The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Latin beats send off concert series
UTICA, N.Y. >> The 2019 Levitt AMP Utica Summer Concert Series will end Monday, Aug. 26, with a special Latin Night event featuring La Misa Negra from Oakland, Calif.
La Misa Negra is a seven piece band known for delivering a performance filled with dance grooves and punk rock energy, powered by horn and accordiondriven riffs, rhythm and a vintage-inspired sound. Audience members will hear wide influences from traditional Latin to cumbia, tambora, mambo, salsa, Cuban, hip-hop, Latin jazz, and even a little heavy metal.
Opening the concert at 6 p.m. is Grupo Pagan, a high energy Latin American band from Syracuse. Ritmo Caribeño, a youth cultural dance group of the Mohawk Valley Latino Association, will be featured at intermission at 7 p.m. La Misa Negra will perform from 7:30-9 p.m.
Ritmo Caribeño and Levitt AMP coordinators will be leading an audience-wide group dance on Eagle Street during La Misa Negra’s song “Acosadora.” A video to learn the dance can be found on the Levitt AMP Utica Music Series Facebook page and the dance
group will be teaching the steps after their intermission performance.
There’s also fun for kids on Monday. Amy Creedon will run the Kid’s Art Circle with crownmaking, and the Utica Children’s Museum will be on site with giant-sized games. Weekly sponsor New York Sash will have a chalk wall for decorating and free face painting.
Levitt AMP Utica has been a free, ten-week concert series on Monday evenings in Kopernik Park. Featuring live music, art, performances, food trucks and a lively atmosphere, the concerts are events where everyone is welcome to enjoy a reinvigorated space, quality entertainment and building community together in a family-friendly, alcohol-free environment.
“The 2019 Levitt AMP Utica Series has been nothing short of amazing,” said coordinator Michelle Truett. “The bands, the art, the audience, we couldn’t have asked for more. And it’s fitting to have La Misa Negra close out our series with their electric energy.”
“The bands, the art, the audience, we couldn’t have asked for more. And it’s fitting tohaveLaMisa Negra close out our serieswith their electric energy.”
— Michelle Truett, coordinator