Photo Credit: BrookylnVegan.comBounce Bounce Bounce. I’m all bounced out from dancing for three hours at the Kool Haus. It’s almost 1 am and I just got home from seeing Manu Chao and the Radio Bemba Sound System live in concert. And I’m stating that hands down, this goes on the list of the top five concerts I’ve ever seen. The man is, to quote my partner-in-concert-crime, A., “Maniacally insane.” And that’s putting it mildly. I guess it was a special day for him because it was also his birthday. The opening band was to be a surprise, but the surprise was that there was no opening band. Somebody must have messed up. The Kool Haus was packed to the rafters. The crowd was screaming. The jumpers started jumping. His band came out, and then him. Me Gustas Tu! I liked Manu Chao. Te quiero mucho! Now I love Manu Chao. Smiling like sunshine, beating the microphone on his head, tearing his shirt and hammering his heart, wheeling his towel around like a lasso, leaping up and down like a pogo stick. He was absolutely brilliant. His band was brilliant too. They were all brilliant. It was all freakin’ brilliant. Now my arms and legs hurt. There was reggae, latin, ska, all rolled up together. There were Colombians and Italians and Mexicans waving their flags around. There was weed wafting everywhere. There was sweat and smell, and rub-rub bodies bumping into each other as they raised their arms up and jumped in the air. Three and a half hours and six encores later, they finally left the stage, grinning and bowing and applauding the audience. It was pure love.
The Chapati Kid 