Concert report: observations and analysis

Music

The concert I attended was Aventura's Kings of Bachata show in Anaheim, California on October 1, 2005. Aventura is a Spanish language pop-culture musical band that is known for the unique style of Bachata, which infuses the diverse sounds of hip-hop, rhythm and blues and reggaeton. Aventura is a Dominican-American group that is based out of the Bronx, New York that formed in 1994 by members Anthony Santos, Lenny Santos, Mx Santos and Henry Santos. They broke into the Latin mainstream with the 2002 release of the We Broke the Rules album and its smash hit, "Obsession."

The concert title, Kings of Bachata, is in reference to Aventura's spot as being the leading band playing the Bachata style of music. Many Bachata bands that have come subsequent to Aventura site Aventura as being one of the style's most influential founders. What makes the Bachata sound of Aventura unique, and thus their concerts entertaining, is the diversity of musical genres found in their sound. Each of the pieces contain hints of hip-hop, rhythm and blues, and reggaeton. Further, their songs fuse English and Spanish lyrics together and often result in a hybrid English/Latin dance/discotheque sound.

For example, such songs as "Obsession" exemplify this unique combination of genres and sounds that create the Bachata musical type. Such songs as this are fast paced and lively. The tempo has a strong, underlying bass beat from both the drums and the bass guitar. This bass sound makes the song more of a dance track. Yet, on top of this foundation is a classic reggae beat that almost pulls up on the driving bass beat and relaxes the entire song. Yet, on top of this is a hip-hop lyrical style that ebbs and flows with both the driving base and the relaxing, melodically appeasing reggae beat.

The character of Aventura's music is contemporary and cultural. Being a Latin American-based band, they have a niche following among the nation's Hispanic population and thus their popularity is often overlooked, or even unknown, to those outside of this cultural group. The character of the music is an example of the unique background of the band members. As Dominican's, they come from a more black-Hispanic Caribbean roots, thus bringing in the reggae sounds made popular in Jamaica. However, at the same time, the Dominican Republic is also a Hispanic speaking island and thus the Latin influence is also heavy in their version of Reggae and other musical tastes. Finally, as the band grew up in the Bronx, their musical background was also heavily influenced by the growth of American style hip-hop, which grew up out of the Bronx area. This diverse, mixing pot of musical heritage was combined by the band Aventura to create the unique musical character of Bachata.

Overall, I found the Avnentura Kings of Bachata concert to be of high quality and highly entertaining. Watching the band perform on stage shows you how much they care about their music and how much they enjoy performing it for their fans. These facts bring a high level of energy to their show, which I found captivating. The band played their songs at a fast, energetic pace with little breaks to the music. This kept the audience moving and interested throughout the entire show.