Grupo Fantasma to bring Latin-funk to Purdue
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Grammy-Award winning Latin-funk band Grupo Fantasma will perform in the Purdue Memorial Union Ballrooms on Aug. 25.
This 7:30 p.m. performance is presented by Friends of Bob and Purdue Convocations and includes pre-show Latin dance lessons beginning at 7:15 pm.
Fresh off its 2011 win for "El Existential" (Best Latin rock, alternative, or urban album), the acclaimed Austin-based 10-piece band is now in top form. The band's guitarist, Adrian Quesada says, "Considering the DIY and homegrown effort we've built over the last decade, including the immense undertaking and process of producing this album all by ourselves, it feels unbelievable to finally go home as winners. And with so many genres combined into this one category with such fierce competition, it's even more of an honor and statement of our hard work over the last 10 years."
Praised as one of the most important independent acts in the Latin genre, the band draws from influences including cumbia, salsa, old-school funk, and reggae, along with a solid dose of indie rock. The group has received praise from The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and USA Today, which called the band "Latin-funk masters." Grupo Fantasma is widely known for its energetic live shows, which NPR declares "seamless…whenever and wherever they're on stage."
Tickets are $20 for the general public and $15 for children 18 years and younger, Purdue students and Ivy Tech Lafayette students. Tickets are available at the Elliott Hall and Stewart Center box offices at 765-494-3933 or 800-914-SHOW. Tickets are also available through Ticketmaster outlets.
Purdue Convocations presents a broad array of performances each year at Purdue University, encompassing jazz, dance, comedy, drama, Broadway productions, and classical and contemporary concerts. Annual audiences of 60,000 come from the Purdue campus, the Greater Lafayette community and around the state. In addition to hosting vibrant performances, Convocations enables artists to visit area classrooms, welcomes schools for special matinee performances, encourages campus professors to integrate performances into their varied curricula, and helps teachers receive arts-integrative professional development.
Friends of Bob is a nonprofit organization of volunteers bringing alternatives in live music to the Greater Lafayette area. The group's main purpose is to present high-quality rock, pop, rhythm and blues, rockabilly, alternative, soul, country, reggae, world and any other category-defying music that may ordinarily pass Lafayette by.
Sources: Abby Eddy, Purdue Convocations director of marketing, 765-494-5045, aeeddy@purdue.edu