Going to a Concert in Buenos Aires

On my first day in Buenos Aires my Couchsurfing host, Denise, had the stereo playing in the living room and I couldn’t get enough of the band she was playing. It was a local band named Onda Vaga. I listened to their albums nonstop while I was at the apartment. They became the soundtrack while I wrote, edited photos, and cooked. Deni saw how much I was loving their music and mentioned they were playing a show nearby and invited me to go. I would have gone to the concert even if I had never heard of them but I was really looking forward to this one.

We drove a few miles to a venue outside the city limits called The Coxsone Club. The website said the show started at 11pm. The band’s Twitter said they’d go on at midnight. To be sure we could get tickets at the box office we arrived at 11. The Coxsone Club is a popular spot for local and touring bands out in the suburbs. When we walked it we found the venue mostly deserted. There were maybe a dozen other people by the bar. Onda Vaga is a band from Buenos Aires and has a large local following so I figured it’d be a packed show. Deni reminded me ‘we’re in Buenos Aires’. By midnight more people began trickling in as the room filled with fog and reggae played over the loud speakers. Deni, myself, and her friend drank fernet and cokes while we waited. And waited.

A few minutes before 1AM the stage techs finished their final adjustments and then one by one each member of the band came on stage. The college aged crowd pushed to the front as a chorus of voices began singing in harmony. The horns, guitars, and drums followed. Until 3 in the morning the band played and we sang and danced (to songs I can barely understand the lyrics to). This is Onda Vaga.

 

 

Enjoy this wonderful band from Argentina. Here’s a few more songs of theirs.