Friday, November 1, 2013

A musical sampling!

One thing that I love about the where I am is the music.  Every weekend there seems to be a festival or celebration of some kind in a park or plaza, where music is being played and listened to free of charge.  Everyone brings their mate and sits in the grass, enjoying the day and entertainment provided.  Pictured below was a festival celebrating the the cultures present within La Plata.  Traditional dances and music were performed in one of the plazas.



A few weeks ago on Colombus Day, or Dia de La Raza as it is known here, I had the opportunity to attend a  free concert held at the Estadio Unico, La Plata's largest futbol stadium.   I was able to attend thanks to two of my roommates Liseth and Caro (see photo below).  It was an a great opportunity to experience more of the culture through popular music, so I thought I'd share a bit of that with you all.


Introducing the bands: The Pastillas Del Abuelo (Grandpa's Pills), Las Pelotas (The Balls?), Dread Mar I, and The Autenticos Decadentes 

The concert was at the Estadio Unico, which is the largest futbol stadium in La Plata and home stadium to one of the local teams.  And that's me.  I have gotten a lot taller since I left so you might not recognize me.

The inside of the stadium prior to the concert.  Pretty big place!

Myself, Caro, and Liseth in the stands.  

They provided a lot of great pre/between show entertainment.  They had ramps set up all around where skateboarder, bicyclists, and motocross riders  were performing stunts.  The motocross stunts, as shown above, were definitely the most entertaining.

The stadium filling up!

DREAD MAR I :

This man has some serious dreads, in case you haven't noticed from this picture.  




LAS PELOTAS:


LOS AUTENTICOS DECADENTES: (love this song!)



LAS PASTILLAS DEL ABUELO:








I also managed to capture a few videos of the crowd.  Maybe it's the type of music that I listen to back home which results in me going to more laid back concerts, but I had never seen anything like this.  It was so cool watching the crowd move like this throughout the entire concert.  Cool from above.  If I had been in the middle of that I probably would have been crying... or having a really good time but it wasn't exactly worth the risk to find out.  The people here are certainly are a lively bunch of concert goers!




There is a lot more to the music of Argentina than these four bands.  This is just a sampling from my sampling.  It was a great experience to hear some of the well-known music performed live, and probably an even greater experience just being in the concert environment within a new context and watching the crowd around me.  I'll share more musical and cultural experiences throughout the year as they come!

Until next time!

Much love,

Kristyn

PS: I sent out a newsletter about my time thus far in Argentina.  If you did not receive one and would like to be added to the mailing list, please email me at kristyn.zollos@gmail.com!

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