Los Amigos Invisibles Charlotte

They have returned out of loyalty or just a good solid welcome feeling. I had the honor to get to see the band Los Amigos Invisibles last night Sunday, April 1st, 2007 in Charlotte at the Neighborhood Theater.

Los Amigos Invisibles is a one of a kind funk band from Venezuela, one of the most famous acts of the last 10 years from Venezuela and originally from Caracas. Los Amigos may be hard to describe but can be best put in the same genres as Sould Coughing, Beck or maybe 311. The band plays mellow psych-a-funk with alot of drums and rythem as would be expected form a South American band. The videos and shows have always come with true originality and personality that has made them a one of a kind act to see in person.

This is the second visit for Los Amigos Invisibles to Charlotte in the last 3 years, and I have been able to attend both shows.

The turnout in Charlotte is truly light as compared to the fan base they deserve. The Venezuela music is hugely popular the world over but not really the flavor enjoyed by Charlotte’s largely Mexican latino community.

The turnout of this band has become largely a Venezuela “meet-up” as I saw many of the same faces as my first show 2 years ago at this same theater. The crowd is generally comprised of the Venezuelan fans in Charlotte, and the many “gringos” (white folks) that have been turned on to this music that crosses language barriers with ease.

I am an old fan of Bosstones, 311, Beck, Soul Coughing, Rusted Root and about 10 other good funk or rythem style bands that makes it easy to translate over to the same styles en Espanol.

While Los Amigos may be somewhat a new item for the Americans lucky enough to stumble on them they are old hat in Venezuelan circles.

If you look at the leading CD’s for the country of Venezuela you will see 3 of the top 5 are all by Los Amigos Invisibles. They hold 3 top spots with current past cd’s still selling off shelves on Amazon.com.

Or if you are into reviews as we are here, check out the Amazon page for the Band here where after thousands of reviews they are between 4.5 and 5 stars on all of their CD’s. You will see many or even most of these happy customers are US resident gringos that found a gem of a foreign band with a style far off the BS that comes out of California these days.

Amazon Review.

So You Want To Be Down?
OK start at Wikipedia here, and learn a bit about the bands travels from 1991 to today as a leading act in South America and more recently in the US.

The band consists of:
Julio Briceño (a.k.a. “Chulius”, vocals, percussion)
José Luis Pardo (a.k.a. “Cheo” or “DJ Afro”, guitar, songwriting)
Armando Figueredo (a.k.a. “Odnam”, keyboards)
Mauricio Arcas (a.k.a “Maurimix”, congas, percussion)
José Rafael Torres (a.k.a “Catire”, bass)
Juan Manuel Roura (a.k.a. “Mamelo”, drums, percussion)

You can expect a crowd that knows every song as not many a fan leaves the concert circuit once they are a fan. I am in for life and can only hope Los Amigos come back over and over despite the weak Charlotte turnout.

You can learn what you missed on youtube with my live videos from the concert last night.