After enjoying the Quimantu concert so much at Bridport in October, Colin and I decided to go and see them again at the next nearest venue on their tour - Oxford - on Friday 23 November.
Earlier that week it didn't seem likely that Colin would be able to go as following a visit to the physiotherapist he was in pain with his back. He tried to improve matters with a visit to a chiropractor but on Tuesday the situation was much worse.
Rather than waste the tickets I even found out times of trains etc, thinking to go on my own. It would have been possible as there were plenty of late trains back, the only drawback being that the venue was quite far from the train station and it would have meant taxis each way. I would not have been alone once I got there because my Peruvian friend Victor and his girlfriend Catalina had also bought tickets for the concert and were travelling by train from London.
Fortunately Colin improved rapidly throughout the week; he didn't want to miss the concert either, and by Thursday evening knew he would be okay for the journey as long as he didn't overdo it. So instead of making a whole day outing of it, we travelled up to Oxford in the afternoon. We stopped halfway for a coffee and to stretch our legs and arrived in Oxford in plenty of time to find a nice pub restaurant where we had a meal.
Back in the car my mobile phone was ringing and Victor said they had been trying to get through for a while and I had to explain that we had been in the pub and I had inadvertently left the phone in the car! Catalina's flight back from Majorca was late which meant they would arrive in Oxford later than planned and would probably miss the first half of the concert. We promised to keep seats for them.
After leaving the pub we found the venue quite easily, thanks to the excellent directions given to us by people in the pub. The concert was being held in the Jacqueline du Pre Music Building at St Hilda's College and we arrived in such good time we had a choice of where to sit. Mauricio Venegas was on the stage chatting to his sound engineers and much to his surprise I took a photo of him there and then (before he had changed into his concert clothes!!!!). I also took a couple of photos of the stage which was so nicely set up with all their instruments. We were sitting right at the front in the middle with an excellent view.
The concert began at 8.15 and as before was really excellent and I enjoyed the music immensely. The first half was especially good as they played many of their best Andean songs. I knew the moment when Victor and Catalina arrived because Mauricio was talking when they came in, looked up and said "You're late!" We looked back and waved so that they could join us at the front and they were able to enjoy the last couple of songs of the first half of the concert.
Next was a half hour interval and we made a beeline for the bar and enjoyed a drink and chat and catching up on news as I had not seen them since before my trip to Peru. Catalina had her suitcase parked under one of the tables in the foyer as they had come straight from the airport to Oxford with no time to take it home.
The second half of the concert was equally as enjoyable, with a mixture of Andean and Cuban/salsa music and quite a lot of new material to look forward to on the forthcoming CD being released in the New Year. There was plenty of room to dance and Mauricio tried to urge people to dance. I would have loved to but Colin didn't dare after his problems that week with his back and I didn't quite have the nerve to get up and dance on my own! A few couples got up and danced to the salsa numbers though. I took more photos throughout the concert and hopefully within a week or two a few pictures will be added to this story.
Afterwards we all spent half an hour chatting before Colin and I set off back home. Ronal and Victor knew each other as well and as they were returning to London once the instruments were gathered up they offered Victor and Catalina a lift home. The final concert of the Quimantu tour would be the following night at Windsor, but unfortunately too far to drive, a second night running. I shall look forward to the next opportunity to see them. They really are an excellent band and their concerts immensely enjoyable. In addition to the lovely music, Mauricio entertains with his wonderful humour and even gets the audience to participate which is great fun. I shall really look forward to the new CD when available as some of the music that will be on it is really interestingly different.
The journey home was much quicker at that time of night. Colin whizzed down the motorway at great speed and we made it home in an hour and a half. All in all, another great outing and the pleasure of Andean music live. The next live Andean music concert to look forward to is Kausary on 7th December at the Michael Tippett Centre in Bath.
