Salsa Mayor - segunda vez

So the streets were lleno with borrachos for Mother’s Day and the few taxis there were didn’t appear to be picking anyone up, so I didn’t really like our chances of getting out to Miramar to see Salsa Mayor; and even though I kind of wanted to see them, I was feeling a bit half hearted about it. But it was a case of, well, we’ll go down into the street, and if we get one, we go, and if we don’t, we come back upstairs. So we did, and we got one after not too long a wait, and off we went.
It wasn’t as well-attended as the matinee, but there were quite a lot of people for a late Sunday night on Mother’s Day, with more Cubans than is usual for a night gig, and most of the tables full. The door charge was the same as the matinee, which was welcome, but a bit odd, I thought. The DJ was playing Sandunguera when we walked in - also a bit unusual - but reverted to the usual reggaeton soon after. Thankfully the band came on not long after that.
The crowd was not really into it - only one or two couples danced casino and only for a couple of songs, and the space directly below the stage had only a handful of people in it. This may have been why they only played for an hour.
I’m revising my opinion of the singers from yesterday: yes, they perform with a lot of enthusiasm and energy, but vocally, they can’t hold a candle to the cantantes of last year, particularly Ricardito and Norberto, who were both very strong singers. Nor are any of them as pretty as Noro (seems I have been spelling his name wrongly) - Pavel and Pepitin are both simpatico and put on a good show - their commitment is compelling - but hearing Pavel sing Anda pégate it’s obvious there is a vast gap between his vocal abilities and Ricardito’s. The strongest singer in the bunch would appear to be Yasser (?); but even he is nowhere near as good, vocally at least, as Norberto, though he is much more outgoing (Norberto was a little timid on stage) - in fact, he is something of a show pony, which is a little offputting. Next stop for him: Charanga Habanera.
The band sounded good again, although the metales were not quite as tight as yesterday. The set was similar, though much shorter and in a slightly different order. Although I enjoyed it, I was glad when it was over, and we could go out into the stifling 2am heat: it’s like someone flicked a switch here - it was quite mild until Friday, then boom! Suddenly we are suffocating.

There is Pupy tomorrow and Paulito at Cafe Cantante for a matinee on Wednesday. But the gig I’m really looking forward to - apart from Alexander on Wednesday and probably Thursday too - is Revé on Sunday at La Tropical. It will be a madhouse. But I would be mad to miss it.