Angela's Andean Adventures.
Weekend of Los Kjarkas Concert in October 2002.
On the morning of 9th October I was awake really early getting ready for
my trip to London and when I was nearly ready I woke up Colin and we had
some breakfast together before leaving the house. My train wasn't leaving
until 10.08 so we had more time than usual and still had time on arrival at
the station for another cup of coffee there before my train arrived. Colin
did not accompany me on this occasion, preferring to join his son at a rugby
match, which is something they do every saturday because they are both very
keen supporters of Bath Rugby club. It was a nice ride to London and I
arrived at Paddington at midday and then went by underground straight to
Leicester Square and found my way to the queue outside Equinox Empire,
arriving there at exactly 1 pm and the queue was not too bad at that point.
Almost immediately on my arrival in the queue a very friendly Bolivian
lady started talking to me and then as her Mum and other friends of hers
arrived they included me in their group and were all very friendly and
interested about my trip last year to their countries, and they asked me if
I would like to join them for the whole concert and I said yes! About this
time I phoned my friend Aquiles on his mobile, only to discover that he was
not coming to the concert after all. He was rushing around doing his last
minute shopping because he was flying to Peru the next day - 2 months
earlier than planned because of his Dad being ill and far from home in a
hospital in Arequipa (his family live in Cusco), but he asked me to phone
him when the concert was over so that we could meet up afterwards. As by
this time I was enjoying myself with my new found Bolivian and Peruvian
friends I did not mind being there by myself. Also, a lady tapped me on the
shoulder and asked what everyone was queuing for. She said the queue
stretched for miles by this time and was the longest queue she had ever
seen!!!
About 15 minutes before the doors were due to open I received another
surprise. I looked around and there was my friend Rosita, with Carlos, who
had driven down from Edinburgh the previous day. In fact she said they
stopped and knocked on my door early that morning to offer me a lift (but of
course I was not there; I was at Colin's!). Luckily someone near us in the
queue had 2 spare tickets and sold them to Rosita and Carlos who had decided
at the last minute to join me at the concert. When the doors opened the men
on the door were checking everyone's contents of their bags (of which I had
two) and by the time they let me pass, I had lost sight of my new friends
and could not find them when I got inside either. I knew they were looking
for a table and there were only a few on the balconies so I gave up and
decided to stand up for the concert instead and was lucky enough to get a
spot right in front of the stage. In fact I was sitting on the edge of the
stage whilst waiting for it all to begin. Rosita and Carlos joined me a few
moments later, and gradually the venue filled up until it was jam packed. I
noticed that various people around me had bought the latest Kjarkas cd and
had every intention of buying it myself later on - it was called 'Que No
Muera La Tradicion Vol 5: Cuecas y Bailecitos' (2002). Only the rush to get
inside quickly made me not notice the stall where it was being sold on the
way in!
The first band on stage were Bolivian and I have already forgotten their
name but they were very good. This was followed by a Peruvian band from
Germany called Generacion, but it was mainly English music done on andean
instruments which is not my favourite form of andean music. I much prefer
the traditional music of the Andes so I knew I would not be tempted to buy
any of their cds (of which I later noticed there were two available). Both
bands did a small set of about 15 minutes each, and then after 10 minutes of
rearranging the instruments etc the magic moment arrived - the arrival of
Kjarkas on stage - which by this time was about 4 pm.
There followed 3 hours of pure magic and I was quite overcome with
delight. The joy of being so close to the band - only 2 metres away, with
Elmer, the singer, right in front of me! I received many lovely smiles from
him and others of the musicians during the concert - each time my heart
doing a triple jump with excitement. Elmer the singer is incredibly
charismatic and it was a joy to watch him and the others all throughout the
concert and see the effect they were having on the crowd. Young girls around
me were climbing up on the stage during the concert and managed to get near
one of the musicians just long enough for their friends to take a photo
before the bouncers made them get back and this happened a lot and the band
did not seem to mind. I wished that I too could be as brave but decided
already that I would try to get backstage afterwards instead. Each time the
bouncers were escorting one or two back others further away were climbing up
and lots of lucky people had a photo taken with the band whilst they were
still actually playing! The atmosphere was incredible, enormous flags of
Bolivia being waved overhead, the whole crowd swaying or clapping to the
music, and although it was quite a crush being at the front, and quite hard
to hold onto my position there with others behind trying to push in, it was
just fantastic to be right there and able to take pictures of the band - I
took about 20 altogether throughout the show. There were also Bolivian
dancers up on the stage at times performing in front of the band and I
managed to capture all this in photos as well. The band did several encores
and did not finish playing until about quarter to seven.
Rosita and Carlos had to dash away as they needed to get their car from
the carpark because of the high cost of parking in that area, so I was on my
own when I climbed up onto the stage and slipped through a barrier in the
backstage direction - along with several other women!!! We tried to climb
over a barrier but that proved impossible and then we came across a wall of
men trying to stop people passing through and I was so disappointed thinking
I would not see them after all, when suddenly I spotted my friend Carlos
Suldana who plays with Kausary and he was one of the workers backstage. I
called his name and asked if he could get me backstage and he told the guys
I was a friend and asked if I could pass and they let me through! I was so
thrilled. I wasn't the only one of course - others had got there before me
before the wall of men formed to prevent this. It was then just a patient
wait until I could approach and whilst waiting I spoke to William Celinas
who was one of the organisers of the concert and from whom I bought my
ticket, and he asked Gaston and Elmer on my behalf if I could have a photo
taken with them and they said yes! For a few precious moments I was sitting
between Elmer and Gaston, with their arms around my shoulders, whilst the
photo was taken and they also signed their autographs for me. Before moving
on to let others take my place, I asked about concerts in La Paz in February
but unfortunately they won't be playing there then - they will be playing in
December so I will miss it! I thanked both William and Carlos profusely for
their aid in helping me to meet the band and then climbed back off the stage
and made my way outside. By this time unfortunately all the Kjarkas cds on
the stall had been sold and none of the bouncers when I asked were
interested in trying to find out if more were available backstage. It made
me regret not asking the band or William Celinas if I could buy one whilst I
was backstage with them! I saw the two Generacion cds for sale and what
looked like a programme which I bought but it was just a latin swiss
magazine but was worth the £3 paid for the article on the band that was
inside along with pictures. It also enabled me to find out the name of their
new charango player from Japan (whose name I will have to look up and tell
you as I do not have the magazine with me right now). He is a really
brilliant charango player.
Once outside I found a quiet spot and phoned Aquiles and he said he was
in Oxford Circus and could be with me within half an hour. Whilst waiting I
decided to go into a nearby pub and have one drink, deciding on the pub
which Aquiles once pointed out to me as being a favourite with South
Americans. A quick glance around inside I did not see anyone I knew - I went
to the bar and got a drink and then went to look for somewhere to sit down,
and then next moment I felt someone tap me on the shoulder and to my delight
it was my friend Dante and his friend whose name I can never remember who is
always very interesting to talk to, especially as we usually chat in Spanish
so it is good practice for me. The three of us went to sit down with some
Bolivian friends at a table, and we were joined there by another friend
Santiago who lives mostly in France, but all of these friends had been there
at the concert. When the half hour was almost up I phoned Aquiles to say
where I was and shortly afterwards he and Claire joined us and we had a
lovely couple of hours all together before it was time for me to go to catch
my train. Aquiles and Claire accompanied me to Charing Cross as from there I
could get a direct underground train to Paddington and they could get the
main line train home to Claire's flat (Aquiles having already given up his
own flat as his trip to Peru will be for 6 months until next April).
After leaving them and making my way to Paddington, I only had to wait 15
minutes until I could board my train, about 20 minutes before it was due to
leave. I always much prefer getting there in plenty of time instead of a
frantic rush with the risk of missing it (which is sometimes the case when I
am with my South American friends!) Aquiles said he will more than likely
hire a car and arrive to meet me in Lima when I arrive in Peru, so that we
can start the travel to various parts that we plan to do. This is excellent
for me because I will be much safer travelling with a Peruvian friend, and
is also nice for him because we will be sharing the costs of the trip (hire
of car and driver plus the fuel costs) so it is more affordable for him to
do that travelling as well. It is possible, as long as his Dad is fully
recovered, that his parents and younger brother might join us on that
travelling trip as well. My train left London on time and I arrived back at
Bath at twenty past midnight where Colin met me and took me back to the
house, having spent a really enjoyable day himself at the rugby with his
son. We both had lots to talk about.
The next exciting adventure to look forward to is our forthcoming trip to
Paris, departing from London on Sunday 27th October and staying there until
Saturday 2nd November - we will be staying with Leo and Christele and their
children. It will be my fourth visit to their home and I am so looking
forward to seeing them all again. They all came to us in April and really
enjoyed Bath. Colin is especially looking forward to it, because it is only
his second ever visit to Paris, the first time was with me about 9 years
ago.
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