Here’s a quick video clip of La Bomba de Tiempo (‘timebomb’), an incredible drum ensemble based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The first part of the video show the warm-up group, and the second part is the main La Bomba de Tiempo band. Unfortunately my camera ran out of batteries after a minute or so, but I will be going back to re-record in the near future!
Every Monday they play at Ciudad Cultural Konex in Buenos Aires, and most Mondays it turns into a percussion-driven rave. I was lucky enough to arrive in Buenos Aires on a Sunday and go to the Monday show – and I can honestly say I’ve never seen a percussion show like it. What’s unique about it is the series of complicated hand gestures they have built up to direct/orchestrate the complex, layered rhythms. You can see these particularly well in the second half of the video.
Bomba founder Santiago Vázquez used to be the only director for the group, but as more members learned the sign language to perfection, they too started directing. Now, there are usually 2 or 3 rotating directors each night, and they go back to playing their instruments when they finish directing.
La Bomba de Tiempo is a fantastic night out, and there are plenty of ‘after parties’ to go to if you’d like to continue the festivities ;-).