The concert was half hour late getting started and the organisation was terrible, but that didn’t really matter. As villagers from Santa Cruz Xoxocotlán waited for one of the most popular bands and most famous representatives of Mexico in the world, they enjoyed the delicious tamales present at every ‘Martes de Brujas’ (Tuesdays of the Witches). The show in Xoxo’s main square was in the hands of Celso Piña and his band Ronda Bogotá from Cerro de la Campana, Monterrey, and whose hits – even the most boring ones – are enough to make everybody move.
The band’s new line-up was the first surprise of the night but the essence of the four original members, the band’s soul, had not been lost: Eduardo, Rubén, Enrique, and Celso. After playing the first tune, “Cumbia Sampuesana,” over 1,000 people got out of their seats and moved to the rhythm of Colombian cumbia. After a medley in which the musicians were introduced, a white-bearded Celso officially started the show with an unprecedented explosion of energy and sounds. The next song was “Macondo,” immortalised by Mexican singer and composer Oscar Chavez, which pays homage to Gabriel García Marquez’s literary masterpiece Cien años de soledad (One Hundred Years of Solitude). Then came “Cumbia Campanera,” a song dedicated to the neighbourhood where Piña was born and raised. Not to be missed was “Cumbia sobre el río,” a song from the 2001 album Barrio Bravo, which was responsible for launching the band to stardom.
Ronda Bogotá continued with a Colombian classic, “Los Caminos de la vida,” originally played by the Colombian group “Los Diablitos” and by the Mexican band “Tropa Vallenata.” The show also included another southern classic, the “Cumbia de los Pajaritos.” Things got romantic when Celso and his band played “Aunque no sea conmigo,” featuring Café Tacuba’s lead singer. Finally, “Cumbia de la Paz” y “Cumbia Poder” were the cherries on the pie – and on the dance floor. The show was officially over but people in the square wanted an encore – “¡Una más!” – and Ronda Bogotá satisfied a cumbia-hungry audience with a final farewell song.
Another night, another success for Xoxocotlán’s ‘Martes de Brujas’. People left feeling happy to have danced to the rhythm of the accordion rebel.
Fotografías: Ferbuky Buki
Edición fotográfica: Coty Camacho
Reseña: Luis García
