Venezuelan gozadera arrives in the windy city Mar. 30 when the Grammy-nominated Los Amigos Invisibles bring their “El Paradise” tour to Chicago. With a near three-decade musical pedigree behind them, the band led by Julio Briceño, Jose Rafael Torres and Juan Manuel Roura (respectively known as “Chulius,” “Catire” and “Mamel”) received a 2017 Grammy nomination for this album, which includes collaborations with Kinky, Los Autenticos Decadentes, Elastic Bond and the legendary Oscar D’ Leon.
With a fusion of disco, funk, jazz, and salsa, Los Amigos Invisibles had garnered moderate fame in Venezuela before being discovered in 1995 by David Byrne (of the Talking Heads) and signed to his Luaka Bop label in 1996. As the story goes, David Byrne stumbled upon their album “A Typical and Autoctonal Venezuelan Dance Band” which Los Amigos had left on consignment in a local record shop. Talks began between the two and that led to a record deal with Byrne which introduced the world to Los Amigos Invisibles; hits “Ponerte en Cuatro, “Sexy” and “El Disco Anal” (loosely translated “Get you down on all four,” Sexy” and “Anal Disco”).
The most played track on “El Paradise” is a sweet, disco-backed love ballad titled “Esperame.” Although it’s a tamer song, the album is not an entire departure from the sound and uninhibited sexual innuendo that the band has proudly flaunted for so many years. After all, it’s hard to change your M.O. from tracks like “G-String,” “Cuchi Cuchi,” and “Masturbation Session” overnight.
Considered one of the most internationally known Venezuelan bands, Los Amigos Invisibles has been touring since the release of “El Paradise” in Feb. 2017, having made a brief stop at Chicago’s Ruido Fest last year. Now they return March 30 to Joe’s Bar on Weed St. to continue what they started last summer.
Los Amigos Invisibles in Chicago, “El Paradise” Gira 2018
Tickets at Joesbar.com
More on Amigos at amigosinvisibles.com