Las Cafeteras open BAC Concert season Saturday

Get ready to boogie Carson City, the Brewery Arts Center Levitt AMP Concert Series begins this weekend when Las Cafeteras comes to town. The band is known for their high-energy “infectious live performances” that crosses many genres and borders along the way.

“If you do not want to have a good time, do not show up,” said Hector Flores from the band. “If you want to have a good time Carson City, it’s going to get gritty.”

FIRST TIME IN CARSON CITY

This will be the East Los Angeles band’s first time performing in Carson City. Flores said he expects most people won’t be familiar with them and it’s going to feel like a middle school dance.

“There will be the city on one side, and the band and the stage on the other,” he said. “We’re going to try to meet in the middle.”

He said the band loves playing new cities and venues. They love all the experiences and challenges that come with it.

“That’s really where you build your chops, your character, your set and your style,” he said. “It’s really about playing in front of new crowds and seeing what they dig and what they don’t.”

He sees it as a challenge and a good way to grow as an artist. He said performing is an art and not everybody knows how to work a crowd, but it’s something they do well.

“We don’t do a lot of things well, but we can work a crowd,” Flores said. “We’re really good live. The album is cute, but we’re really a great live band.”

They’ll be sprinkling in new music for an album they plan to record in the fall. Flores said they won’t announce the new songs, and instead they’ll just play them and see how well they do in front of the crowd.

“These shows, we are showcasing new music from the album, but it’s almost like a surprise,” he said. “We don’t tell people and just do it. If it sucks, then we’re like, ‘alright, that’s not going to be on the album.’”

THE BAND

Hector plays rhythm guitar called a jarana, and he shows of his zapateado dance moves, which is all part of the show. He is one of the front folks for the band he says he is like a hype man.

“I’m like Flava Flav minus the toxic masculinity,” he said.

There’s five other members in the band, and singing is a big part of their show, so he said each member contributes to vocals.

“Everybody doesn’t have to look good, but everybody’s gotta sing,” he said.

Together the band forms collective harmonies, and there will be chants and a call and response with the audience. He said it comes from an African style of music called Son Jarocho. The band claims to take folk music to the future from Afro-Mexican to Americana, from soul to Son Jarocho and from roots to rock and hip-hop.

It all started as friends as activists in the community and through protests.

“That’s what we do — community, engagement, singing, yelling,” he said. “Music is what we do secondary.”

And they translate that into their music by getting people dancing, clapping and moving, he said.

“And a little bit of crying in the middle,” he said. “Just for dynamics.”

Playing in the band is: Flores - jarana, zapateado, percussion; Denise Carlos - jarana, zapateado; Moises Baqueiro – bass; Jesus Gonzales - keys/synth; Jose Cano - drums/percussion; Pocok Mijangos - lead guitar. With all of them contributing to vocals.

Flores said each member has diverse taste in music, and they all have different influences from music like Riot Girl and Fiona Apple, and Fela Kuti, to hip hop, oldies and cumbia.

“So we’re like if Patti Smith and Los Lobos had a baby in East LA,” he said. “We’re the best band you never heard of.”

IF YOU GO
WHAT: Las Cafeteras at Brewery Art Center’s Levitt AMP Concert Series
WHERE: 449 West King St. at the Brewery Arts Center
WHEN: 7 p.m. Saturday, June 17
MORE INFO: breweryarts.org; https://lascafeteras.com/