Grupo Fantasma and Bomba Estereo / April 16, 2013 / Stuart's Opera House

By: Nick Rose, Contributor

“I haven’t been this excited for a show at Stuart’s in a long time” says the stage manager to a wanting crowd all warmed up by DJ Self Help.

Soon, songs explode: a three-piece horn section belts out frantically--congas, bass and Kino Esparza shouting at the top of his lungs on stage right. Finally, timbales, dos guitarres and a full-on drum kit make this modest opera house feel like a scene out of Havana Nights.

Kineticism—this is the theme of Grupo Fantasma and Bomba Estereo’s double bill yesterday evening at Stuart’s Opera House.

Fantasma opened up the night in style. This latin funk orchestra has an organic sound where the rawness of James Brown intersects with traditional cumbia rhythms and Santana-like melodies making for a frenetic pace to their music that burns down the house.

In fact, when Grupo Fantasma played their Latin-funkified interpretation of the Talking Heads classic “Burning Down the House,” they had the audience in the pocket. Even if the cats in the pit didn’t grab how to dance to the beat at first.

Southeast Ohio isn’t a world music Mecca. There is this roots vibe that’s hard to shake at the beginning because Latin music is different from bluegrass. The rhythms, instrumentation and melody are worlds apart and it was hard to find something to relate to. Especially when melody and harmony disappeared for over an hour during the Fantasmo set alone.

Plus there is a lot of clutter in this band’s music. It’s hard to manage 10 musicians playing 10 instruments at one volume—loud. Grupo Fantasmo brought the party, but, like a bad date, it missed a connection building intimacy with the audience. Even so, they still killed it and there’s something to be said for an opening act that gets called back for an encore. That is the stuff of legends.

As Fantasmo was a party in the streets, Bomba Estereo took it to the discotheque. Its beat driven electronica sound emitted a very intimate club feel, but it’s the band’s frontwoman Liliana Saumet that sells it. She’s got spunk that transcends any language barrier and when she screams the audience screams back willingly.

Mood lighting, dynamics and a fog machine helped a little, too.

The biggest thing this group has going for it is a deceptive improvised feel. Bomba works like a DJ divided into fours: Simon Mejia and Julian Salazar provide the themes and low end, Kike Egurrola is a human drum machine and Saumet is equal parts hype and vocals. Like a DJ, the band sounds like it's just going with the feel of the moment, but it’s very apparent that every vamp down to the set list is carefully laid out in a way to produce a dramatic and memorable experience.

Bomba flows when they play tracks off their latest release, Elegancia Tropicale. The cumbia-influenced “Caribbean Power” proved a high point as the group wandered into the synth-laid groove built up by Salazar and unleashed with Saumet screaming, “Elegancia Tropicale!” By now, most of the audience found a groove and the Stuart’s pit spilled over with motion.

This wasn’t the case for everyone, unfortunately. A language barrier, lack of distinct melodies and definitive endings seemed to make some of the concert-goers really uncomfortable.

Grupo Fantasma and Bomba Estereo aren’t bands that people see for melodies and distinctive lyrics, though. They’re party bands that make their audiences sweat and that’s pretty cool.  

Southeast Engine / September 28, 2012 / Stuart's Opera House

By: Katie Pinter, Staff Writer
Photo By: Katie Pinter

After trekking into the unknown territory that is downtown Nelsonville, I was pleasantly surprised to find an entire block party centered around a last minute Southeast Engine show. 

Friday's show was part of the free summer concert series held by Stuart's Opera House. Obviously, it's now sweater weather instead of summer, but this change of season seemed to fit better with the tone of the band. The event was also part of the town's Final Fridays on the Square, an art event that closes off the center of town so that people can walk around to the different galleries and art shops. Overall, the sense of community was really strong since a lot of people came out that night, with the largest group centered around the stage.

The show was set up outside in a small, empty parking lot across from Stuart's, which is not exactly ideal for a chilly fall evening. People just camped out on blankets or folding chairs or the cold asphalt, like myself. It's interesting to note the number of families that were present. Although there were a lot of aging hipsters and college age kids present, many young families with hyper toddlers were there as well. Good to known they're keeping them cultured while they're young.

I arrived about four songs into the band's first set, and it was very apparent that the crowd was feeling it. All of the children were dancing and playing close to the stage as Southeast Engine charmed on with their folk rock. Seeing the kids bop around created a nice vibe - you could just feel everyone letting themselves take the time to enjoy the show. 

The band's line-up did not include bass player Jesse Remnant, but had a cool-looking guy wearing a blazer sub for him. The only downside to this was that the harmonies were not as prominent throughout the tracks as they usually are. Instead, lead singer Adam Remnant carried the vocals, starting off with songs from their album Canary.

After the next song, drummer Leo DeLuca started giving some background information about their group. He mentioned that he and Adam started the band as teens back in Dayton, OH and they listened to a lot of another band from the area. That band was Guided By Voices and Leo added that the next few tracks would be from GBV, off their album Bee Thousand. 

Leo and the band quickly played through two of the GBV tracks and then took a break before their second set. In this time, everyone wandered around to the shops and galleries and I managed to snag some hot chocolate and a grilled Nutella and banana sandwich. Needless to say, I was having a great night and eagerly headed back to the lot as the band dove into its second act. 

Continuing on with more GBV tracks, Southeast Engine really connected with the crowd because everyone around me seemed to be either singing or just grooving along to the music. The guys' cover of "I Am A Scientist" was just perfect - so sweet and simple.

The night finally came to an end with one last cover, "Down By The River" by Neil Young. Halfway through the song, the band turned the song into a jam session, with each member showing off their chops while Adam laid out his killer guitar skills with an impressive blusey rock solo. 

As the band wrapped up its set, I thought back to something Adam had said earlier that night: "We'd been looking around for the ideal place to play around Athens, and I think this is it." Looking around the crowd, I don't think anyone would have disagreed.

Hey! I got a fever! And the only cure.... is more Pomegranates

In case you are wondering, that is my Christopher Walken impression of Stuart’s Opera House’s Cabin Fever Festival. I took a little artistic license with the direct quote. You would have too if you’d been there to see these boys’ set on January 15.

Opening the fest was Bird & Flower, two folkie songstresses serenading the crowd in the lobby of the Opera House as we milled about sipping coffee, browsing for art and trolling for record deals.

Then, let the steps open and the games begin, as Whale Zombie takes the stage, prog-rocking their little undead-mammal hearts out, starting the night off with a bang.

Closely following, the Alwood Sisters put on a great sit-down set: Folk-twinged with psychedelic goodness.

Then Pomegranates was a definite highlight. They switched instruments on almost every track, grandstanding their musical talent in the best way possible. The crowd was mesmerized, which explains why the Pomegranates--- dressed like every sensitive musician type you ever crushed on in highschool--- spent most of the post show hiding back stage.

After Pomegranates went Wheels on Fire. They had... a very energetic keyboardist.

Finally, at long last, Maps & Atlases took the stage. Maps & Atlases is like that friend that you know is too cool to hang out with you, but they haven’t figured that out yet. They put on a killer set and then proceeded to come down into the crowd for an unplugged encore that stole the show. A one-man guitar rendition of “Ongoing Horrible” closed an unreal scene, and the band stuck around to talk afterwards making us all wonder, why can’t every band be this talented AND friendly?

It’s safe to say, my Cabin Fever has been cured.

--Amanda Norris, Staff Writer