The seats at Stuart’s Opera House on Tuesday evening were mostly empty, not because of the turbulent weather, but because people were on their feet dancing.
The venue was home to a performance by Latin bands Bomba Estereo and Grupo Fantasma. The band played to a crowd of 270 community members and Ohio University students.
“When you do these kinds of shows, you always end up getting new people coming through, which is really cool,” said Brian Koscho, marketing director for Stuart’s Opera House. “The most exciting thing for me is when people come through for the first time.”
Danny “DJ Self Help” Johnson opened the show, fusing Latin beats with heavy bass to get the crowd pumped up for Grupo Fantasma, who went first in the lineup.
“One of our goals has always been to share our love and appreciation of Latin music and rhythms and to help make them less intimidating to the uninitiated and non-Spanish speaking people of the world,” said Greg Gonzalez, the band’s bass player, in an email. “It’s easy music to love and dance to and there’s something everybody can appreciate, whether they like drums, horns, guitars or whatever.”
Quickly the pit and aisles filled with dancing audiences members, ranging from middle-aged couples salsa dancing to college-age students moshing next to the stage.
The dancing continued when Bomba Estereo took the stage, opening its set with an instrumental with synthesizers that phased into Latin music layered over different electronic beats.
Lauretta Werner, a junior studying violin performance, was a first-time attendee of a Stuart’s show. Werner came to the show with her friend who hails from Colombia, home country of performers Bomba Estereo.
“It was cool to hear all the Latin American music, because even if you didn’t know what was going on, you were still excited,” said Werner.
Koscho said the opera house was pleased with the show and the turnout, especially the many newcomers in the audience, who Tim Peacock, executive director of Stuart’s Opera House, pointed out in his introduction.
“This is a bit out of the norm for an opera house show, especially Bomba Estereo (with their electronic element) and (this is) something that is intense both in volume and way that they’re playing,” Koscho said. “Those kinds of things, because the room is so intimate, kind of bleed into the audience.”
eb104010@ohiou.edu
