Los Van Van in Oz

Mayito at a rehearsal at La Tropical, Havana, June 7

Los Van Van in Oz? Really?
Anyone who lives here will know how ridiculous a proposition that seems - this is a country where rock rules and where R&B - or "urban" music has really only recently taken over. On Sunday, my first day back at work, someone asked me about my holiday, and when I told her I went to Cuba for the music - for timba, she asked me to describe it. I said, well, it comes from a traditional form of Cuban music, son. she said, "What's son?"
She's not alone. Most people here haven't got a clue. I don't know the full story on how the Van Van dates happened - only that someone in Melbourne decided to take advantage of the fact that they would be in Japan (our distance from Cuba is another reason we don't see timba bands here), and hired them for a date in that cold but fair city. A guy in Sydney has jumped in to make a concert happen here, so local Van Vaneros, get your credit cards ready. Here are the details:

Los Van Van
Enmore Theatre
August 25
Tickets $85 dance floor, $75 seated + booking fee
On sale Wednesday June 28, ph 9550 3666 or online.

The Melbourne gig is on August 27, for details, go here.

Get in there and buy up peeps - if this is a success, maybe we can see more timba groups here ... I know Trabuco would love to come!