The night before we travelled to Santa Clara, we discovered the tiny bar in the basement of our hotel in Havana. The sign at the door said they're opened til 11pm...but we found ourselves hanging out there til early in the morning, making friends and drinking with the hotel staff and some kids from the neighbourhood. We already knew we wanted to spend some more nights at Hotel Bruzon when we get back to Havana...
The next morning we luckily got picked up at the hotel for the trip to Santa Clara. Last night's rum was still dancing in our heads and we used the journey to get some sleep.
After we arrived in Santa Clara we met Raida, a good friend of David, that helped to promote the show in Santa Clara. We had a walk around the small but lovely downtown area of Santa Clara before it was time for a interview on the local radio station. We learned that radio stations are still the number one promotion tool in Cuba. Because besides newspapers, it is the only media source pretty much everyone can afford. Nonetheless it was funny that our first radio appearance ever was broadcasted live in Santa Clara, Cuba!
In the evening we went to the Mejunje Cultural Center. This was the place we were supposed to play the next day. The venue's architecture was really cool. It was basicly an old colonial- almost castle-style building with a big open patio in the middle where all the activities took place. This night it was a dance party with a mix of 90s classics and reggaeton tunes...it turned out to be a really fun party!
The next day we got to the venue around 4pm because the show was supposed to start around 6pm. There we met the guys from Blinder, the local Metal heroes, that shared the stage with us that night. Right after the backline was set up, it started to rain a little, which was kind of a problem because the Mejunje was an open space...so all the gear got covered with plastic and we waited. We we're getting a bit concerned if the show was going to happen at all...but as soon as we realized how relaxed all the Cubans dealt with the whole rain issue we grabbed a beer and tried not to worry. While we waited, we met a lot nice people from local bands and learned how tough it is to play in a rock band in Cuba. It's almost impossible to get new gear such as guitars, amps, microphones or even strings...so even rehearsing as a full band is almost impossible because there are no microphones or speakers to reharse with. The singer from Blinder told us, that he has to record the band playing with his phone, to practice his vocals at home with his headphones on...I guess no one in Switzerland or Europe would put up with stuff like that to play music in a band. The Cubans do! And the result is pretty stunning! They really know to play they're instruments play thight as shit!
Finally the rain stopped and the show started. It was already getting dark as Blinder unleashed their heavy riffs on the crowd. After their set it was time for our first show in Cuba and we really didn't know what to expect. It was gently raining again, so all the electronics got wrapped up in plastic...but our concernes about getting shocked got washed away really quickly. The show turned out to be amazing! The crowd was a blend of punk kids, metalheads and just curious people young and old. So I guess that a lot of them didn't hear a lot of punk rock before. But everybody seemed to enjoy the show. The movement in the crowd permanently increased! In the middle of our set, we passed our instruments to the guys from a local punk band (i'm really sorry but I can't remember the name...to much rum...). They played a great catchy song and after that the party really started. While we played the next song, Ian got picked up and lifted on the shoulders of a guy...and performed the rest of the song from up there. All kinds of crazy stuff happened. Some kids grabbed the mics and tried to sing along even if they never heard the song before. The result was pretty funny...but great! At the end we were all soaking wet. It was a mix of sweat, rain, and beer and it tasted awsome! After the show we had time to hang out at the venue for a bit and to talk to a lot of people. We heard some really crazy - sometimes funny, sometimes really sad - stories about the daily life in cuba...to much to tell here.
As the venue closed, all the crowd and the bands walked together to the central square of Santa Clara. This little park turnes to the number one hangout of all the locals every night. The little bar just next to it supplied the cheap rum or vodka bottles that got shared in the park throughout the night. We had a great first show in Cuba were hungry for more!
...I almost forgot to mention Angelo...this about 70 years old Santa Clara metalhead was just great. He could sing about every classic metal song with a voice that James Hetfield could only wish for...
The next morning we luckily got picked up at the hotel for the trip to Santa Clara. Last night's rum was still dancing in our heads and we used the journey to get some sleep.
After we arrived in Santa Clara we met Raida, a good friend of David, that helped to promote the show in Santa Clara. We had a walk around the small but lovely downtown area of Santa Clara before it was time for a interview on the local radio station. We learned that radio stations are still the number one promotion tool in Cuba. Because besides newspapers, it is the only media source pretty much everyone can afford. Nonetheless it was funny that our first radio appearance ever was broadcasted live in Santa Clara, Cuba!
In the evening we went to the Mejunje Cultural Center. This was the place we were supposed to play the next day. The venue's architecture was really cool. It was basicly an old colonial- almost castle-style building with a big open patio in the middle where all the activities took place. This night it was a dance party with a mix of 90s classics and reggaeton tunes...it turned out to be a really fun party!
The next day we got to the venue around 4pm because the show was supposed to start around 6pm. There we met the guys from Blinder, the local Metal heroes, that shared the stage with us that night. Right after the backline was set up, it started to rain a little, which was kind of a problem because the Mejunje was an open space...so all the gear got covered with plastic and we waited. We we're getting a bit concerned if the show was going to happen at all...but as soon as we realized how relaxed all the Cubans dealt with the whole rain issue we grabbed a beer and tried not to worry. While we waited, we met a lot nice people from local bands and learned how tough it is to play in a rock band in Cuba. It's almost impossible to get new gear such as guitars, amps, microphones or even strings...so even rehearsing as a full band is almost impossible because there are no microphones or speakers to reharse with. The singer from Blinder told us, that he has to record the band playing with his phone, to practice his vocals at home with his headphones on...I guess no one in Switzerland or Europe would put up with stuff like that to play music in a band. The Cubans do! And the result is pretty stunning! They really know to play they're instruments play thight as shit!
Finally the rain stopped and the show started. It was already getting dark as Blinder unleashed their heavy riffs on the crowd. After their set it was time for our first show in Cuba and we really didn't know what to expect. It was gently raining again, so all the electronics got wrapped up in plastic...but our concernes about getting shocked got washed away really quickly. The show turned out to be amazing! The crowd was a blend of punk kids, metalheads and just curious people young and old. So I guess that a lot of them didn't hear a lot of punk rock before. But everybody seemed to enjoy the show. The movement in the crowd permanently increased! In the middle of our set, we passed our instruments to the guys from a local punk band (i'm really sorry but I can't remember the name...to much rum...). They played a great catchy song and after that the party really started. While we played the next song, Ian got picked up and lifted on the shoulders of a guy...and performed the rest of the song from up there. All kinds of crazy stuff happened. Some kids grabbed the mics and tried to sing along even if they never heard the song before. The result was pretty funny...but great! At the end we were all soaking wet. It was a mix of sweat, rain, and beer and it tasted awsome! After the show we had time to hang out at the venue for a bit and to talk to a lot of people. We heard some really crazy - sometimes funny, sometimes really sad - stories about the daily life in cuba...to much to tell here.
As the venue closed, all the crowd and the bands walked together to the central square of Santa Clara. This little park turnes to the number one hangout of all the locals every night. The little bar just next to it supplied the cheap rum or vodka bottles that got shared in the park throughout the night. We had a great first show in Cuba were hungry for more!
...I almost forgot to mention Angelo...this about 70 years old Santa Clara metalhead was just great. He could sing about every classic metal song with a voice that James Hetfield could only wish for...
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