Friday 2nd October 2009 @ Colston Hall, Bristol

Buena Vista Social Club are as Cuban as mojitos, communism and Fidel’s beard, right? Well…sort of. Tonight’s show at Colston Hall saw an 11-piece ensemble sort through the tracks popularised by the 1999 Wim Wenders film and although six of the original members has since died, brand Buena Vista continues to tour and there is no shortage of fans desperate to lap up a bit of La Musica de la Habana. As Cuban’s aren’t allowed to travel, it is a testament to the power of this brand that even strict communist rules can’t stop them!

Buena Vista Social Club was originally a private members club where Cuban legends such as Ibrahim Ferrer and Ruben Gonzalez belted out Cha-Cha-Cha and Mambo numbers in a pre-revolution Havana. The location is now lost, although travel to Cuba and about 100 jiniteros will, for a small fee, take you there!

Tonight’s line up didn’t disappoint. They provided the audience with a heady mix of Afro-Cuban rhythms, Latino horns and Spanish guitar, transporting you to the sultry, tropical heat of Cuba. The musicians perfectly blended their various instruments and wowed the crowd during the solo performances. The set was a combination of instrumentals and vocal numbers but I felt that Colston Hall was not the venue for this kind of performance. I want my rhumba served up to me in a sweaty club where the crowd have room to get down and dirty, after all this is dance music! Sadly until the end, the crowd were as rigid as Castro’s hatred of free-market economics.

BVSC is something of a tourist information commodity and not the sound of ‘sexy young Habana’. You’ll hear them anywhere there is a tourist with money but wander around the back streets and you’ll hear gritty hip-hop presenting a much darker view of Cuba. But that said, tonight there was no doubt that BVSC are brilliant!

www.buenavistasocialclub.com

Hazel Goodfellow