King Chango is probably the world’s foremost Latin-ska-reggae-hip-hop-punk-metal band and sometimes their startling genre-scrambling proves too confusing for audiences----one possible explanation for the State Theatre being half empty for the band’s performance Sunday night. The New York City sextet was little deterred by the lack of a teeming throng, though, whipping up a crackling blend of spicy music that started at straight reggae, shifted to speedy Latin ska and didn’t stand still for the remainder of the 90-minute show.
King Chango (named for the god of drums and partying in the Afro-Cuban religion Santeria) is led by irrepressible singer Andrew Blanco, who bounded on stage wearing sweat pants and a soccer jersey. The athletic apparel was appropriate, as Blanco bounded, bounced and caromed incessantly, skanking to the charging beat. Blanco peppered the set with social and political references---from discrimination against immigrants to the U.S. Navy’s presence on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques---but the band’s relentless ska underpinnings kept things from getting too heavy.
The musical interchange between bass, horns, bongos, drums and guitar was energetic, if not quite as full of razor sharp splices as Chango’s two albums. There was dancing, of course, especially when the band charged through signature tunes like “El Santo”, which tossed some heavy metal guitar into the brew, but mostly the set was a glorious display of King Chango’s wild musical melange.
Washington Post, 2002
