Babasónicos and La Santa Cecilia Perform at Central Park's SummerStage in NYC
Nothing beats enjoying a beautiful sunny Saturday afternoon in the park while watching your favorite Latin band give a free concert performance. That's how many fans of Babasónicos and La Santa Cecilia felt last weekend as they jammed to their favorite songs during Central Parks' SummerStage concert in New York City.
On Saturday, July 12, the Latin Alternative Music Conference (LAMC) ended its week-long festival with a bang. The conference, which The New York Times described as the "Sundance of Latin music," celebrated its 15th anniversary and collaboration with SummerStage by hosting a series of concerts, featuring genres from classic to cutting-edge music from across the Americas.
Babasónicos was one of the bands to close out the 2014 LAMC with a free concert on Saturday. Since the 1990s, the alternative rock group has become one of the most successful and recognizable groups that emerged from the "sonic" underground movement in Argentina.
"I've loved this group since I was 13 years old," Juanita Carvajal, a concert attendee from Colombia, told Latin Post, adding that they were the first group she ever saw live. "It's very nice to see them for free, here."
Throughout the band's 22-year-long career, Babasónicos has released 11 official albums and performed all across Latin America, bringing their experimental and diverse flavor. They've also enjoyed mainstream success all around the world.
"I'm 26, and I've been listening to the band since I was in high school, so it's been like nine years," Leyla Rodriquez, a Puerto Rican native who lives in Harlem, said.
Rodriquez said she found out about the free concert via Facebook.
After Babasónicos hit the stage, Los Angeles' very own La Santa Cecilia peformed at SummerStage. The Mexican-American band is known for blending a variety of music, including cumbia, bossa nova and boleros. It consists of accordionist and requintero Jose "Pepe" Carlos, bassist Alex Bendana, percussionist Miguel Ramirez and lead vocalist La Marisoul.
Since making waves in Latin alternative rock in 2007, the group's songs have been featured on a number of shows, including the Emmy award-winning series "Weeds." The band has also been recognized by publications like the Wall Street Journal, NPR and Ad Age Magazine."
Earlier this year, the band took home the 2014 Grammy Award for Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album for their 2013 album "Treinta Dias."
Sitting among the fans was Phoebe Smalin, an organizer who helped put the LAMC conference together. In spite of the difficulty of organizing the event, she said that it was all worthwhile in the end.
"It's been a really insane week. Putting this together is a lot of work, but honestly, it's so gratifying and so amazing to be a part of the process of making this exist," she said.