On De Scene: Rock On T&T! Cabana del Latino Rock Night

So it's a usual night for me, I can't sleep. I could walk a little better now though *giggle* & I have a blog to do so...I decided to head out. Tonight, I went to La Cabana Del Latino in Curepe, a night spot managed by Top Latin (Salsa) dancer, Rico. Now doh leh de name fool yuh eh, all kinda styles does buss out dey, not just Latin as I'll now relate to you.

I got to the spot & plenty people about 95% of the patrons wearing black. I though to myself this was not a good night to wear orange *giggle*. It a was rock night at La Cabana. Now I know we all love we Soca eh, but permit me a little time to open yuh mind ah bit.

Three bands performed for approximately 20 minuets per set. First up was GYAZETTE & just like their name (remember the newspaper?) they brought the news by dealing with some social issues. Think T&T's very own Orange Sky meet 3 Canal. Their music reminded me of Orange Sky & their lyrics & style, 3 Canal. I loved that they included steelpan music to their entire set so even though each song was different, they had their own signature sound. Then there were the congas. I loved it all! The lead vocalist/guitarist was very entertaining, without being overtly showy. He sang in our local twang & that did it for me, I was hooked. So many times when Trinbagonians do other genres of music we tend to think we have to adopt the accent of the originating country. hmmmm...

GYAZETTE after their performance.

Next up was LYNCHPIN. They were everything I expected a hardcore rock band to be. Lead singer Sievan Siewsarran was aggressive & his performance was peppered in cuss! Some socially & politically concious lyrics from what I gathered, but I said it, CUSS! Lynchpin had a lot of support from the audience who were eating out of their hands. The thing that amazed me though was the transformation of the guys.

Lead singer of Lynchpin Sievan Siewsarran

Sievan came in as a cool guy out for an evening chill, next thing he was up on stage scaring me. LOL. & guess what? He is a teacher. I spoke with one of his students Justin Joseph after the set & he said "Sir was excellent, I wouldn't think about misbehaving with a teacher like that." Their drummer told me that the band was made up of people from all works of life & it was all about showmanship but when they leave the stage it was back to reality. All walks of life seemed the same with the audience caused I spotted a few lawyers, a doctor, 2 drummers from Soca bands & a lot of UWI students & graduates. Oh & of course some Latin dancers & a few Goth dressers. All races were also in attendance.

LYNCHPIN on stage.

VOX DEUS was the closing band. Now whole night I was checking out the hairstyle on a guy I saw outside the spot, he had a sort of Rihanna hairstyle going on-yuh know de one dat short on one side & non existent on de other. The guy was quiet, quiet to the point where I wondered what this little baby boy doing here, was it his first time out? Next thing I knew he was up on stage tearing it up! Transformation boy! (that word again) He did this thing with his voice that I used to think only a producer & his equipment could produce, a sort of wild animal-chant-cry, boy was I wrong, humans can produce that sound naturally. Vox Deus' sound started off pop rock-ish, then it gradually eased into the harder stuff, then mutated into soft rock. My friend Benga commented that "they were well balanced." The headbangers came out in full force. The "baby" LOL informed the audience that there is a site on the Internet (name called) where bands from all over the world go up against each other & get this, Vox Deus is rated # 8!

VOX DEUS on stage.

For those of us that think Rock music is noise, or for a "certain type", think again. Yes we as Trinbagonians love we Soca & we Chutney & we Rapso, & we Calypso & we Gospel etc, but this experience taught me that we must appreciate OUR music, ALL genres. After all, if music can unite us, & this is what we actively seek, REAL UNITY, why turn our back against what we don't understand? Why not try to understand & appreciate? Some of the messages (no disrespect just keeping it real) were more positive than I've heard in some of our Soca songs & everyone left feeling a little lighter as the energetic performances given, helped to release whatever stress we may have come with. I for one I'm gonna give Rock music a chance, now I'm not turning into a headbanger eh, LOL, however, I will try to be a little more open minded about music & most things. What about you? Yuh learn something new everyday eh...

Bye Socanites
Oceans may divide us, but MUSIC brings us together,
Knyxx...