Colombia!, Shepherd’s Bush Empire - music review

Saturday was Colombia’s Independence Day and this Tierra Querida (Beloved Country) concert was a patriotic celebration. Musically, Colombia has become the new Cuba, so I was hoping for some fiery sounds. Colombians were there in force, of course, and every time Colombia was mentioned there were shrieks from the crowd.

First on stage was Classico Latino, a trio of classically trained musicians with a passion for Latin music, on violin, cello and keyboard — featuring Colombian pianist Iván Guevara. Beautifully played — with guest folkloric dancers — but it stayed very classical.

The next band, Angelica Lopez and La Papayera, were much more fun. They, too, are based in the UK but have a rootsy sound with indigenous pipes and shakers, a percussive bed of drums, squealing clarinet and some, but not enough, pumping vallenato accordion from Jose Hernando Arias. Firing them up was singer Angelica Lopez, like a sashaying Colombian flag in a red blouse and blue skirt decorated with yellow pom-poms. This was later exchanged for something much skimpier and bottom-hugging. The music included many of Colombia’s sounds — indigenous, African and Latin. The audience knew all the words and were singing along, arms aloft, at the front while whole families were dancing in lines in the seats upstairs.

But the headliner, all the way from Colombia, was Andres Cepeda with his guitar-centric band. He got a wild reception and made the obligatory mention of Colombian Independence Day to whoops of applause. Tall, slim and dressed in a back suit and tie, his music seemed just as bland. A disappointment, I’m afraid, but I felt like a guest at someone else’s party.