You may have missed this Top 10 list telling you why you should head to Transit Lounge for live music this month, and if so, consider this a shameless plug. But if not, then you no doubt already noticed that one Miami's favorite local bands, Locos Por Juana, is officially taking over the venue for the remainder of the weekend, giving both performances as Locos and Afro-Kumbe.
Anyone who's ever caught LPJ at Transit can tell you, it's intense each and every time they take the stage there. "Playing Transit is like going to church for us," says their dreadlocked vocalist Itagui Correa. "And our religion playing music."
"Transit is the best place to play live music in Miami," agrees guitarist Mark Kondrat. "For us it's really special. It always gets really packed," he goes on to say. "So the temperature gets hot and tropical, which adds to the party atmosphere."
No doubt. Whenever Correa, Kondrat and drummer Javier "Lakambra" Delgado play the Downtown watering hole with their supporting cast, it's a sure bet that a mass of moving, boozing bodies will follow. Friday night will feature a performance by Afro-Kumbé, their side project where Correa, Kondrat and Delgado play a sort of DJ set. "Afro-Kumbé is our alter 'DJ' ego," explains Kondrat. "It gives us a chance to experiment with more electronic stuff and different instruments." Correa describes it as "Electroparranda."
Then Saturday, the guys will be back with the rest of their ensemble, playing the songs their fans know and love off their Grammy-nominated records, as well as the new material off their progressive EP Evolucion. "Locos is going to be crazy!" Correa says of Saturday's show. "We'll be playing our new songs from the new EP, and a new show that starts off our official summer tour, which will take us to Bogota, Medellin, Barranquilla, Washington, Philadelphia, New York--in total 14 dates. But Transit will be the first...our home!"
So you can pick your poison. Head to Transit tonight for an electronic take on champeta, cumbia and much more in their indulgent electroparranda style. Or tomorrow you can catch the Locos show, in all its crowd pleasing glory.
Or, as an alternative, you could just take Kondrat's advice. "Everyone in Miami needs to come out to both shows!"
