Miami, Florida – October 15, 2009 – Miami’s Rock-n-Roll Gypsies put on a great show for a great cause
Yesterday, October 14th, the second floor of Miami’s oldest bar was dead quiet at 8:15 PM. The up-stairs walk leading up to the cabaret stage was greeted by a small red velvet-draped table with candles and a wood-framed sign that read: The show starts at 9:00. Upstairs, last minute preparations were being put into place for The Coffee House Gypsies & Friends Concert for The Susan G. Komen Miami/Ft Lauderdale Affiliate which featured guest band The Bailouts and Cuban artist, Celia Crespo. Red velvet curtains hung across walls decorated with ornate mardi gras –styled masks. A tall iron candelabrum with red candles stood by the main entrance door where several pieces of art were displayed- and next to the art work, an easel ready for creation. Center pieces filled with lollipops and candy were placed on every table as a wicked-faced golden mask smiled over the room from beneath a hanging black feather boa.
“The first floor is full of people,” said THP’s Juan Carlos Cordero when he stormed into the room, “and everyone is asking what time the doors up here will open!” Less than an hour later, the upstairs room of Miami’s oldest (and most famous) bar and live music venue was packed from wall to wall. The crowd ranged through all ages; college kids crammed the bar while a large group of forty-somethings drank and ate BBQ at the reserved tables in front of the stage. Tobacco Road staff rushed to bring more chairs for the upstairs crowd up from below. And then The Gypsies appeared. Alexandra was sporting black and glitter with jeans and a black sparkling cap. Eric in his gothic black eyeliner was in a buttoned-up black dress shirt with neon pink tie, very retro-80’s vampire. Albert was wearing a dark purple jacket with designer jeans, and of course, his usual dark sunglasses.
The show started with a spoken word recital of “The Artist” – which is the title track of The Gypsies 2008 album – over guitar strums and saxophone. The poem slipped into CHG original song, “Inside My Head” and before long the entire room had been thrown into a rollercoaster ride of musical medleys and theatrical poetry performances. Everyone was spellbound. Local fan favorite originals such as “Tigerlilly”, “Let’s Stay”, and “After The Tone” were weaved between rearranged performances of cover songs like “Linger” by The Cranberries and Cindy Lauper’s “Time After Time.” At one point the guitar riff to Red Hot Chili Peppers “My Friends” filled the room, sending the crowd into frenzy. Then Albert began singing a male version of Alanis Morisette’s “You Oughtta Know” over the Chili Pepper lick. “And every time I bang my waist between somebody’s thighs, I hope you feel it!” he belted into the mic during the last verse of the song. The crowd went wild.
“We are not just here to raise money for breast cancer research,” Albert spoke into the mic, “We are here to raise awareness about Breast Cancer. We want everyone in this room to get checked by your doctor this month, and if God forbid you get diagnosed, we want you to get it taken care of early, don’t wait.” The show’s serious tone came when he went on to inform the audience, “182,460 new cases of invasive breast cancer was estimated to occur among women in the United States in a 2008 National Statistic and 40,480 of those were expected to die. It was also estimated that 1,990 men get diagnosed and 450 men die of breast cancer.” He then directed the audience to visit the Susan G. Komen Foundation website online.
Familiar faces in the audience included members from other local bands: From The Villains, Urban Fruit, For The Record, and Pretty On Paper, among others. Artist and painter, Nick Romero, was also in the crowd. “We have a lot of really great bands and artists here in Miami,” Albert told the audience between songs. This was just before he announced that they would be covering a song by local indie band, Pretty On Paper, “I want you guys to get out there and get to know some of your local bands and artists, go out to see more local live music, discover more and more of your local scene!”
Random audience members won free tickets to the upcoming THRILLER event on October 30th. “If the back of your chair has a piece of red tape on it,” the host announced, “then you just won free tickets to the Thriller Dance and Costume Party Show!! Look under your chairs if you have red tape on your seat because it means you have free tickets taped under your chair!” And everybody was suddenly looking behind and under chairs.
“Wednesday night at Tobacco Road was an incredible night of music and good vibes all for a great cause,” said local DJ and promoter, DJ Oski Gonzalez when asked about the CHG Concert on October 14th. He added, “Albert made a little festival upstairs in the cabaret room with live painting, two hot bands, and lots of fun people. The night was full of love, music, and positive energy. I was very glad to be a part of it.”
Designer Cate of The South Florida Sacred Circle was also in the audience at the show. She commented, “The energy was incredible, maybe due to the large crowd of fans. But the CHG band, WOW!”
Carmen Tauler, one of the lead singers for the local POP band, said “Once again, CHG fans [like myself] were not let down. The highly entertaining, energy filled performance was nothing less than stellar. Not to mention, musically the band is tight. It’s obvious they work long hours ensuring no stone is left unturned, and it shows! Their music is top notch filled with harmonies and nuances unique to CHG. It’s all Love!!”
Tony Cruz of The Bailouts, who The Gypsies invited to share the stage with them at the event said, “We had a great time at the charity event. It was a great honor performing with such great artists and for such a good cause. The CHG and Celia Crespo were truly amazing. We look forward to collaborating with them again in the near future.”
When asked what plans are next for The CHG Band they replied, “Finish recording our new album, which is priority number one right now. We were doing like four gigs a week in September, and it put everything else on hold, so now we are shaving back on the gigs and trying to focus on the studio more instead.”
The new Coffee House Gypsies album is expected to release late 2010.