Saturday SXSW Showcases

Laguna Pai

SXAméricas: Latin, Ska, Reggae

Billed as a hemispheric celebration of music, Saturday's SXAméricas showcase is largely a Colombian affair, but the exceptions to that rule are two of the best acts of the night. Lima's Laguna Pai opens with a bilingual dose of righteous roots reggae, and closers El Conjunto Nueva Ola, a lucha-mask-clad Los Angeles sextet, thrills with costumes, cumbia, and Billy Idol covers. The rest of the lineup is pure Colombian. Grammy-nominated trio Locos por Juana reps both Miami and the land of magical realism with a grinning mix of cumbia, champeta, reggae, funk, and hip-hop. Bogotá rockeros Consulado Popular fuse rhythms of their native country with hardcore punk. Sixpiece Medellín ragamuffins Tarmac pound out political reggae and dancehall as Cali's Cirkus Funk blasts off on a Space Conga of horn-driven Latin funk. ¡Qué bacano!