Bling Blineo Recap

"Bling Blineo" Review From the NY Times:




Take Me Out to the Bling Blineo (I Don’t Care if I Ever Get Back)
By KELEFA SANNEH
Published: June 11, 2007

It seemed like a great idea: a reggaetón grudge match in Shea Stadium on the eve of the Puerto Rican Day parade. Daddy Yankee and Don Omar — two of the genre’s biggest stars, and longtime rivals — were scheduled to be the headliners at El Bling Blineo, a Saturday night concert organized (and tirelessly promoted) by the reggaetón radio station La Kalle, 105.9 FM.

But then came a last-minute announcement: Daddy Yankee was in the hospital, suffering from “acute viral syndrome and dehydration,” according to a radio-station press release. So there was no grudge match, just a celebration, co-starring Wisin & Yandel, Hector El Father and his former partner, Tito El Bambino, and others. The party lasted more than five hours, with short sets interrupted by long breaks. (Somehow the crowd stayed cheerful, even though the beer sales stopped long before the intermissions did.)

From a stage near second base, the performers led singalongs and the M.C.’s led cheering contests. (Puerto Rico always won, but the Dominican Republic usually finished a strong second.) Part of the fun was watching performers emerge from the wall in right field like so many relief pitchers, ready to face the crowd.

The concert was also a birthday party of sorts: it was just over two years ago that 105.9 FM became La Kalle, jettisoning its old format (“Latino mix”) in hopes of cashing in on the reggaetón boom. Univision Communications, the Spanish-language media conglomerate, has turned La Kalle into its reggaetón brand. There are now La Kalle stations serving San Francisco, Chicago, Dallas and Fresno, Calif. Though the genre doesn’t have the same momentum it had in 2005, reggaetón — a Spanish-language cousin of dancehall reggae and hip-hop — doesn’t seem to be going away either. Don Omar certainly didn’t seem to mind having the headlining spot all to himself: He emerged from behind a scrim that proclaimed him “King of Kings” (that’s also the name of his ambitious 2006 album), descending to the stage on a motorized podium. He made a few veiled references to Daddy Yankee, but no one would confuse the two men’s styles. While Daddy Yankee is known for reeling off rat-a-tat lyrics, Don Omar has found a sweet spot between rapping and singing, and he finds ways to retrofit his songs with rhythms from older Latin genres.

By contrast Wisin & Yandel, a rapping-and-singing duo, succeed by sticking to reggaetón basics: synthesizer lines so bright they glow in the dark, staccato electronic beats, amor-centric lyrics. Their stadium-shaking rendition of “Rakata” was one of Saturday night’s high points (no doubt the two performers won’t soon forget it either), and they earned a second round of ovations when Don Omar brought them out for a couple of songs, including “My Space,” which changes the setting (from club to computer) but keeps the duo’s standard love-sick plot basically the same.

It’s not easy to be an old-fashioned singer at a hyped-up reggaetón show, as Victor Manuelle discovered. His salsa set came near the end so it felt anticlimactic, and a number of people in the crowd responded by doing something extraordinary: They sat down.

By contrast, the merengue star Héctor Acosta (known as El Torito and formerly the lead singer of Los Toros Band) absolutely killed, earning the night’s first encore. He has a marvelously reedy voice and a showman’s ostentatious humility, so he returned, kissed the stage, and picked up where he had left off.

At this concert, as at most concerts, you couldn’t go wrong by appealing to the women in the crowd. The duo of Jowell y Randy earned screams with fizzy hits like “Soy una Gargola” and “No Te Veo,” while Tito El Bambino achieved a similar effect with “Caile,” a Latin ratio hit. Even Hector El Father, who cultivates a tougher image, found himself surrounded by male back-up dancers. And all night long performers and hosts alike chanted, “Do my ladies run this mother for ya?” A simple yes would have sufficed. Needless to say, it never did.