I really enjoyed the event! I loved the environment that was created. It was comfortable, chill and enjoyable. But, it took a long time for Guachinangos to come on stage. The DJ started at 8:45 and Guachinangos didn’t come on until about 9:45. Though the DJ was great, I got impatient after a while. But, when Guachinangos came on I was very entertained! The act was super engaging and fun. It looked like they were happy to be performing. I didn’t expect the venue to look the way it did. The venue was full of tables and chairs because World Café Live is also a restaurant. I expected the venue to have more open space. -Cara Fredericks
This event really made me feel like I was part of a community, which relates to question number three in module 1.6. When I first arrived at the café, the first thing I noticed was how diverse the audience was, which I feel isn’t very common when it comes to musical performances. I was eager to know how everyone in the audience would interact with each other during the performance, if at all. During the performance, everyone was up together and dancing along to the music, including me. I am someone who usually doesn’t like to get up at events like this, but the positive vibe from the crowd, along with such a diverse group of people dancing together, caused me to want to get up and participate. I did not feel awkward doing it all which really gave me a sense of belonging in the community that was around me.
I had such an amazing experience at the Viernes Calientes dance party last Friday! At first, when you walk in, the building is attached to the WXPN radio station, so there were a couple of other rooms and events going on. When we walked into World Cafe Live, it was just like any other restaurant. There wasn't any Hispanic music playing yet, just normal Friday evening tunes. As soon as the DJ came on and started to play, I was ready to dance! The music was so fun, loud, and uplifting. The crowd was also pretty diverse, and I was very in my element. And it just kept getting better! When Guachinangos came onstage, everyone was ready to party. I had a really good evening, and can't wait to go to another one! - Abby Ruane
I really enjoyed the entire vibe of the show. The crowd was diverse in so many ways, people from all different backgrounds as well as of different ages. It was a ton of fun as everyone just wanted to have a great time. I enjoyed the music and the performance and was very grateful for the experience. -Gabriel Cabrera
Going into the Viernes Calientes I didn’t know what to expect. I’ve been to that venue before, but I reserved a table for myself which was new to me. When I got there as a DJ playing some beats that I predicted would be similar to the music the Guachinangos would be playing. My expectation was that the music would either be Cuban dance music, derived from guaguanco/bolero/something similar, or mariachi music. But when I saw the stage, I didn’t see the traditional instruments used in either genre. I had no idea what to expect. When they started playing, the conga player started it. This is pretty traditional for afro-cuban music so there was no surprise there. But when the electric guitar and bass came in, it wasn’t to any groove I was familiar with. When all of the members started playing it was like a wall of sound hit me, I was unsure what to grab unto. The best way I can describe it honestly would’ve been Mexican Columbian Fusion, which is ironically exactly how they describe themselves, with the addition of Mexican folk music. The folk music element was the most unexpected part of the music because I am so unfamiliar with folk music in general. The music was oddly danceable too. Right, when they started playing there was an initial run to the dance floor. Then, after some time everyone began to dance. I started to dance too, one of the regulars showed me this two-step kind of move that I was comfortable enough with. I really surprised myself with this because I am in NO WAY a dancer. It was really cool to be part of the experience though. If you were just watching, I can see being able to make great observations. But being IN the music and dancing with the regulars and newcomers alike was really special. The crowd was really diverse, but it only diversified right before the music. Up until that point, the dinner crowd was mostly white. The Viernes Calientes event showed me a completely different side of Philadelphia too, both being in a different region than I’m used to, and having different music which was foreign to me as well. Overall, I had an amazing time and I am definitely considering going back with my friends to experience it again.
-Greg Masters