Peep: Bomba Estéreo Estalla En Brooklyn!

By Elis T. Ortiz

For over a year, Bomba Estéreo has been an unstoppable touring machine. The band's debut album Blow Up dropped in 2009 to critical acclaim, and since then they've served their "electro vacilón" sound to packed shows across the country (and the world!).

MTV Iggy's "Best New Band In The World" recently kicked off their U.S. summer tour, which will culminate at the Bumbershoot Festival on September 9. When Team Blogamole heard that our hottest Descubre & Download band of 2009 was going to be in NYC, we had to catch them at Celebrate Brooklyn!, where they braved some scary thunder, suffocating heat and fatigue to give fans some real "Fuego"!

Backstage with Bomba Estéreo

There's nothing like a hot summer night filled with great tunes! Lucky for us, Brooklyn’s Prospect Park Bandshell was wired with Latin music on Friday night (July 23).

Bomba Estéreo rocks Brooklyn

Primero en el escenario was BK’s own Navegante, led by Jean Shepherd of Puerto Rican and Peruvian descent. His electro funk rhythm had local fans dancing and singing along, though they were forced to keep it behind the barricades that held them about thirty feet from the stage.

Navegante's Jean Shepherd

Organizers had the front area reserved for VIP members, and there weren’t many of them there to fill up the space — unfortunately for Navegante, who could have had a nice crowd of dancers right at his feet.

Navegante

Los que estaban ahi para ver a los rockeros puertoriqueños La Secta Allstar also had to sing along from a distance. The recipients of Premio Lo Nuestro’s 2010 award for best rock album of the year delighted the crowd with classics, including "Bombón de Azúcar," canción original de La Secta que fué prestada y llevada a la cultura pop por Ricky Martin.

La Secta Allstar

Thunder and rain threatened to cancel the rest of the concert during intermission, scattering away some of the crowd, so that it was largely a Bomba Estéreo fan base left waiting for them. But the skies dried up, and by the time the Colombian group exploded on the scene, the hipster Latino mix of the BK audience was ready to join them for the ride.

Celebrate Brooklyn! crowd waiting for Bomba Estéreo

Li, la voz de Bomba Estéreo, salió bailando dressed in a mesh see-through top, with gold 80’s style shorts, and a long scarf with black, gold, and silver etchings draped like a robe around her neck, cinched to the front of her waistline by the elastic in her shorts.

She was all a-glitter down to her silver shoes, bailando su electro cumbia con un suave movimiento de cadera que hipnotizaba la gente y los puso a todos de pie. By this time, the VIP area at the front of the stage had a nice crowd filling it up and dancing with her.

Bomba Estéreo's Li Saumet at Celebrate Brooklyn!

Li gets down at Celebrate Brooklyn!

Small as she is, Li has a larger than life quality to her when performing on stage, drawing in the crowd in a magnetic manner that makes one think of seduction. And they were all hooked! Bailaron, brincaron, y cantaron con ella through album hits like “Raza” and the bilingual “Feelin’” while Li threw out roses to fans below.

Simón Mejía keeps the crowd moving

Towards the end of their set, the fans screamed out for more, y la cosa se puso aun más caliente todavía. The screaming and jumping rose to its climax when Bomba Estéreo played their megahit “Fuego” and everyone went crazy!

In all the excitement, one anxious fan literally dove head first over the barricade, landing half on the metal chairs of the VIP area before finally hitting the ground, got herself up without being spotted by security, and made her way to the stage. We hope she’s okay, but we have a feeling any scratches were well worth it for her!

Bomba Estéreo's Li Saumet backstage

If you’ve never seen Bomba Estéreo perform live, what are you waiting for? To find a tour date near you, click here.

(images by Bashira Webb for Tr3s)

Did you submit your info to attend MTV Iggy's exclusive Bomba Estéreo concert on July 29? Hurry, before it's too late!!!

Tags Bandshell, Bomba Estereo, Brooklyn, Celebrate Brooklyn, Concert, La Secta Allstar, Música, Navegante, photo, Photos, Prospect Park, review, show