Give Me “Dos Minutos” in Concert

BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA: 2/21/10

My final night in Buenos Aires could not have ended better than a concert with legendary punks “Dos Minutos”, complete with a backstage interview with lead singer “El Mosco”.

I had a little lost in translation mishap where I went to meet the band at the rehearsal space in downtown only to learn they had left for the concert in Palermo already.  I finally, through the help of my translator, rockabilly queen Anita, was able to get over to the venue the Niceto Club and get backstage before their show began.

El Mosca On Stage

Backstage, things were quite different than rehearsal on Wednesday. The guys appeared to be drinking mostly water instead of beer and they seemed really focused on the show ahead.

Lead singer,  El Mosca agreed to be interviewed and we went to a hidden spot backstage for some relative quiet, just as one of the first opening acts was winding up their set.

Backstage with El Mosca

El Mosca is a veteran punk and he filled me in on the long (since the 1980s!) and colorful history of Dos Minutos, including their 3 tours in the U.S. (which included stops at the legendary and now shuttered CBGBs), as well as the punk scene in general in Argentina.

Rockabilly queen Anita provided a couple moments of translation but El Mosca largely understood my English and at this point I was understanding Argentine Spanish much better so we were able to go back and forth pretty conversationally, which was refreshing.

Within 2 minutes of meeting him (pun completely intended) you can tell El Mosca is a pro and a really good guy. He graciously offered me to shoot whatever video I wanted of the show, so long as I bought him some beer next time he’s in NYC. I of course agreed.

One of the Opening Acts for Dos Minutos

The opening bands were pretty decent and by the time Dos Minutos hit the stage, the venue at Niceto Club was jam packed. I am bad at estimating crowds but I’d estimate over a thousand were in attendance and the venue was tightly run with no alcohol being served on the main level, so the crowd, enthusiastic and rowdy, was not drunk. Many bore 2 Minutos shirts, others Ramones, Rancid, Casualties, Manu Chau, etc.

I decided upon a perch on the 2nd floor balcony to shoot the videos and photos of the concert and man am I glad I did, I would have gotten destroyed! The entire 1st half of the ground floor was a pit of moshing, sweating, jumping, surfing bodies that moved all over the place. One thing about crowds in Latin America (and Latin crowds in the U.S.) is their enthusiasm.

When they really like a band, the let it show. They chant, they sing every word to every song and thy don’t let up until the concert is over usually chanting otra, otra, otra (another, another, another).

This hometown crowd loved Dos Minutos and I’m thankful I was able to witness it and get to know these guys just a little before heading on to the next part of my journey, Uruguay.

I’ll leave you with a short flipcam video from the concert and you can view more pics in the photo gallery. A featured segment on Dos Minutos will appear here in March or April, so stay tuned. Keep fighting! Keep rocking!