The evening began rather auspiciously. I had been looking forward to seeing Ozomatli for months, but the night was rainy and the first to show up at the Crystal Ballroom were teenagers, parents with their kids and kids talking about how they overcame “white man's disease” (as far as I could tell, they still couldn’t dance). Fortunately, my concerns did not materialize; the audience turned out to be great, and the music exceeded my lofty expectations.
The opening group, Nathan Maxwell and the Original Bunny Gang was fantastic. Though brand new and completely unknown, the Gang quickly stole our hearts. The sound was well balanced, and you could hear the lyrics (gasp!). With good singing, great guitar solos, and an infectious enthusiasm, the audience was quickly enthralled with the band. And the band was clearly enthralled with playing music: the players never stopped smiling, and even the drummer sang along despite not having a mic. Before the end of the set, I was convinced that the Original Bunny Gang was the best opening act I had ever seen.
For those of you familiar with the name Nathan Maxwell, this may come as no surprise. As the lead singer of Flogging Molly, Maxwell is a veteran of the stage. He told me after the show that he had been writing this music for awhile and decided to finally produce it. He recruited his father to jump on the drums, his best friend and first-ever band-mate to hold down bass, and a friend of a friend to play the guitar. The group had only played together for a total of seven hours prior to the show, but the lack of practice was not evident. One can only wonder what magic they will produce in the coming months or years.
And this was just the prelude to the main act. Ozomatli’s music is perfectly suited for live shows. They are the consummate performers, and this show exemplified their skills perfectly. Their music - a beautiful fusion of Latino, Middle Eastern, hip-hop, among other styles - is incredibly energetic and moves even the most lead-footed individual. As performers, they dance harder and get even more worked up than their throngs of dedicated supporters. With the audience and band feeding off each other, the concert simply ratcheted up the intensity with each passing song. Finally, in the second to last song, Ozomatli brought down the house with their popular classic, “Como Ves.” Never before have I danced so fiercely, sung so loudly and smiled so widely. It was a full-body workout that left me, the audience, and Ozomatli breathless, dripping with sweat and euphoric.
It was truly an incredible concert that didn’t leave a soul disappointed. If you have a chance to see them live, block out the night, call up your dancing-buddy and buy a ticket immediately.
