The spirits of loved ones who have left this world before us could not have been happier as they were remembered and celebrated at the 13th annual “Dia de Los Muertos” event at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery this past Saturday.
Many showed up in their best Dia De Los Muertos regalia and with painted faces to scare away the bad spirits. Dead mariachis, crying widows and elegant skulls in extravagant wardrobe were the popular outfits of choice.
Aside from the costumes, also noticeable was the sense of community that filled the cemetery. Latinos, Anglos, Asians, blacks and Jews filled the burial ground by the hundreds. What is typically a place of lament and loss on any other given day, was uplifted with the sound of children’s laughter, music, song, dance and the admiration of intricate art displays created by caretakers of the cemetery’s graves as well as by invited artists from Mexico and the Los Angeles area. Among them was a display created by Antonio Pelayo, who we featured a few months ago.
At 4 p.m. on the main stage, Las Cafeteras delighted the eclectic crowd with their mixture of Jarocho and hip-hop, and presented their latest album, It’s Time. Las Cafeteras is a band that not only makes you have a good time while enjoying great music, but that also makes people reflect on their lyrics. In their version of the classic “La Bamba”, which they re-named “La Bamba Rebelde”, the band talks about the struggles of Latinos, gays, women’s rights and the less fortunate across the country. The same can be said for their songs “Trabajador Trabajadora” and “Mujer Soy”, which were all performed at the “Dia de Los Muertos” event at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.
Las Cafeteras were a tough act to follow, but L.A.’s vallenato quintet, Very Be Careful, did a good job in maintaining the events’ high energy with their cumbia sounds. Following Very Be Careful’s dance party was the group Tribu, who presented their spoken word and rhyme backed by sounds of traditional indigenous instruments such as flutes, seashells and drums.
Towards the end of the evening, Latin Grammy winner and GRAMMY nominee La Santa Cecilia took the stage and as expected, the voice and charisma of its lead singer, La Marisoul, won the audience over and drew them into their performance, which included “La Negra”, “Tainted Love” “Vengo” and “La Cuchara”, among others.
After an intermission in which the winners of the altar decorations were announced and where an Aztec ceremony and dances were presented, headlining band Ozomatli was introduced to the crowd. The band closed the night with a performance worthy of recognition and bombarded the crowd with a musical assault of cumbias, merengue and hip-hop. With their performance of “La Gallina”, “Chango” and “Saturday Night”, amongst other Ozo classics, it was clear that Ozomatli has not missed a beat after all these years. There on the Hollywood Forever Cemetery stage the band proved why they are still one of America’s favorite bands; definitely of the living and perhaps even of the dead.
