Bomba Estereo in Argentina: Buenos Aires never felt so Colombian!!

If you’ve ever heard anything about Bomba Estereo - and you very probably have - I’m just going to say that everything you’ve heard about them is true.  This is my fourth or fifth post about Bomba Estereo, so I might as well rename this as “Bomba Estero blog by Marcela” instead of “Colombia Travel Blog by Marcela” : ) , but the fact is that since I heard about them last February I really wanted to go watch them live. I have traveled a lot in the last few months, and it seemed that any time I arrived to a new city , Bomba Estereo had just left….. so I was getting frustrated….

So, of all places in the world I finally saw them in Buenos Aires!  Yes, I just got back from Buenos Aires Pepsi Music Indoors –the  Bomba Estereo gig at the Trastienda in Buenos Aires and  felt that I had to share the experience with you all!  Apart from their great music there are two things that were my highlights; first of all is the energy they put into their performance. At the beginning I sat for a bit but it didn’t take too long before I was jumping up and down and dancing to their electro cumbia… Li just has such an enchanting voice that just makes you move.  My second highlight is the fact that they made all Argentineans that were there dancing to these Colombian rhythms as if they were their own… and I felt at home.  For two hours Li and the band transported me to my lovely country .. thanks Bomba Estereo for joining us in our efforts to change Colombia’s face to the world!

Is it Safe to Travel to Colombia? - my thoughts about safety in Colombia.

Earlier today I was looking for upcoming gigs of my favorite Colombian band, Bomba Estereo, to see if I could catch one before the year ends,  and ended up - as I usually do -  opening a lot of unrelated links  and windows  in my never ending desire to read EVERYTHING. One of those pages touched the “Safety in Colombia” topic, but  what really caught my attention was the outspoken tittle “Why you should ignore everything you’ve heard and go to Colombia”.

Vote NOW for Bomba Estereo: one of the 25 best new bands of the world

As you may know by reading one of my January posts, I have become a huge fan of Bomba Estereo, a Colombia electro band that has managed to get recently nominated within the 25 best new bands of the world. During the last year they have been so busy touring the world and helping change Colombia's image that I had to write this short entry to share the Bomba Estereo Tour 2010 city/dates list with you. 

Ok, so this is where you will find these guys for the rest of the year during their Bomba Estereo Sur Tour 2010. If you are so lucky to be in any of these cities don't miss the chance to enjoy the Electro Bacilon Contestativo of Bomba Estereo with our beautiful Li in the vocals.

Montevideo, Uruguay 7 May

Mendoza, Argentina 8 May

Cordoba, Argentina 9 May

Santiago, Chile 13 May

Buenos Aires, Argentina 15 May

Austin, Texas 22 May

Medellin, Colombia 5 June

Manchester, Tennessee 12 June

Colorado Springs, Colorado 14 June

Girona, Espana 19 June

Barcelona, Espana 19 June

Brooklyn, New York 23 July

San Francisco, California 25 July

Chicago, Illinois 26 July

Also, remember to vote for Bomba Estereo in MTV Iggy's web page for the 25 best new bands of the world. You can vote as many times as you want.

These are a few videos of their latests gigs.... enjoy!

Did you like it??? Vote NOW, I just did! : )

Abrazos,

Marcela - Colombia Travel Blog


UPDATE!!! Bomba Estereo IS the new best band of the year!


Congrats Li y chicos!

Picture taken from mtviggy

Festival Iberoamericano de Teatro de Bogota: The world's biggest theater showcase

I'm not at all a theater expert , nope. But now that I'm spending a few days in Buenos Aires with my loved one ( Argentina's capital city is filled with theaters and a very active cultural life), I realize the importance of our Theater Festival in Bogota. Its funny, because Bogota's  XII Iberoamerican Theater Festival, today's post topic, was actually an initiative started by an Argentinean actress who lived in Colombia.


No wonder that not many people around the world outside theater connoisseurs  really know about the extent of  this fantastic event,  in which for about 2 weeks theater companies, circuses and performers from all continents take Bogota's street by storm, because, to be honest event most of us, the common non-theater-related people in Bogota are notaware that this is, in fact, the biggest theater showcase in the world....

Party in Colombia: My top 5 rumbeaderos in Bogota

Colombia is the only  place in the world in which " rumba" means much more than the musical rythm known as, well..." rumba". Lets see how can we define " rumba" ... a simple translation could be "to party" , but " rumbear"  can also mean:


1) Going out for a drink.
2) Going dancing.

3) Going to a gig.

4) Singing away in a Karaoke.

5) Going to someone's house for a party.

6) 1 + 2 
7) 5 + 4

8) 3 +1 + 2

9) 5 + 1 + 6 + waking up next day in a farm with a killer hangover.

10) 7 + ... well, I guess you get the idea.


So, in the very tough mission of recommending the best 5 places to party or " rumbear"  in Bogota, my home town, the humble writer of this Colombia Travel blog has taken the freedom to  first divide the city in 5 highly recommended night life and party areas for educational reasons, all of them in northerm Bogota where you'll find a lot of options for you to enjoy a nigh out, from salsa or electronic music through a quite glass of black beer.... bars, pubs, restaurants, and coffee shops.... the whole lot.

Bomba Estereo: Electro Vacilon from Colombia to the world

Hi All,

This is a very short non-travel-related post just to share with you this superb Colombian band I was just introduced to!  I was in Buenos Aires with my boyfriend last week and we were invited to have a couple - a little more actually, to be honest - of exquisit Mendoza wine bottles at a friend of his' house. It happens that this friend - a Belgian living between Argentina, Europe, Hong Kong, Mexico and Argentina - is a huge music connoisseur who organizes raves and big parties all over the world as well as a well known electronic music producer.

When I told him I was from Colombia, he told me "wait one sec", he connected his laptop to the massive LCD TV hanging on the wall and said : "This is, hands down, the best new band I have listened to last year".

I have to admit I had never heard of Bomba Estereo, but they sound rrrreaaaallly well , their music is a mixture of Afro-Caribbean rhythms with electro and styles like reggae, dub and hip hop that they define as "Electro Vacilon", and that night, they also got me to be a little prouder of being Colombian :).

People, I give you FUEGO!!!



Abrazos,

Marcela - Colombia Travel Blog