La Mágica Ciudad de Mexico
Walking through the halls of LAX I suddenly heard someone call out my name. Turning around I was surprised to see my best friend Josh’s old roommate from Honolulu, Jared. He was on the same flight as me to Mexico City (aka CDMX) where he would be spending one night before venturing on to Tulum for a bachelor party.
Since Jared’s bachelor party compadres were out for the day exploring the canals of Xochimilco and knowing he would only be in CDMX for one night I figured there was one restaurant I had to take him to, Contramar. Known for its impeccable seafood, we managed to slip in without a reservation for an early dinner right before they close at 6pm.
We feasted on a variety of seafood. Tuna and crab tostadas, stone crab claws, and octopus tacos. And lots of mezcal, of course. Everything was stunning and absolutely perfect.
It felt so good to be back in CDMX. It was quite surreal to be enjoying it all with Jared. We’ve hung sporadically over the years. Our last adventure had been two years prior. Whilst in Hawaii for my 40th birthday Jared, Josh and I had enjoyed a last minute camping trip at Kalaeloa Beach on Oahu.
It was Thursday night in CDMX and I had a full schedule. The night prior to my flight I spent a bit of time researching whether there would be any cool concerts in town whilst there.
Helaldo Negro was playing a show that night at Foro Bud Light. Although I am only slightly familiar with his music, I knew it would be rad so I bought a ticket instantly. KCRW has been jamming his mellow Spanish-inflected tunes on the radio in recent, and it seemed like the perfectly chill way to kick off the night.
I kept searching for other live music and soon enough I came upon a listing for Gilles Peterson. WHAT?! I nearly fell out of my seat.
Gilles Fucking Peterson was DJing that same night, my first night in town. Although I had already bought a ticket to Helaldo, Gilles would not go on until later so I proceeded to buy a ticket to see him as well. I quickly shot Andy a note. Her and her girlfriend, Alia, would be arriving later that night from Los Angeles and Colorado, and I strongly advised they meet me at Gilles.
I am a recent Gilles convert. My other best friend, Darus, has been listening to and seeing him for years. He always seemed to have epic times at those Gilles shows. To be honest, I’m not sure what took me so long to catch up.
This past year I have been splitting my time between Los Angeles and San Francisco, and my dear friends, Jenny and Mike, are also huge Gilles fans. When it was announced he would be swinging through San Francisco a few months ago, on my birthday no less, they convinced me I should attend the show with them, and spend the extra night in San Francisco.
Normally I would have gone back to Los Angeles after working in San Francisco all week, but Jenny can be very persuasive and so I bought a ticket. After seeing Gilles once I finally understood what all the hype was about. That elfish Brit is a true force of nature. He spins the most incredible dancey, eclectic world music. Everything from Afrobeat to Hip Hop to weird bleepy Electronica and Jazz, and all sorts of other amazing weirdness, and he blends it all together seamlessly.
The crowd never stops dancing, and they are something to behold as well consisting of fashionistas, vinyl nerds, weirdos, and every other type of music aficionado you can imagine.
Apparently you need to be in the know to appreciate and love Gilles. At least here in the USA. I imagine he plays massive gigs back home in the UK since he does after all have a three hour block of programming on the BBC every week.
This particular CDMX gig took place in a funky, colorfully lit, hotel bar backroom. Gilles came on late. I should have known he wouldn’t be on at the advertised time. I had forgotten that time flows differently in CDMX.
Jared made it out to see Gilles, despite no one else from the Bachelor party rallying to join him. And Andy and Alia arrived just in time as well. The four of us danced the night away. I was downing mezcal like water. Ecstatic dancing ensued. What a joyous way to kick off our trip.
I was completely beside myself. I could not believe that my last minute trip had coincided with my favorite new DJ’s performance. It was the third time I had seen Gilles this year. He had passed through Los Angeles only a few weeks after the San Francisco gig, and you know I was there to groove late into the night with him.
After many many hours of dancing we decided to end the night with some tacos. Andy called us an Uber and were soon on our way to Tortas Al Fuego. We chowed on pastor tacos and tortas. It was utterly glorious despite the fact that I may have had just one too many mezcals. I had gotten a bit too excited to be in Mexico City and pushed myself right up to my limit and just a teensy bit past it.
The tacos saved me.
Night one concluded and I soon crashed happily with a bellyful al pastor and a head full of Gilles. I had only been in CDMX for 12 hours, and yet I could already feel the magic of that wondrous city taking over. I was eager to see what else it had in store for me.
