Last Saturday, the Grammy Award winning hip-hop group Calle 13 kicked off their MultiViral Tour in New York City’s Best Buy Theater with a sold out show sponsored by Coors Light. The concert was the first for their North America tour celebrating their latest album by the same name. MultiViral, which debuted on March 1, 2014, was picked by Rolling Stone Magazine as one of the “Best Album of 2014 So Far” and has been received with critical acclaim.
Their set on Saturday was definitely a crowd pleaser, as song after song ignited a wave of excitement in the packed venue. People crammed into the pit to get a close look at Residente, Visitante and their female vocalist Ileana Cabra, a.k.a PG13.
The end of the show proved the most memorable after the band came back out to perform an encore. Rene Perez Joglar kept the encore lighthearted after performing a tribute to the late Argentine and Soda Stereo lead man, Gustavo Cerati, during the first half of the show. They performed “Atrevete te te,” which got the whole venue shaking with its melodic hook.
At the conclusion of the show, Coors Light picked out a few lucky concert goers to take back stage and meet the band, including a loyal fan who had “Calle 13” shaved into the back of his head.
Original reporting and photos by Edwin Sanchez.
Grammy Award-winning Latin hip hop group Calle 13 kicked off their new tour in New York City on Saturday, Sept. 6.Edwin Sanchez
The new tour is "Multi_Viral," which is also the name of their fifth album.Edwin Sanchez
The band will play in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, San Diego, San Francisco, and Las Vegas.Edwin Sanchez
Coors Light is hitting the road with Grammy Award-winning Latin hip hop group Calle 13, as the official sponsor of the MultiViral North American tour.Edwin Sanchez
"MultiViral" is Calle 13's fifth studio album and the first released through the band's new independent label, El Abismo. Edwin Sanchez
The album, which debuted March 1, 2014, is the only Latin music release included in Rolling Stone's mid-year report on "The Best Albums of 2014 So Far."Edwin Sanchez
The Puerto Rican duo, also referred to as "Residente" and "Visitante," have toured and earned praise from fans all over the Latin world with 19 Latin Grammy and two Grammy Award wins.Edwin Sanchez
Calle 13's alternative take on hip hop and Latin genres have spurred collaborations with artists such as Ruben Blades, Tego Calderon, Nelly Furtado, Shakira, Alejandro Sanz, Omar Rodriguez and Mars Volta, among others.Edwin Sanchez
Here are there tour dates:
Washington, D.C. – Sept. 26, Echostage
Philadelphia – Sept. 27, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts
San Diego – Oct. 8, House of Blues
San Francisco – Oct.10, The Warfield
Las Vegas – Oct. 12, Brooklyn BowlEdwin Sanchez
"Well, something special about this album is that we took our time to make it … all the other albums during the making, we were traveling and on tour and for this album, we just decided to stop for a year and a half," said the group’s lead singer René Pérez Joglar aka Residente to The Source magazine. "So it’s the first time that we stopped and that’s why the album is very reflective. There’s a lot of – I don’t know how to say it in English – “reflexivo.” That we have a lot of “reflexiones” (reflections). For example “La Vida,” that’s a song about life. Idiots, “Los Idiotas,” is a song that reflects about the idiots. “El Aguante,” asks how much we endure as human beings."Edwin Sanchez
The performance in New York City took place at Best Buy theater.Edwin Sanchez
The signing duo performed a 19-song set. Edwin Sanchez
The songs performed included older hits (like 2006 single "Atrevete-te-te" to the title track of their most recent album.Edwin Sanchez
