Saturday Recap of LAMC

The last day of LAMC is always the most relaxed for us. The conference is almost done, the panels are over, and no running between venues and the studio.  Just one ultimate show on what turned out to be a gorgeous NYC city summer day in Central Park.  And ultimate is the word.

LAMC 2012 was capped off with sets by last nights guest in studio  - DJ Raff — who spun between the acts and kept the crowd dancing.  Still it was DJ group and the Latin Billboard smash outta Mexico - 3BallMTY, that proved so popular people were literally begging these young guys to kiss their babies and autograph their bodies.

All day everyone wondered who was walking around filming the show in metallic-reflective silver jeans.  Those in the know kept yelling “Cucho” at him all day, as it was Gustavo Parisi - one of the many members of the Argentine supergroup Los Auténticos Decadentes - who next filled the stage.  Their signature sound of traditional music and mixed into a non-stop Ska party — as witnessed, got EVERY generation dancing.

Seems only fitting that a great week of music be capped by a KCRW friend we’ve been missing — Kinky!  The Mexican band out of Moneterrey spoke with Raul backstage about how gracious it felt to come back and headline the closing show of LAMC where years ago they won the Discovery Award.  Needless to say the crowd became a riot and it was an amazing close-out to a fantastic week at LAMC.

Quick Recap of Friday at LAMC

A number of panels happened this morning, the first of which featured former KCRW music director and MBE host Nic Harcourt — both an established music supervisor and promoter of Latin Alternative — discussing “Licensing in 2012: Are Advertising, Games & Synchs the New Radio?”

But as ever, Friday’s all about the big show in Prospect Park and this time the LAMC/Celebrate Brooklyn Show was HUGE!

The line to get into the show stretched for miles… literally, and the park reached capacity so quickly many hundreds of people couldn’t get in.  It was the most crowded we’ve ever seen it in all the years of LAMC.

There was a reason for this however…an awesome line-up!  Cypress Hill percussionist Eric Bobo and Chilean DJ Bitman form the duo Ritmo Machine and they got the show off to a bang and had a crushed audience dancing in unconscious synchronous swell the only way they could.

Image from Instagram's @jnr21Chilean Hip-Hop and skyrocketing star Ana Tijoux opened her act to a crowd roar as she took the stage.  Tijoux’s stage presence manages to somehow balance graciousness with dominance and there is no denying she is fast becoming a global talent and respected lyricist and artist.

It makes sense such a socially and politically conscious act opened for the headliners — Puerto Rican legends Calle 13!  Their multi-instrumental genre-defying urban style ruled the evening and all of Brooklyn with their performance and capped an incomparable night of music.

As the crowd took their time dispersing Prospect Park on a gorgeous NYC night, we hurried back to our balcony studio — we had live interviews with Chilean’s prodigious talent Alex Anwandter, the entirety of L.A.’s latest and greatest party band - La Santa Cecilia to cram into our room for a chat, and finally a live set by DJ Raff — another talent coming out of Santiago.  There is no doubt Chile is really representing the serious talent in Latin Alternative of late!  One more day to go!

Quick Recap of Thursday at LAMC

Wednesday night didn’t prove so punishing that Raul couldn’t start the morning introducing a unique Q&A with René Pérez Joglar and Eduardo José Cabra Martinez, Residente and Visitante of Calle 13.

Later Raul was a panelist himself discussing the ever-changing national landscape of Latin Alternative music on terrestrial, internet, and satellite radio.


An acoustic showcase at SOB’s kicked off the music for the day with sets by La Santa Cecelia, Carla Morrison, Alex Anwandter, and No Te Va Gustar amongst others.

We couldn’t see too much because we were headed to The Gramercy Theatre for the LAMC Showcase, where Adrianiqual and Javiera Mena opened the show before a very enthusiastic and welcoming crowd cheered for Carla Morrison taking the stage.

After her set Raul kept Carla on stage to announce she was the LAMC 2012 Discovery Award recipient and presented her with gifts from sponsors Gibson and Shure amongst other great loot, and I wasn’t sure who was more gleeful - Carla or her screaming fans.


The boundless energy of Venezuela’s La Vida Bohème got everyone dancing again as soon as they took the stage and only kept on going with Mexico’s synthpop JotDog, before the hip-hop group Psycho Realm straight out of Downtown L.A.’s Pico-Union closed the night with their raucous beats and rambunctious stage act.

The parties kept going but we were headed back to our makeshift studio to bring you live interviews with Carla Morrison and Alex Anwandter for Raul’s Thursday night show. Thank goodness for that 3 hour time difference.  Only half-way done and lots of great music and interviews to come.

Hear the broadcasts in full here: http://kcrw.com/raulcampos