Kengo

Legendary drummer Eddie Jordan joins us to play spoons and percussion!

We travel the world bringing the UK party scene to where it’s needed and it’s always fun to come to a new country. India is such a country – a country of intense driving (not because of the F1 but on the roads) and nonchalant cows.

After the aftershow for Metallica’s concert (which due to security issues only happened in Bangalore), we played the post-race party to celebrate the success of India’s inaugural F1 race. Invited to perform for the Indian Grand Prix were Lady Gaga, Boy George, Seb Fontaine and Virgin Racing’s Sakon Yamamoto, a DJ as well as F1 driver.

Joined on stage by special guest Eddie Jordan on percussion, and a heap of Grand Prix grid girls who had come from the race, we had a lot of fun bringing the Cubano joy to the people of Delhi.

While Archerio nailed an awesome headspin on a carpeted floor (yes friends!!), Kengo San jumped over a whole Formula 1 racing car to take the dancing from the stage to the floor.

Respectos to John and the F1 rocks crew for battling the Indian bureaucracy in putting on the event!

Backstage with Boy George and his lovely make-up artist

Sorry it’s taken a bit of time to update our news! You see, it’s not the management or anyone else that looks after the website, so if things are busy (as we have been) it takes a bit of time! Apologies!!

Well, let me start off by catching up with Bestival! It was our 8th year this year (and the 8th Bestival) and it was once again full of fun and action, action and fun!

We repped the Cocktails and dreams tent every night as well as the Main Stage on Friday (as Barry peters and Double Penetration) and Sunday. The highlight was clearly the full band show on Sunday – an early afternoon set to really get the day going. By the time we ended with “Love is in The Air” we had the whole crowd jumping and singing along with Kengo san and Archerio amongst the audience!

Personal highlights included Björk who headlined Sunday night – performing Biophilia, rocking it with the Icelandic choir  and the most awesome of visuals. I also had a great little dance at the Psychedelic Worm tent with T.E.E.D – a new tent for 2012 which had a great atmosphere and a banging sound system. New Wave revivalists Asteroids were also impressive at Sailor Jerry’s tent.

Once again congratulations to Robbie, Josie, Getinvolved and Loudsound crew for running a tight ship and as always, much love and respect to Sarah and the artist liaison crew for dealing with all our ill-behaviour!

Scotland is a homecoming of sorts. It’s always a very welcoming place with the friendliest of crowds and people who are UP for the party.

Electric Circus in Edinburgh was sold out, a large enough venue but felt very intimate indeed! The town was buzzing with the festival and despite an early start, the excitement was already building as a few lads who couldn’t help themselves, jumped up onto the stage even before the brothers came on. We were piped in with “The Flower of Scotland” by our very own highland dancing Makoto Kaneko, the only JAPANESE piper in Scotland!

The next day we hit Glasgow’s Chambre 69, a club that prides itself in its Funktion-One system speakers set up on all four corners of the dancefloor. It was a very fun evening especially for Archerio as many close friends had come to watch. We were joined this time by Glasgow’s finest Flying Jalapenos crew who joined us in the throw down (and Makoto’s highland dancing). Thanks to Colin and crew for looking after us!

I always look forward to Camp Bestival though at the same time, it’s also the busiest festival – teaching dancing in the afternoon, Barry peters, Cuban Brothers and a bunch of shows in the evening.

BUT it’s amazing to see the festival growing every year and the children running around and having an AWESOME time. I hope you enjoyed the dance classes!

On Friday night, Barry Peters was joined by R.O.O.D or the Royal Olympic Organ Duo who had also performed at Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding celebrations  – the Royal Family’s favourite fusion jazz outfit.

Barry Peters with R.O.O.D

We had a great gig at the Big Top as well as doing our first gig with SIZZLECHEST, the live band outifit of Barry Peters where we rocked the Cocktails and Dreams tent on Saturday night.

A festival by the beach is ALWAYS a winner – especially if the beach is pristine and the water is crystal clear. Chill-Out Festival boasts such an enviable environment for a musical event. Turkey has also nurtured a “good music” crowd led by such clubs as the Babylon franchise who has stuck to a non-mainstream music policy and it’s no surprise then that the twenty and thirty-somethings of Turkey come to gather and party at this mini-festival consisting of Kraak and Smaak (doing a live set), Futureboogie, Mad Mats and of course the CB’s – the Cuban Brothers live band.

We were a man short as Archerio was attending a wedding elsewhere but we nevertheless had the crowd dancing and the music pumping!

Çesme was a great place to hang out too. A port with a pretty thoroughfare and marina, a thriving night life and really good seafood.

Big thanks to Jan, Serkan and crew for the hospitality and also to Gül and the Babylon team for looking after us on out downtime. I hope to see you guys again soon!

Çero, Fulya, Merv and Tolga

Well, as you all know, we love the festivals and this Summer has been off the scale with the festival touring steez. There is something special about being outdoors, jamming with your friends, seeing bands, getting melted, meeting new friends, a bit of tent action or nature action or pretty much the world is your oyster!

It’s only halfway through July but we have already kicked off the Summer with a flock of festivals! Rockness in Inverness was once again a great event, joined by the ONLY JAPANESE HIGHLAND DANCER and PIPER, Makoto Kaneko who introduced us onto the stage and danced his Highland Fling with us for the throwdown!

Fling Festival in Chelmsford was also a great vibe where we headlined the mainstage on Saturday night. A great vibe with a crowd who was up for the party as much as we were.

Big Feastival is a new festival by Jamie Oliver, with the proceeds going to the Prince’s Trust and his own charity Jamie Oliver Foundation. As soon as Kengo San went on the decks on the bandstand stage, the people started to get up off the grass and start dancing and were drawn towards the stage as if by magic. The show ended in a frenzy with the kids dancing in line up on the stage and having a mini-dance off. Apologies to stage manager Darren who was freaking out on the health and safety flex and for over-running! It’s difficult to stop playing when everyone is having so much fun!

Finally Microfest last week in Reading was a fun little festival where we played a nice afternoon set where we literally took the show off the stage and onto the grass. Archerio reckons it was one of the best for him this year!

AND we still have the rest of July (Camp Bestival!!!!!), all of August and Bestival in September to look forward to! It’s gonna be Ha-mazing!!!

It’s still a few more months to go but we’re very very excited about playing BESTIVAL again this year. It’s definitely one of our favourites and we have a special relationship with it as we have been hosting it every year since its inception. We have seen the festival grow from 5,000 people to 50,000 and this year is gonna be the biggest yet!!!

Check the line up here. Isn’t it just crazy??!?!?!?!?!

And by the way, the fancy dress theme this year is Rockstars, Popstars and Divas!!!

６月４日、幕張海浜公園で行われたビッグビーチにキューバン・ブラザーズが招待されました。初の日本公演ということでかなり気合いの入っていた三人ですが、それに応えるべく日本の観客もハイテンションかつ、ノリノリで迎えてくれました。

何かをすればしっかり反応が返ってくるという手応えをリアルに感じて、パフォーマンスはエスカレート！メンバーの皆で後で語りましたがキューバン、１０年を超す歴史の中で史上最高とも言えるショーになりました。

個人的には日本でできて大感激。日本の皆さんはとても優しかったです。感謝感激です。観客にいたショートヘアの女の子、美人過ぎです。電話ください。

ノリノリの観客！最高でした〜！ありがとう！

前夜祭では皆で六本木の田舎やというお店に連れて行って頂いて一同大ウケ。ハリウッド大スター達、スティービーワンダーも来ている（スティービーがねじり鉢巻姿というかなり個人的にヒットな記念写真を見せてもらいました）実はすごいお店でした。

面倒を見てくださった皆様、ビッグビーチのスタッフの方々、ありがとうございました。

On 4th June, the brothers played the Big Beach Festival in Chiba. This was special as

1. It was the first time that we had been invited to play in Japan

2. It was the first time for Kengo san to play amongst his own people

3. It was an awesomely sunny and hot day (cold beers!) in between two cloudy days.

4. We were playing alongside Round Table Knights, DJ Yoda, Steve Lawler, Carl Cox and Fatboy Slim.

So it was a very SPECIAL place to be at a very special time – especially so soon after the disasters that had struck the country.

AND what a show it was. From the start – there were cheers and building expectation as Kengo san hit the decks. And Baaaame!! As we hit the stage with the intro, the crowd lost their minds!! It was the most responsive and up-for-the-nonsense audience we had ever played to despite the language barrier.

After the show, we were presented with a framed letter of thanks from the Chiba Lion’s club for playing at the festival – proceeds of which will go to the recovery projects in the North East.

"Letter of Appreciation" from the Chiba Lions Club

In the evening we rocked the afterparty at Warehouse 702 in Azabu Juban (where Kengo San was born) to another great audience.

Thanks to Daniel and Masachika and all the crew for faultless production and a great festival!

Once again, it was time for the Cubanos to revisit Asia and make our presence felt!!!

We created a great disco boogie vibe at Bed, Bangkok, along with Sir Norman Jay MBE. We were delivered to the venue in a magnificent 6 seater tuk-tuk to be greeted warmly by a fun loving crowd.

Next stop Shanghai’s Richbaby! We arrived straight from the airport to soundcheck to see a 10ft by 20ft LED screen announcing the performance of the 3 Cuban Brothers on this very night at Shanghai. Good start. The club, with its opulent, gilt interior and chandeliered high ceilings reflect the wealth of the clientele and the amazing economy of China at the moment. It’s another level! Despite the small stage, we adapted well and turned the party OUT – as well as Kengo San playing for another hour afterwards MCed by Miguelito! Thank you to Anders for the hospitality!

Finally on the third day, (yes we are non-stop friends!!!) we arrived in Singapore to play Attica’s 7th Birthday Party. Aptly named “The Carnival” the party had the crowd in fancy dress and rocked on til 5am. Thanks to all the Attica crew for a brilliant night!