Naomi Shelton and the Gospel Queens + Bomba Estereo at Pritzker Pavilion: Photo gallery, ZZK at Beauty Bar: Live review

Posted in Music by John Dugan on August 4th, 2010 at 1:39 pm

Last week, we Chicagoans were treated to an extra good dose of gospel—via Brooklyn’s Naomi Shelton and the Gospel Queens—and also South American music as the Colombian Music Festival wrapped up a series of showcase gigs in the city. Both came together at the Pritzker Pavilion last Monday night as the crowd packed the lawn for covert wine-sipping and teetotaling music lovers infiltrated the pavilion seating itself. Bomba Estereo and the Gospel Queens were a strange combo to be sure. The Colombian band might not be avant garde, but it tries hard to eschew anything resembling quaint rustic music—rapid-fire vocals that aren’t too far from rap combine with cumbia rhythms and some Pixies-ish indie rockish moves. Despite what some critics have said, I didn’t find the band psychedelic at all. Perhaps some find the winding cumbia guitar lines disorienting.

As much as I was pleased to catch the final show of the Colombian Music fest, I had a more out-there experience a night later with more South American music as ZZK (Zizek Urban Beats Club) hit the Beauty Bar with live digital-meets-traditional beats from the band Tremor which incorporates both charango guitar, the bombo legüero drum and synths, digital beats and guitar—all in a pretty sophisticated but accessible way that makes you wanna dance. Less pop music than Bomba, Tremor felt more like the future of South American beats, rather than a contemporary fusion—maybe a subtle difference. Clayton Hauck has photo-booth shots from the event.