Cumbia echoed throughout The Cedar tonight as Rudy de Anda kicked things off with some nice psychedelic rock to help energize the crowd. By the time his performance was concluding, more and more people had trickled into the dimly lit room (usually carrying some can of alcohol), creating excitement for what was soon to come.

In reality, we didn’t need to wait much longer. SONIDO GALLO NEGRO put on an absolute show that turned the room into a nonstop psychedelic cumbia dance floor. The bandmates oozed so much character through their instruments. Some highlights for me included Dr. Alderete’s playful theremin that evoked something otherworldly in each song (he also created some great looping visuals on the fly with a laptop), and Yaya González' stellar performance on the timbales that kept the beating heart of excitement amongst the crowd going all night!

By the time SONIDO GALLO NEGRO was beginning to wrap up their show, everyone in the audience couldn't help but move their bodies along to the infectious beat of the cumbia, and the even more infectious energy from the bandmates who were so clearly having a blast performing in unison with each other. After witnessing them perform an encore (at the request of a highly energized crowd) and finally leaving The Cedar, I'm convinced that SONIDO GALLO NEGRO can produce vibrations that make even small venues feel larger than life, and given Dr. Alderete's skull doodles that served as the visual backdrop to end off the night, perhaps even the dead swayed their souls to the beat with us as well.

Show Review: Christian Garcia Garcia