November 10, 2006
Pet peeve of the week: Automobiles on the opposing side of the road using high-beam headlight when I am bicycling on a dark road - It is equally blinding whether you're on a bike or in a car. Combine it with rain and tons of debris sprinkled on the bike path after the road maintenance crew mowed the grass on the side of the road, it made for a heck of a bicycle ride.
At 9 PM, I was on the train back to Cambridge, still needing to stop at home to pick up my CDs and have dinner. I texted Vishal to let him know that I would be late once again – hopefully getting there before 10. As I biked past the Catholic Church towards Club Salsa, the bell tolled 10. Vishal had Theodore play some songs while I was delayed – about 10 in all. Among the songs Theodore played were what sounded like covers of Que Bueno Baila Usted and La Murga Panamena. Johnny and Serap were away on a vacation and Jay and Jane substituted for them teaching the upper level classes.
Playlist
Brujeria – El Gran Combo
Duele Mas – Grupo Niche
Mi Gente – Oscar D’Leon
Celia Y Tito – Isidro Infante
Tumbando Cabeza – Tabaco Y Ron (1)
Temba, Tumba, Timba – Los Van Van (2)
La Quiero – Dominic Marte
No Me Resigno – Toque D’ Keda
No Critiques – Manny Oquendo (Libre) (3)*
Mi Desengano – Roberto Roena (4)*
Periodico De Ayer – Hector Lavoe (5)
break
Me Libere – El Gran Combo
Mi Bajo Y Yo – Oscar D’Leon (-4%)
Betece – Africando (6)
Y Eso Duele – Gilberto Santa Rosa (-4%) (7)
Ven Tu – Dominic Marte (8)
Lamento Boliviano – Toque D’ Keda (9)
(1) I don’t care about this song or this band, but I have their CDs so I might as well get some use out of them now and then. Plus it is that kind of night.
(2) See above. If nothing else it is energetic.
(3) Luis liked the African sounding beat to the music. A Sergio favorite. My impression was that this would not be a favorite for beginners.
(4) Luis raved enthusiastically about this one throughout. I thought I saw people on the dance floor looking happy about the song too.
(5) Thus I managed to complete the three-song sequence, which I considered as the only “must-do” for tonight. Luis was clamoring for Hacha Y Machete (his new favorite for past two weeks or so, taking over his previous favorite song, La Pantera Mambo) instead. About 2 minutes into the song, Vishal came in and asked to sub in claiming to be bored.
(6) Luis’s comment – “This is very old (meaning too familiar or too overplayed in the past). Get some new stuff.” Well, I think I have to play some previously overplayed songs in part to avoid overplaying new songs and thus making everything old and tired.
(7) Hmmm. That was a crowd killer. Too fast maybe? Or just a reaction against Salsa Romantica?
(8) I think Luis might be thinking that this song is getting overplayed for what it is. His quote was something like, “Get some better Bachata.”
(9) My plan was to play some songs Vishal consider as Mambo after this. I was leaning towards Asia Mood as the first song (even though I didn’t think it would have been popular) and definitely Ran Kan Kan (Mambo Birdland version) as the second song. I never got the chance as Vishal decided to put on two Merengue songs in a row, which in itself was fine except he wanted to play another 10 minutes (meaning 3 or more conventional Salsa, which would have killed the momentum I had been trying to build for last 6 songs). Anyhow, it was getting fairly late (~1 AM), so I suggested that he carry the rest of the evening the way he wants to drive up alcohol sales, etc.
Total 17 songs. 13 Salsa. 4 Bachata. 2 new songs. More Bachata than usual. I think many people are getting better - everyone's getting more practice than me.
One of the highlights came about during the break I had between my two stints at the DJ booth. Or perhaps a better characterization is that it was a highlight for some people who were watching. Periodico De Ayer was followed by Merengue and Reggaeton, then by some of the usual Salsa songs of Vishal. I danced to one such song, and I asked my partner for another dance when another song, which sounded like another of those old Vish standbys. However the song turned out to be one of those Vish remixes instead with the original song melody overdubbed with some different beat. The beat didn’t seem especially Salsa-like so I decided to treat the song (or at least what I thought would be a brief experimental overdubbed part) as if it were … conventional R & B or disco or whatever. Just doing silly herky jerky shines and treating the song like disco, and my partner seemed happy to play along. This probably went on for perhaps 2 minutes before I became too tired to continue. A few people apparently were highly amused by our antic, and one guy thought Vishal saw us dancing the way we did and decided stay way from remix business for a while. I have no idea if this is true.
Cyrille made an appearance with a friend of his (from work?). He thought the atmosphere and the crowd tonight had hit a new nadir for Friday, which led to me making an observation that there were generally more people watching than dancing yesterday. At the time of this conversation, the dance floor was slightly more packed tonight compared to last night whereas the spectator’s area was considerably more crowded last night. Cyrille’s reactions were, “I know, it’s amazing,” and “You never know what’s going to happen (It’s all very random).” We also wondered if the smaller number of people was due to the live Salsa band playing elsewhere; both Cyrille and I had to do a double take before realizing that the band's name is Spanish Harlow Orchestra not Spanish Harlem Orchestra. In any case, a large influx of crowd came about dressed in tux and formal dresses around midnight. It did not improve the level of dancing but made for an amusing visual spectacle.
Quote of the day – “When I first met you, you didn’t drink San Miguel.”
Blame it on Sergio. It was my second beer of the evening.
Next up. SOS with the San Miguel Gang probably.
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