FRIENDS! After last year’s monster sell out party, this New Year’s Eve Rich Mix will be bouncing once again to the heavy carnival rhythms and Latin beats of TROPICALISTA brought to you by three of London’s top latin DJ crews and promoters MOVIMIENTOS, BATMACUMBA and ARRIBA LA CUMBIA. Firing up the soundsystem with a unique mix of classic Latin rhythms like Samba, Salsa, Cumbia and Merengue with fresh urban and electronic sounds from Dancehall and Reggaeton, to Baile Funk and Tecnobrega plus plenty of Tropical bass and global ghetto beats. On the night welcoming very special live guests in the form of stunning Cumbia big band La Papayera featuring some of London's finest Colombian musicians will guarantee dancing and madness for a New Years Eve to remember (depending on how many Caipirinhas you devour...) There'll be big tropical decor, carnival face-painting, Colombian food shack and expert cocktail stall.
Big band La Papayera are an 8-piece ensemble who've set many stages alight including Womad, Carnaval del Pueblo, Barbican and Shepherds Bush Empire, to name a few. Led by the charismatic singer Angelica Lopez and harnessing the accordian flourishes of young maestro Jose Hernando Arias (BBC Radio 3 World Routes Academy) the band comprises some of the finest Colombian musicians living in London all with impressive pedigrees as musicians and names on the vibrant London Latin scene. Together they'll remind you just what happy chaos a little sunshine, good spirits and great music can cause when combined mashed up together by the experts.
In Colombia, a 'papayera' group is known as a collection of local musicians for hire who play the souped-up brass-driven rhythms of cumbia and vallenato, which are so typical of Colombia's Caribbean coast. If you're planning a party in Baranquilla or any of Colombia's 'costa' towns, a papayera group guarantees you fun, mayhem and a right royal rumpus while the aguardiente flows freely.
Costs: £20 on the door, £15 advance
Monday 31st December 2012