Los Bitchos in Central Park and Music Hall of Williamsburg
June 16, 2022
June 20, 2022
Los Bitchos was one of the bands that blew away SXSW 2022 back in March. When I returned home I became the first kid on my block (maybe in the country) to own a Los Bitchos t-shirt, and when they announced their US tour I grabbed tickets to their gig in Williamsburg, and waited patiently for June to show up.
A few weeks ago, they were added to a Belle & Sebastian show in Central Park as an opening act,so I grabbed that one too.
Two different venues, two different shows.
I hadn’t yet been to a Central Park outdoors concert. Based on the NYC Summerstage website description, I brought a backpack filled with crap I really didn’t need: Towel to sit on. Bug spray. Snacks. Phone charger. Sunglasses. Like I was going for a 3-day climb in the Himalayas.
It’s actually a pretty nice venue, with good sound. It’s not the enormous set-up they once had for Simon & Garfunkel and a million fans, but a nicely organized venue for about a thousand fans in a sectioned-off piece of Central Park near the 72nd Street East entrance.
Belle & Sebastian are one of those Geezer bands that sounded vaguely familiar but not really in my strike zone. They hail from Glasgow, Scotland, formed during the 90’s, and I would put them in the folk-rock category with the likes of Peter, Paul, & Mary. They have a very “pleasant” sound, but not really my cup of tea.
The Belle & Sebastian crowd was pretty laid-back, family oriented with picnic blankets and small kids.
I don’t think they knew what to make of Los Bitchos.
Los Bitchos played a tight, hour-long set of their trademark songs, in their infectious, Latin-infused, upbeat, dance-party style. I think most of the B&S crowd was polite, but really looking forward to their Scottish Old Guys. I thought they were terrific. Here’s what they sounded like live.
After their set, I stuck around, grabbed a burger, and was hoping to catch up with the Los Bitchos band members, whom I had met in Austin at SXSW. Sure enough, they materialized just after I gobbled down my burger. I was able to say howdy to each of the five bandmates, and thank them for a great set. They remembered me from their SXSW shows! Cool! I asked them about their world tour, which they had been documenting gloriously on Instagram.
They’ve been blown away by their good fortune, and have been playing an amazing set of gigs on some of the most famous venues in in the biggest cities across UK and Europe, and now the US, and teaming up with some of the best bands currently out there now. They’ve been touring and playing with Fontaines DC, Parquet Courts, among other post-punk greats that are hitting it big right now. And loving it.
I was really looking forward to their Williamsburg gig, where they’d be the headliners, with a perhaps more lively crowd.
* * * * *
I was right, of course. Los Bitchos totally blew away the crowd at Williamsburg, who cheered and danced and was every bit as raucous as Los Bitchos themselves, who turned it up several notches as the headliners they deserve to be. This was their crowd and their night in MY town. They were awesome. Here are a couple of clips from their show.
Serra Petale plays lead guitar and periodically wails away on bongos to liven things up a bit. She’s from western Australia, and writes most of the band’s songs. Josefine Jonson, who hails from Sweden, is an excellent bass player. Agustine Ruiz, from Uraguay, is awesome on keytar and contributes on light vocals — although she belted out the lyrics to “Tequila!”, which Los Bitchos played as an encore tonight. Drummer Nic Crawshaw is from London, less flashy but rock steady. Ryan FitzGibbon, from Austin, joins the core group on guitar when they play gigs in the U.S.
Los Bitchos are hitting it big now, with loads of tour dates, radio and TV appearances, and the release of their debut album, “Let The Festivities Begin”, which Rolling Stone included in their recently released “Best of 2022 So Far” list of top albums. You go, girls!
Check out their music on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1dVIo4ig1uvvGr1tuuqgqC?si=pzf6owdUQ4WxFF3QzpeH3w
The opening act was a an all-girl trio from Brooklyn called Nevva, and they delivered a crisp rock’n’roll set to get the crowd going. Jenny and Molly on guitar, Charmaine banging out drums. I hear mild tones of Nirvana and Go-Go’s in their style. I was impressed by their set, and I’d totally see them again. Here’s a playlist of their good stuff:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1rmwdYjvY8s1B58H2Pz7UN?si=JIApfFaRTz2lgAzyZ8jLgA