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Día a Día: 4 (Cuatro)

The morning gave way to an impromptu, acoustic session and hang with iLe at the iconic Highline walkway. Jose Galvan chatted with her briefly and then enlisted the help of Ariana, Brent, and Raul to document the entire process on video.

What a talented voice.

The day was overcast and with the panels all done, industry folks trickled off to either the airport or to see the sights and sounds of the big Manzana.

In the early afternoon, Grenda invited Jose over to his room, where he had set up a makeshift space to record a live session. Jose quickly set up his cameras and captured the moment. Truly inspiring how this 17-year old musician converted the space using even his ipod dock, alarm clock as a speaker.

The team assembled for a final time, and then headed over to Brooklyn to catch the last show that would close out the 17th edition of LAMC.

Buscabulla opened Celebrate Brooklyn with an energetic set and a couple of new unreleased tracks as the venue filled up.

 By the time Hurray for the Riff Raff got on stage, the place was packed. Blankets, picnic baskets and the usual herb smell permeated the surroundings. 

It was apparent that many people were there to see Hurray, and that it might possibly empty out by the time Carla Morrison performed.

But it was not so.

In true headliner fashion, Carla and crew took the stage and performed a near 2 hr set. It had started to drizzle lightly during the middle of Morrison’s set, but people did not seem to mind. As they finished out their final song and the very last notes were played, the sky could no longer contain itself any longer.

The heavy rains descended on the crowd in a rather poetic way. Appearing to be brought to tears by the emotional sounds of Carla Morrison. It was a very fitting way to wrap up four lovely days of live music.

Raul, Ariana, Brent and Jose, took refuge backstage as the crowd quickly scattered. They hung and chatted with Morrison’s band as they waited for the downpour to stop. Once it did, they headed out and closed out their LAMC with some delicious late night tacos. 

Until next year LAMC!

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Uruguayan Hip-Hopper Santi Mostaffa chatted with Jose Galvan for a bit and dropped a quick freestyle. 

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Excellente show once again! There are so many. Cool venues around these parts.

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Big surprise coming at you guys tomorrow courtesy of iLe. #buskingsessions

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Get a full dose of every hung happening at LAMC in NYC. Ariana, Jose, and Brent have been running around getting cool cool stuff for the radio waves.

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LAMC - Día a Día (No.3)

Our bodies are getting adjusted to the jetlag. Or so it seems like it because getting up after only 4 hours of sleep doesn’t hurt as bad.

Onward & upward… to the 18th floor where the KCRW suite once again had some major characters from the conference grace its presence. 

17 year old virtuoso, Grenda, kicked off Raul’s interview day. Like old buds, they delved into a myriad of personal topics. To hear the interesting bits and pieces you’re going to have to tune into Raul Campos this weekend on 89.9 FM.  Tease. I know.

Later on in the day, Leon Larregui stopped by the Suite, to chat about his latest album and reminisce about old times with Ariana. Leon’s band, Zoé, had previously been on Morning Becomes Eclectic during Morgenstern’s tenure as Producer.

He continuously glanced at the delicate acoustic guitar in the corner and when Raul finally asked him if he wanted to perform a song or two, he politely declined in order to save his voice for his headlining slot at Summerstage later that same day.

The highlight of the day had to be getting to meet Carlos Vives right before he went to speak on a panel about the Latin GRAMMYs. Raul jumped in on the photo shoot that Vives made the entire panel submit to.

While those shenanigans were going on in the green room, Jose headed to the Hotel Lobby to meet up with Santi Mostafa, a slick flow hip-hopper from Uruguay, for a quick interview. 

The evening led us once again to Summerstage for a stellar show. New Yorkers held fast amidst the rain and stayed to watch Grenda perform in arguably his biggest show thus far.

Brazilian troubadour Rodrigo Amarante of Los Hermanos & Little Joy fame, was up next and soothed the crowd with a mix of both old and new stuff. It was no surprise to see the audience transform into a sea of fluorescent lights, as they pulled out their phones, when he introduced “Tuyo,�� the now famous theme for NARCOS.

The evening then ramped up to what the semi damp die hards in the front row, and the guy with the huge Mexican flag, had been waiting for all afternoon.

Leon Larregui.

As his band of Space Hipsters commanded the stage, he tore through what felt like every song in his solo career, two-disc catalogue. He always puts on solid performances.

Tomorrow, we Celebrate Brooklyn!

As in, we check out performances by Carla Morrison and Buscabulla, in Prospect Park at an event by that name, and we meet up with iLe once again for a very special surprise.

For now… we sleep. “So tired boss…”

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Rodrigo Amarante. muito bom!

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About last night... with Miranda!

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Grenda about to go on at Summerstage. Only 17!

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LAMC - Día a Día (No. 2)

We’re in the thick of it now!

Panels and schmoozing session are in full swing. Business cards being passed around like hot potato, and bands are flocking to the Press Room to work each outlet.

Up in the KCRW suite, Raul Campos, interviewed some of the heavyweights from the conference with some precise scheduling from Ariana Morgenstern. In case you are unaware, Raul also moderates panels for the conference. So all the interviews he does have to be skillfully coordinated in advance.

Interviews with members of Mexrrissey and iLe (Calle 13’s newly “going solo” member), as well as an acoustic session from Rodrigo Amarante were definitely the highlights. If you’re scratching your head asking, “who is Rodrigo,” well… hes the one who wrote and performed that sweet, sweet, NARCOS theme song.

 Jose Galvan ran around the lobby & press room, chatting up different bands including members of 424 from Costa Rica, the quirky Joe Crepúsculo of Spain, and the rowdy punks of Sexy Zebras.

He also recorded a couple acoustic sessions with emerging artists Vanessa Zamora & Fernando Milagros. Look for the videos of these sessions soon here on the tumblr.

There was some much-needed downtime for lunch, before we all headed out to the Highline Ballroom once again to see some excellent performances.

We caught everyone’s sets tonight. Vaya Futuro out of Tijuana pierced eardrums with their raucus punk rock. While Las Robertas’ garage surf rock got the crowd engaged and primed for The Chamanas and their energetic set.  But it was iLe who seemed to be the real draw at this showcase. Brent Gordon captured the moment perfectly with a slew of killer photos.

The night was closed out by Argentinian pop group Miranda! and as they played their once radio hits, we turned in for the night.

Halfway through LAMC a couple things stand true: NYC embraces LAMC, our feet hurt, and much more live music is yet to be experienced!

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Residents from Calle 13 at tonight’s iLe show.

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Radio room Day 1. Let's get some interviews!

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LAMC - Día Cero

The humidity gods were merciful today. Manhattan was a little stuffier than we are used to in LA, but still pleasantly comfortable as the afternoon rolled around and we headed to Central Park.

Raul Campos, Host and MC extraordinaire welcomed the growing crowd of New Yorkers to the opening showcase of this year’s LAMC.

It was clear that many were in attendance to catch headliners Mexrrissey do their Tribute to the Moz man. But the vibe was chill and the crowd was extremely receptive to the opening act, La Dame Blanche.

A true surprise to us all, La Dame, strutted onto the Summerstage platform, with attitude and a Cuban cigar ablaze. It was a bit unbelievable the way she weaved in and out of hip-hop verses all while playing a live brass flute. She performed with such confidence in front of a crowd that had most likely never been exposed to her music before.  Blanche definitely won me over and it was pretty unanimous amongst Raul, Ariana, and Brent that she was a stunning musician.

Next came the perfect party to usher in the twilight. Los Cafres jumped on stage in numbers, as they always do, and crunched out their flavor of Spanish Reggae. The crowd was with them and Los Cafres reciprocated by providing a seamless set that pulled jams from all over their 25-year plus catalogue.

As the sun faded, more and more people had seemed to find their way to the Summerstage.

And…well… it’s official, white people ALSO like Morrissey’s music. Having grown up in Los Angeles, the joke amongst many of my music industry peers was always, “Latinos go gaga for Morrissey!” But at Summerstage in Central Park in 2016, I got to see plenty of Caucasians grooving hard to the sounds of the Moz via Mexrrissey.

Camilo Lara’s energy coupled with Jay de la Cuevas irreverence for the crowd, and Ceci Bastida’s sassy energy culminated in a crowd hopping frenzy. I have to say it was pretty magical. And those newly minted, non album tracks… FIRE!

As the night wore on, the weather got a little more sticky and humid but that did not deter the KCRW crew to trek on over to the Highline Ballroom to catch the second half of the Sounds from Spain showcase.

We caught the end of Izal’s set, which by the crowd’s enthusiasm for an encore, told us it had been a really good one.

Raul jumped on stage to introduce Polock and then they performed their Phoenix-esque flavor of indiepop superbly.  

In the end, we headed back to the hotel, tired and eager to rest up for the frenzy yet to come in the next few days.

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Jose Galvan with the last of the famous international playgirls aka Ceci Bastida.