Viva Los Libertinos

So the day after our kayaking adventure Jo, Wayne and Nick decided to go for some downhill mountain biking. The cost proved to be too high for me so I found some hiking to do and we decided to meet up later that night at The Map Room for dinner.

The food was great and we had all gotten in a decent siesta, in preparation for the nights reggae show.

To paraphrase former Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart "We knew rock and roll when we saw it"

We left The Map Room and walked about a half block to our left, when a street band started playing. We wandered down and checked them out.

We found 4 young Argentinian dudes. Three of them were decked out in red vests, like the kind a Target employee might wear but the fourth, the drummer was sporting a ripped up shirt and some odd bright multi-color spandex pants. To paraphrase former Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart "We knew rock and roll when we saw it"

Los Libertinos, as they were called, play something along the lines of psychedelic classic rock in Spanish, except for one song in English, a decent cover of Bob Dylan´s "Like a Rolling Stone." For somebody traveling on their own the song "rang true and burned like glowing coals("Tangled up in Blue, Dylan)." Except, that is, the words they didn´t pronounce right.

So after this impromptu street performance the four of us went to The Roxy a dance club bar type deal where we waited for the reggae show. The show itself was not bad, with 13 or 14 people in the band, but I think that after such a rocking Libertinos show it was something of a let down. Jo was tired so Wayne walked her home but when he got back he had some interesting news; Los Libertinos had been spotted. Wayne saw them pushing their tour bus (read: shopping cart) to another bar. The reggae concert concluded and we quickly decided it was go time for another Libertinos show. Long story short an energy drink infused beverage was consumed at around 4:10am and we carried the night like true Argentinians, staying out until 5:30 am. That is technically an early Argentinian night. Suffice to say I did not go rock climbing as I had planned the next day.

Saturday we had gotten wind that Los Libertinos were planning on playing again. It was on. The previous night I had gone out with some other gringos (Israelis, English Swedish and more) and had sold a few people on checking them out.

It quickly became apparent that this newly assembled crew was just too big. After walking around a few bars looking for space to accommodate a crew of 14 or so gringos I finally decided that I just wanted to go to the place where Los Libertinos were waiting. Everyone agreed. However when we got there we found a lounge singer, which chased away most of our crew, except for Wayne, Jo, Hans an Austrian and Maria-Coseca, a porteña.We took a seat and listened to the lounge singer belt them out. Maria-Coseca seemed to know every single song.

Eventually a two of the girls who had split returned. We knew they´d be back. The rest of the night was a mix of music and an unspoken competition between Hans and Wayne over who is the funniest guy I´ve met in Argentina. Hans put in a strong effort, between the impassioned singing of Barcelona by Queen at the top of his lungs and the ordering of a margarita around 4:15( we all followed suit).

But I really gotta give the title to Wayne who had built up a strong resume of humor in the previous half week. From producing a whole lot of good buddy cop jokes about Zach Steele and Nick Noble! to making some great jokes about the juggling clown who appeared to be the bands manager, or the girl who followed the band and would eventually be their Yoko, the title was his.

But I digress. The night was a very good one and when Jo bought a round of shots for the band the creepy, watching the band from a distance on multiple occasions was ended. We were no longer the ones who might possibly give them the Selena (Too Soon?) or John Lennon (Fair Game?) treatment. We had a brief conversation in Spanish and we´re getting ready to leave until James Brown´s "I Feel Good" came on. A little dance fest ensued... The night ended and I wished Wayne and Jo good luck on their next three weeks. I also told Hans I might move to Vienna and have him teach me how to be more like him. ¡Viva Los Libertinos!