My goal is to see one show per week. Yes, I might be that annoying friend that just has to tell you about the thing you missed, but I’m also catching every great show in the city of Chicago–with plenty more ahead of me. Welcome to the Chicago Concert Dispatch.
At the time of this show, it is 28 weeks into the year and I have seen 121 shows.
The show sold out at the door, and the crowd was ready to party. Dave Mata was spinning tracks across genres so smoothly it felt like we were sliding through the radio stations. All his choices made us move, feeding into the crowd’s mood. He did a great job keeping the crowds energy up for our bands.
As Divino Niño took the stage, the sold out crowd was already dense. They started by getting our attention with a little instrumental jam, so that when they hit the opening chords of “Quiero” a whoop went up from the audience. They have been getting a decent amount of well-deserved buzz of their first full length release, Foam, earlier this summer, so it’s not a surprise that the people around me were singing along to hits like “Quiero,” and later in the set, “Maria.”
If you haven’t seen or heard these guys, they do glistening bilingual jazzy synth and jangle guitar bedroom pop. But what really makes this group stand out is the combination of the three vocalists, Camilo Medina, Javier Forero, and Guillermo Rodriguez. They blend so beautifully it tickles the happiness center of my brain. Seeing the tracks come alive for the first time since I’ve been able to immerse in the full album was like getting into a hot bubble bath, one that makes you sweat (summer at the Bottle is always steamy), but you don’t want to get out because it is so relaxing–a delight to the senses. Forero smiled as he played the first notes to “Foam” on his bass. The glistening synth courtesy of Luke Otwell gave me shivers. Medina had his signature shoulder shimmy and all was right and properly in place for a Divino Niño show. They wooed the audience with subtle sensuality. The way Medina sings with rounded notes. Like he is chewing on the words. Rodriguez felt the beat of “Coca Cola” with his hips. Having both Pierce Codina on drums and Daniel Villareal on percussion added a double layer of must move body delight. From the slide guitar on “B@d Luck” to the extra chewy closing song “Fire,” there was something to love about every song they played.
Combo Chimbita was visiting us from Colombia (which also happens to be the homeland of Medina and Forero), and lead vocalist Carolina Oliveros commented on how the audience and their friends made them feel like the show and Chicago was like a home to them. Divino Niño had also commented on how there was a special vibe. There was a camaraderie, a shared joy as everyone allowed themselves to be fully immersed in the beat. Combo Chimbita took latin guacharaca rhythms and combined it with synths and guitars that developed in slow circling psych patterns. It felt essential to move as they unfurled the songs. They opened with the title track of their alubm Ahomale. It started rhythmic and gentle, flowing along and then the song turned sharply to a heavy metal assault. The force of it shook the audience into a body of thrashing ecstacy. The operatic vocals by Oliveros tugged at my soul as she gave us elation and despair. Throughout the show she moved with such fluidity, it was like she didn’t have joints, but then she suddenly moved each joint with sharp isolation. It was mesmerizing. With the further visual stimulation of the projections, it was like time didn’t exist. We were going down a rabbit hole. When they would break I felt dazed and had no idea how many songs we had wound our way through since the last breather. Could that have really been just one song? It was a thrilling journey I wished would never end. But end it did. They left me with that gratifying jelly feeling in my legs and a need to see them again.
Divino Niño Official | Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram
Combo Chimbita Official | Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram
You must be logged in to post a comment.