Los Cafres arrive in La Plata and will display their reggae at the Opera Theatre

This Friday, from 9 p.m.,he Opera Theater of The Silver has a date with the pioneer band in interpreting roots reggae in Spanish. The CAFRES They will make their fans vibrate with a great repertoire and tickets are available on the platform. Livepass and the theater box office.

Los Cafres debuted in 1987 in a pub in Northern District of the Buenos aires city. Made up largely of musicians who were working in other bands, the initial line-up was relatively unstable and their shows were sporadic. Currently, the members are: Guillermo Bonetto (voice), Claudio Illobre (keyboards) and Gonzalo Albornoz (low), Manuel Fernandez Castano (sax), Willy Rangone (trumpet), Victor Raffo (Rhythmic guitar), Demian Marcelino (first guitar) and Ivan Mustapich (battery).

In dialogue with 0221.com.arthe guitarist and vocalist, Victor Raffospoke about the current situation of the band and the tour abroad they are on.

The Cafres at the Opera Theatre

—How was Los Cafres’ journey from ’92 onwards, when they decided to start playing as a group and not as something sporadic?

— The band had entered a stalemate in ’89 due to the political and economic crisis, several of the musicians had decided to emigrate, including the singer. When they considered that the conditions were right to return, they returned and at the end of ’92 they began to put the band together and played again from there. Los Cafres stabilized during ’93 and in ’94 we recorded the first album that turns 30 this year in August, Cafre Frequency. After many years of work, without being able to make a living from music, in 2004 the album came out Who gives more?, what is the song If love falls and it became a radio hit. From that year to this part, there were 20 years in which history was different.

—What seduces you about reggae as a musical genre?

— On a personal note, what seduced me was a cadence, a slow, very sanguine rhythm. I was not captivated by a religious message, I was not seduced by Rastafarianism. Also, when I started listening to reggae I was very young and there was no Internet to find out what I was talking about. Bob Marley when I was talking about Rasta. And I think my case was the same as everyone else’s, because we are over 50 years old, except for the drummer and the first guitar, but the story goes back there.

—After the break you had to take in 2021 due to Guillermo’s health situation, how was your return to the stage?

— First came the pandemic, which was obviously very hard for all bands, not just us. In October 2021 we returned to the stage at the Gran Rex Theater and the prospects were the best. A few days later, after a show in Puerto Rico, Guillermo got sick and we had already gone a year and a half without playing. After this situation it was another year without playing. It was a second knockout. When we had finished digesting the blow of the pandemic, this thing appeared that surprised us all and we had to wait. Guillermo, fortunately, recovered slowly but well. And a year later we returned to the stage in Peru.

The truth is it was a shame, because after those two shows we had done in October 2021, the band had come back sounding very good and very interesting things were shaping up, but the frontman got sick and we had to put the brakes on again. The truth is it was a shame, because after those two shows we had done in October 2021, the band had come back sounding very good and very interesting things were shaping up, but the frontman got sick and we had to put the brakes on again.

—How do you feel the La Plata public will receive you?

— La Plata is a city full of universities, where there are people from all over the country, so that is always a motivation because people from everywhere see you.. The last shows we gave were in 2019, at a festival in Plaza Malvinas.

— How do you prepare for the show at the Opera Theatre?

—We’ve been playing a lot abroad, we’re playing very little in Argentina and most of the last shows were at La Trastienda in Capital Federal. In the shows we’re playing a list of songs that is a review of the band’s entire career, with songs from all the albums.