Entertainment
Afrobeat, rumba, merengue, joropo, Ethiopian groove, gqom. Call the fire department, because this one is going to be HOT. Collider!Fest is back with a second-year line-up that vigorously conquers space and time with powerful doses of diasporic musical creativity. The two-day, building-wide event runs the full length of Bombyx with Neftali Duran’s Oaxacan cooking, hyperlocal beers and ciders crafted by Florence-based brewers, Spin That! Records’ record fair on Saturday, and workshops of all kinds. We’re adding a second stage this year, so each night features four sets of music with no overlap, so you don't have to miss a beat. There’s a word in Spanish – lejanía – which describes the state of being far away from something. Often, that something is an imagined home. The word “lejania” is suffused with longing; it suggests loss, displacement, homesickness… the place where one belongs when one isn’t there. Music, like certain foods, or hearing one’s own language, provides a powerful antidote to “lejanía”. Music brings “home” into diasporic life. Like a teleportation device – but rather than being teleported home, one teleports home into oneself. At this year’s Collider!FEST, Duke Amayo (formerly of Antibalas) debuts his new afrobeat orchestra and calls in Fela Kuti’s legendary Shrine from Lagos into the Bombyx hall. Mafer Bandola (of LADAMA) creates a “portable community house” for Joropo, the party music of Venezuela’s high plains. You’ll hear Danny Mekonnen and Ravish Momin convert the nostalgia for their Ethiopian and Indian heritage into spiritual, transporting dance ravers. And there’s much, much more. Come early. Stay late. This is an immersive experience in global music culture. Vamonos. Friday Schedule FOOD SERVED FROM 6 PM TO 9 PM IN THE PEACOCK ROOM 5:30 PM Momin & Mekonnen Workshop (Peacock Room) 6:00 PM Doors Open (Sanctuary) 7:00 PM Brad Barr (Sanctuary) 8:00 PM dragonchild x Sunken Cages (Peacock Room) 8:45 PM AMAYO (Sanctuary) 10 PM dragonchild x Sunken Cages Jam w/ special guests (Peacock Room) Saturday Schedule FOOD SERVED FROM 6 PM TO 9 PM IN THE PEACOCK ROOM 10:30 AM Brad Barr Guitar Workshop (Cobb Room) 12-5 PM Da Bomb Record Fair (Peacock Room) 1:00 PM Richie Barshay Body Percussion Workshop (Sanctuary) 6:00 PM Doors Open (Sanctuary) 6-7 PM Joropo Workshop w/ Mafer Bandola (Peacock Room) 7:00 PM Yasser Tejeda (Sanctuary) 8:00 PM Mafer Bandola & the Pipiris Band (Peacock Room) 8:50 PM Xenia Rubinos (Sanctuary) 9:45 PM Mafer Bandola & the Pipiris Band (Peacock Room)