Los Nińos de los Ojos Rojos in Belgrade

Recipe for a good time

After a successful performance during last year's Belgrade Beer Fest, this Spanish band returned and held it's first solo concert in the capital of Serbia. Dressed in Scottish kilts, they brought us an unusual but effectual fusion of Celtic, Balcan, ska, rap and funky rhythms


By BOJANA VUJNIĆ
Cooperation with the magazine of Association of Hispanists "REFLEJO"
Translation: SUNČICA JOVANOVIĆ


The band Los Nińos de los Ojos Rojos is a living proof that you do not need special effects during a concert in order to leave the audience breathless. During their current tour through ex-YU countries, they performed in Belgrade in organization with Art Zone. Numerous boys dressed in kilts, with coordinated rhythms and an enormous energy, made the audience jump and dance since the very beginning of the show. From time to time, it seemed as though the visitors and the band members were the same.

This musical, but also visual attraction named Los Nińos de los Ojos Rojos comes from Caseres, west of Spain. In case you were wondering why that particular name, you should know that there is no precise answer. The explanations vary, from those plain ones saying that all members have an allergy to pollen or that their eyes become red in a swimming pool because of the chlorine, to the ones considering social problems and believing their eyes are red from smoke that fills our society and therefore does not let us see clearly. Just like their name, their music cannot be explained in one sentence either. There are lots of ingredients there: Irish an Balcan folk in combination with modern hip-hop, disco, funky and ska rhythms. It is a mixture created by violin, flute, guitar, saxophone, trombone, double-bass, trumpet...

In this wide audio spectrum, we can even find songs well known from Serbian singer Zvonko Bogdan - "Moja mala" and "Evo banke". They were published on their album Hijos del humo (2005) and performing them caused great ovations from Serbian audience, which is understandable. Such a great reaction to their music was one of the reasons they came to Belgrade once more. They stress out how last year they managed to shake up thousands of people on Beer fest. That performance was recorded and used as a video for their first authorial song in Serbian - "Sa malo kapi za oči" (With a little of eye drops), which they promoted in concert.

One of the band members, guitar player Jasmin Mešić, was born in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina, so it is easy to guess where did they find the encouragement to sing in old Yugoslav languages (as they call them). Still, we were keen to know how they find their inspiration for Balcan music and who are their idols from these territories.

- Šaban Bajramović, Goran Bregović, Kusturica... but we hope that our arrival to Serbia will enable us to meet more musicians from here - they reply unanimously.

Los Nińos de los Ojos Rojos say that the musical scene is much better in ex-YU than in Spain. Many of us will answer that there is no such a thing in Serbia, commercial music is holding domination, but people from Spain have a different view of things.

- The music in Spain has passed through a crisis, there are few places suitable for playing, bars and stages are very small. Then we come here and see that there are many halls fit to play in and people react perfectly to various sorts of music. The level of musical culture in Spain is very low. People listen only to what is offered on television, which is mostly commercial music and no one has the interest for some other kinds, like here.

The audience had a great time throughout the whole concert. Los Nińos de los Ojos Rojos claim that it is their goal - "We are a happy band and our intention is to throw a good party".

Fun and dance to a mixture of rhythms is always the first that comes to mind when this group is mentioned, but what about the song lyrics, how important are they?

- We do not write just to do so, the lyrics have their weight and meaning. Our lyrics are engaged, but we never lose our good mood - they answer.

Good mood was exactly what concluded the concert in Belgrade's Hall - Dom omladine. Everyone enjoyed, the musicians, the audience... Their intention to organize a "fiesta" was a great success, so we wait for them to come back for the third time.



(Published: 10.04.2010.)