Clear out the living room and put on your dancing shoes. Payomet Performing Arts Center will present “Fiesta de Musica!,” a virtual concert featuring the Los Angeles band Las Cafeteras, at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, May 5th. This Cinco de Mayo benefit for Payomet beams directly into the dance hall of your choice, with a moderated virtual meet and greet with band members in the half hour leading up to the show.
The music is infectious, fusing traditional instrumentation with Afro-Mexican, hip-hop, and folk influences in a message that’s socially and politically conscious — a musical mirror of the band’s East L.A. community. Las Cafeteras will get your feet moving while opening your heart and mind. Their music transcends borders.
“They’re phenomenal. They’re electric,” says Payomet’s artistic director, Kevin Rice. “They’re immigrants, and dreamers. They’ll sing Woody Guthrie’s ‘This Land Is Your Land,’ and they start in English and segue right into Spanish. It’s powerful.”
Tickets are available at payomet.org. The concert itself is $35; add the meet and greet for $100. The Fiesta Party Package includes all of the above, plus chips and salsa, glasses, and margarita fixings, for $150. —André van der Wende