On the road for hours, and hours and hours...

El Nene and Ailyn in the minivan on the way to Berlin

One of the aspects that fans may not consider is how the bands get from one place to another when performing in cities spread across Europe. Most of the time Azúcar Negra made use of 2 minvans where there was room for the instruments, the band members and one hand luggage apeice. Only on occasions when the distance was too great to make it in time did they fly.

As Northern Europeans can attest, this was a crappy summer with little sunshine and lots of rain. But the first week of the tour was blessed with nice summer temperatures throughout Europe. In the vans it was a mixed blessing however, because they didn't have air conditioning. Maybe it was harder on me than on the Cubans who were coming from July temperatures in Cuba.

Jorge takes a break from driving

Many of the trips by van were quite long: 9 hours to Berlin, 14 hours to Cauterets and 19 hours coming back from Stockholm. It didn't take long before the guys were taking their pillows along on the trips. Most of the driving was done by Myriam, the manager, Yoel, the sonidista, and cantante Jorge. If I had a hat, I'd tip it to the drivers who didn't even get a chance to sleep on these trips.

Fortunately, in my van we were able to plug my iPod into the cassette player and spent much of the time listening to Timba, inaugurating the very first trip with as song by the band who strated it all: NG's La Bruja. Tecladista/pianista Richard took on the role of DJ. Always high on the playlist were Mi Timba Cerrá and Chapeando, and there were some heated discussions as to whether Pupy or LVV had produced the best new CD. Other favorites included Manolito, Manolín, Issac, La Revé, Tumbao Habana, Charanga Habanera, Pedro Pablo y la Rebambaramba, etc. In a side note to timberos, the band was a bit disappointed that I didn't have any regular salsa on my iPod, but you all know where my heart is.

Ailyn and Bamba dancing during one of the rest stops

In addition to listening to music, singing along (I was more than a little intimidated to be singing along beside Biunaikis and Jorge Luis) and dancing despelote in the seats, there was a lot of good natured teasing going on. On occasion pianista/tecladista and musical director Carlos Enrique treated us to his unique brand of Rumba vocals, and, not to be outdone by Ailyn and Bamba, he had everyone laughing as he showed of his hot dance moves. The picture below doesn't do them justice.

Carlos demonstrating his "hot dance moves"

All in all, despite the length and heat of some of the trips, I really enjoyed the time we spent in the minivans. It was a unique chance to really get to know the band. When you think that after these long trips they have to get up on stage an perform with energy, you really understand that giving concerts is much harder than it looks. But then that's the idea: the band makes it look effortless so the audience has only to dance, forget their problems and enjoy themselves.

Click here to read the entire tour 2005 report.