Tonight I caught the full set of my favourite band of Carnival: “Grupo Sihuey”.
They do a great set. Pro musicians, excellent rhythm section, fantastic singer. They do a lot of Cumbia and Merengue music and they do it well.
They have the crowd dancing and they also have the Pacifico girls on stage dancing sexy cumbia moves and throwing trinkets to the audience.
It’s hard for me to convey what this part of Carnival is like. The street I live on is gated off and there are 10 stages set up.
Tens of thousands of people show up every night for 6 nights and wander around, drinking, eating, dancing. People of all ages come from all over Mexico. Some sling their kids over their shoulders and move through the sound. The kids aren’t bothered by the noise.
The bands are all very good and there is a mix of Norteño, rock, cumbia, and of course Banda music. It is loud and boisterous. Every stage is at full volume.
I am obliged to go out and look around every night. It’s sometimes hard being one of very few gringo’s in the crowd, but people are friendly.
I also notice that a lot of the bands play a lot of the same songs. The hits of 2009 and the ever popular songs of Sinaloa (the state that Mazatlán is in (actually Mazatlán is in the state of Carnival chaos right now, but I digress)).
When I get home the music from all 10 stages seems to channel up the hill and swirl into a potent mix. Like 10 radios turned to 11. Until 4:00am or so every night…
I am happy and honoured to have the experience, but I also look forward to Ash Wednesday and the end of Carnival.
My 12 sec video of Grupo Sihuey:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7934667150626010328
Myspace official Grupo Sihuey video:
http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=37645407
The swirl of music from my balcony:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-218996591581135829
Fantastic videos, Michael. Yes, it was Sihuey we were dancing to. There’s no way to help yourself, you just have to get moving when you hear them.
I know what you mean about being the only gringos. We got stared at a little, then our new friend Claudia started dancing with us, and then we were joined by the smooth guy in the panama hat. Very fun. I love that you can dance as couples, or by yourself, or larger groups.
Tonight is the last parade, and I hope to get a little more dancing in, too. We’ll keep our eye out for you!