Babasonicos brought Argentina to Tufnell Park. Hearing very little English to be heard in the queue outside, I ask the man stood behind me if he’s a big Babsonicos fan. He says yes, but he hasn’t seen them in years. The last time he went to one of their concerts, he was 14. Inside, you get the feeling that most of the audience is in the same boat.
The band formed back in the early 90s with the intention of creating a new wave sound and to ‘annoy Argentinean rock music’ to use their own words. They seem to have maintained their fan-base despite latterly leaning increasingly towards mainstream pop-rock. There’s a palpable nostalgia and excitement coming from them crowd.
Unfortunately, the band didn’t seem to share the same enthusiasm. Despite the polished performance you’d expect from veteran rock stars, they lacked cohesive energy. The audience don’t seem to mind though, buoyed along by memories of their first teenage forays into mosh pits, and sing along with gusto to each track, be it old or new. The lead singer contorts himself around the stage with theatrical anguish but misses the opportunity to connect with the audience that such an intimate venue affords. He only speaks over the mic twice; once to ask the sound to be adjusted, and again to say ‘gracias’. My friend from the queue assures me that in Argentina he normally talks. I wonder why he didn’t here in London.
Before the gig ever really gets going, the band are offstage, waiting to be called back for an encore. It’s in the last two songs that you get a whiff of what Babasonicos might have been like in their hey-day. Rocky energy and the crowd bouncing on the balls of their feet. But a little too little, too late.
Outside, I ask my friend how it compared to their concerts from a decade or so ago. ‘It wasn’t like how they used to be,’ he concludes reluctantly, ‘At first it was a bit… but then because of the end it was good. The last song was like real Babsonicos.’ All in all, it was a gig for fans, which was good since that was who most of the audience were, but it wasn’t going to make any new fans.
Babasonicos played at the Dome in Tufnell Park 27/10/14"
