Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Los Amigos Invisibles

I don’t care that Venezuelan pop stars Los Amigos Invisibles sing in Spanish and weave cumbia rhythms and congas into their music — they are the sound of American dance floors in the early 1980s. Slightly disco, but with more of the R&B sound that, at the time, was redefining itself into dance music. Ironic that a band would revive the old club vibe that essentially put cover bands out of business for a few years. DJs ran that show and created the mixes that became the soundtrack for the giant and seemingly endless party that was disco. The music was only about two things: dancing and hooking up. And listening to LAI is like bringing that all back to life, but this time with a hazy acid feel and the aforementioned Latino presence.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“Thanks to ex-President Caldera’s economic policies,” the band writes in their bio, “LAI decides to try their luck with 20 CDs under their arms in New York.” They shopped the CDs to a record store. As luck would have it, David Byrne (ex Talking Heads) bought one. He called the band and offered to sign them to his own label. For the Venezuelans, this was a fortuitous move. “From now on,” the LAI bio continues, “music is no longer a hobby and becomes the profession of the band members.” That entry was dated 1997.

By 2003, critics were calling The Venezuelan Zinga Son, Vol. 1 a masterpiece. Just short of jam-band status, the Grammy-nominated Los Amigos Invisibles have a killer sense of humor — there is as much buffoonery crammed into their videos as there are cameos by hot Latina babes. And they crank with as much dance-floor passion as did their ’80s forebearers. It sounds so good that you have to wonder if disco is going to rise again, on the backs of newcomers — in polyester and bad wigs and platforms.

LOS AMIGOS INVISIBLES: House of Blues, Thursday, August 6, 7 p.m. 619-299-2583. $17.50.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Making Love to Goats, Rachmaninoff, and Elgar

Next Article

2024 continues to impress with yellowfin much closer to San Diego than they should be

New rockfish regulations coming this week as opener approaches

I don’t care that Venezuelan pop stars Los Amigos Invisibles sing in Spanish and weave cumbia rhythms and congas into their music — they are the sound of American dance floors in the early 1980s. Slightly disco, but with more of the R&B sound that, at the time, was redefining itself into dance music. Ironic that a band would revive the old club vibe that essentially put cover bands out of business for a few years. DJs ran that show and created the mixes that became the soundtrack for the giant and seemingly endless party that was disco. The music was only about two things: dancing and hooking up. And listening to LAI is like bringing that all back to life, but this time with a hazy acid feel and the aforementioned Latino presence.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“Thanks to ex-President Caldera’s economic policies,” the band writes in their bio, “LAI decides to try their luck with 20 CDs under their arms in New York.” They shopped the CDs to a record store. As luck would have it, David Byrne (ex Talking Heads) bought one. He called the band and offered to sign them to his own label. For the Venezuelans, this was a fortuitous move. “From now on,” the LAI bio continues, “music is no longer a hobby and becomes the profession of the band members.” That entry was dated 1997.

By 2003, critics were calling The Venezuelan Zinga Son, Vol. 1 a masterpiece. Just short of jam-band status, the Grammy-nominated Los Amigos Invisibles have a killer sense of humor — there is as much buffoonery crammed into their videos as there are cameos by hot Latina babes. And they crank with as much dance-floor passion as did their ’80s forebearers. It sounds so good that you have to wonder if disco is going to rise again, on the backs of newcomers — in polyester and bad wigs and platforms.

LOS AMIGOS INVISIBLES: House of Blues, Thursday, August 6, 7 p.m. 619-299-2583. $17.50.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

March is typically windy, Sage scents in the foothills

Butterflies may cross the county
Next Article

Melissa Etheridge, The Imaginary Amazon

Events April 1-April 3, 2024
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.