Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Concert Review: Luisa Maita at Lula Lounge, Toronto-November 12, 2010 (photos courtesy of Dave Burke)

Luisa Maita proved why she's one of the hottest acts on the international music scene last Friday night at Lula Lounge in Toronto. Her stage presence, passion, and beautiful voice were all on full display in a night packed with Brazilian music from start to finish featuring Roda de Samba, Baque de Bamba, and Rino.

Luisa kicked the night off with an early performance around 8:30. Performing for the first time in Canada, she came across as being truly honored such a large audience was in attendance. Her performance was full of passion, and the crowd responded to her energy enthusiastically.

Next up on the bill was Rode de Samba, a Toronto based Samba ensemble. As their set went on, the audience began to congregate in front of the stage singing along to their songs and dancing. The six-piece ensemble injected a large dose of energy into the night after Luisa Maita's mellow performance that set the tone for the rest of the night.

Baque de Bamba, a maracatu ensemble led by Aline Morales, followed Rode de Samba, and picked up where they left off. The thundering drums of the legion of percussionists filled the room with an incredible energy that unleashed a frenzy on the dancefloor. Morales voice contrasted beautifully with the percussion backdrop as she sang in Portuguese. I was totally blown away by the power and energy of Baque de Bamba, and I definitely hope to see them again sometime soon.

Rino finished off the night with a bang. Rino featured guitar, bass, trombone, trap drums, as well as maracatu bass drums creating a loud, intensely unique sound. They combined elements of funk, rock, samba, and something totally new and original. Watching a band cover songs by Jorge Ben with a presentation similar to punk rock was something I've never seen before. Despite a somewhat lengthy gap between their performance and Baque de Bambe while they setup, Rino managed to not lose any of the energy that was building throughout the night.

This Post is Supported by Concert Tickets Toronto 2011

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