By the Zonagirante.com team @spinning zone
Let's take stock, amidst the pessimism that has pervaded 2016. This has been a difficult year (as you all know) where we've had to say goodbye to too many heroes and lament the arrival of too many unsavory characters to positions of power. Yet, thankfully, good music never stopped exploding around us. Luckily, music saved us from succumbing to madness.
Let's summarize then:
-We contribute with confidence because of the Triumph of the plebiscite for peace in Colombia And we lost. But it was a strange defeat, where the enemies of the reconciliation process, after their victory, were left without arguments. It seems that everything, strangely enough, is heading toward a solution to the armed conflict. From disappointment, we've moved to anticipation of better days on this issue.
-We had one of the best coverages of our favorite festival: Rock al Parque. We had the best concert photos and some fun chronicles. We maintained our faith in the working-class and middle-class Bogota audience, whom many promoters despise and certain journalists criticize, for attending the biggest rock event of its kind in Latin America for free. At this festival, one of the few who looked unenthusiastic was the then-director of Idartes, the festival's organizing body, who, a few months later, left with his displeasure on his face. We have fond memories of bands like... Bambarabanda, Puerto Candelaria, Shock Band, Baroness, Danicattack and others.
-We were at other events. We attended the first edition of Almax, A festival with some great artists on its lineup, but with a strange energy that left very few people happy. Nevertheless, the performances of Catupecu Machu, Nortec y Kinky. A few days later we had fun in Sonar Bogotá, heating things up with the Peruvians Dengue Dengue Dengue And then, thrilled, we sang along with New Order. Also, in recent months, we attended the always entertaining Beautiful Noise, And we were left thinking that one of the bands of the future must be the trio The Makenzys.
-Our director has been saying for many days that The best album of the year was by the Chilean band Perrosky, Dog Sky. But we need to expand the list and To name what the Argentinians did in Ciudad de los Sauces, the EP of Ohlaville, the pleasant surprise of Volt Diver and others. Luckily, 2016 brought a lot of new music to the continent, and so our complaints this year have an excellent soundtrack to accompany them.
-This year we are pleased to include in our content the episodes broadcast by the Chilean web series Insigne Sessions. This project, one of the most interesting audiovisual materials related to Latin American music, has given us examples of excellent narratives about architecture and landscape, showcasing enviable and incredible spaces and, in turn, exquisite sound moments created by some of the most outstanding artists of the Southern Cone.
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This December we celebrated 17 years online and we feel we are still strong. Zonagirante.com will soon announce new plans to its audience that we hope will surprise them. We continue, as we have since 1999, to believe that Latin America is still our neighborhood and that its art and culture have much to say to the rest of the world. It is a banner we raise with pride and that, fortunately, has never disappointed us. We want to continue growing and we count on your support to do so.
Friends of Zonagirante.com, as we used to say on our now-defunct radio program on Konradio: In 2017, continue to be symbols of peace and continue to enjoy the music of our Greater Homeland. Stay tuned. Lots of hugs.
