Dr Jim and DJ Rich continue the mix of salsa, timba and reggaeton. Even off the dance floor, pockets of dancing emerge with impromptu displays of the tango and salsa all around me.

The performance is just one of many that are happening in the capital this summer with a range of different styles of Latin music. But which ever one you might go to, you can be assured of a pulsating rhythm and general flamboyance. Even if you do run the risk of knocking someone’s pint over.

HMV Forum
9-17 Highgate Road
NW5 1JY

www.comono.co.uk

Image by Alejandro Gortazar