Well, the entire 11-piece Gato Loco familia has made it, albeit treacherously, across the pond to the lovely and inviting city of Bordeaux. Prior to our first delicious sip of authentic, locally grown wine, we had a harrowing journey.

Starting at JFK at 5pm, 9 of us assembled (Kevin Garcia and Ric Becker were both already in Europe, van-jumping from 2 different tours). We managed to get all of our equipment through the check gates, included the ENORMOUS tuba flight case. it was sort of hilarious. The flight to London was easy and carefree. We took full advantage of the free bar on cross-continental flights, and wound up creating a spontaneous party in the middle of the plane, with laughing stewardesess and passengers joining in joking, laughing, sing-alongs, and general shenanigans. It all ended when we awoke a baby, who proceeded to terrorize the entire plane with its baby ways for the next 20 minutes.

When we arrived in London, we had only 20 minutes to make our connecting flight. We stumbled upon the touring-band god-send, Nickie, a British Airways employee, who grabbed ahold of us and led us, running and sprinting, through check-in gates and security check-points, avoiding and skipping all the lines that would have made us miss our flight, and actively yelling at people to get out of our way. Thank you, Nickie, wherever you are!!!

Once safely on the ground in Paris, and through customs, (whew….), we discovered that the tuba case had not made the transfer. Of course. Jesse whipped out his french fluency, and convinced the overworked baggage handlers at the Paris airport (there was a line of about 30 people waiting to complain about missing baggage!) that this was of immediate importance. The tuba was then shipped over on the next plane from London to Paris, and arrived at 12:30. LUCKILY!!!! We had a train to catch from Paris to Bordeaux in less than an hour, but still had time for an impromptu rehearsal in the Paris train station. Video is coming soon!

I’m not really sure what day it is, or how much I’ve slept in the last 2 days (under 4 hours, that’s for sure), but we were all deeply thankful to arrive in Bordeaux and be meeting by the smiling Zoe and Mathieu, waiting for us with a van to drive us to our hotel. Tonight, we ate and drank well, as one must do in Bordeaux.

We are all exhausted. It was a long and stressful trip, and we are sleeping well tonight, bellies full of wine and meat, and are preparing for our first of many shows tomorrow.

Hidden far below the visible surface of the flying puerto rican flags, the everpresent merengue from within delis and coffee shops, and the constant rumble of reggaeton, there is, and always has been, a secret society of alternative latin bands playing in clubs and bars that are pushing the bounderies of El Barrio and the world-wide status of the Nuyorican new york-made salsa sound of the 60s and 70s.  Bands in the city like Chicha Libre, ¡Ya Esta!, and Zemog el Gallo Bueno have been creating new and necessary fusions for years.

Last night Gato Loco had the pleasure of playing on the same bill as the debut of a new band based out of north Brooklyn.  The Williamsburg Salsa Orchestra, led by Gianni Mano (previously of Radio Mundial) plays salsa arrangements of indie-rock tunes.  They covered tunes by local stars like TV On The Radio, Japanther, Animal Collective, and some others.  The idea sounds sort of silly on first hearing, and I would probably have expected the band to be cheesy.  But they pulled off really high-quality arrangements with an intense fire, energy, and absolute perfection that was breath-taking.  From the first timbale pick-up, that tiny little roll played with such conviction, I knew these guys were serious.  The percussion section, (led by Mano himself) was dynamite, the horn section was crisp and tight, and they had a powerful lead singer.  They plowed through the material like it was their own, and it was only on epic choruses to songs like “Wolf Like Me” or “Alala” that the audience realized these were covers.

The crowd was 98% hipsters, with fashionably off-centered hair cuts and perfectly torn shirts.  None the less, they were dancing more enthusiastically and passionately than you normally see on a tuesday night at 1am.  No one was too worried about dancing salsa steps, and everyone was making up their own moves while dragging others onto the dance floor.  It was a true fusion of classic Fania fire with ironic hipster fashion.

Another step forward in NYC latin infusion.  The latino culture that is everywhere we go, in all 5 buroughs, and is inescapable, makes another step forward into the clubs and bars of hipster Williamsburg.

Well, I’ve finally made the plunge.  I’m not sure if people, as inundated with the millions of blogs and websites and myspaces and facebooks, really need another place for personal thoughts and ranting, but…

Gato Loco is headed to France in just under 3 weeks.  We’re looking forward to a bunch of great shows, a great recording session for Winter & Winter records, some good classes and workshops with the people of Bordeaux, and LOTS of great wine!

So I decided to create a Gato Loco blog.  I figure that we will meet lots of new friends and fans while abroad, and this can be a great way to keep them in the Gato Loco fold, updated with our goings-ons after we leave their country, etc.  Also, to maintain updates with our friends and fans here in NYC.

So this is it.  I hope it proves a fruitful and positive place for thoughts and information!