Los Angeles I love you! What a panchangon that went down this past Saturday April 30, 2016 at legendary La Bulla “A Lucha Libre Experience” presented by Antonio Pelayo Productions at Plaza de la Raza Lincoln Heights Califas. For all of you that were there and were part of the crowd yelling “La Bulla!” throughout the night with your Jimador tequila on hand, I salute you; great times are spent with “mas firme que wow” individuals. Y Que Viva Nuestra Raza! For those of you that missed out on this Chingon party, let me take you for a cruise and show you how us Angelinos, Chicanos, Mexicanos and everybody that came out to celebrate our glorious Cultura and Cumbia mix with El Conjunto La Nueva Ola and Dj Slowpoke; this is how we got down.
First of all, much respect to Natily Gonzalez and Antonio Pelayo a big thank you for the extended invitation to partake in this Lucha Libre experience. As always you will find me supporting our Arts & Cultural community here in our city of Angels because the Raza that creates together, sticks together.
As a spectator, I patiently waited for this awesome event, watching them develop and organize for the final night was just building up energy for me and I could not wait to dance the night away accompanied by great friends. This year our stunning friend and model Yasmin Ferrada would host for the first time La Bulla with none other than Richard Montoya and I must say that their fond chemistry was fun to watch; you guys did a great job hosting this celebration; our girl is so beautiful que no, you too Richard. Richard Montoya is a very humble, funny and approachable talented individual and you all know there is a special place in my heart for famous people who are down to Earth and do not forget their roots and fans.
So the night began as soon as I picked up my hot date La Pesky Oner; picking her up in her nice dress and high heels in the NELA, bumping a dope mix CD of old school funky beats by Fes One. We got to the venue around 8pm and all the streets were full! We parked so far; well for any lady with high heels it is a mission to walk but anything for the sake of looking cute. As we approached the entrance we were welcomed by firme low-rider ranflas. You can say that security staff this time around was fiercely on point; when the flyer mentioned “No In and Outs; they meant it. First person we see is Antonio Pelayo looking sharp with his suit and as always with warm welcoming hugs and smiles. Immediately entering the venue was the red carpet spotlight, I ended up spending most of the night there which was pretty cool because I got to see first hand all our friends and artists coming in. Shout out to Nuke and his lovely wife, Pyro and his hot date, a lot of Graffiti heads showed up so it was nice to be around familiar faces, my family SKA Crew, Dras, Dole, Paybak and Phowl were there. Pyro representing the notorious West Coast Artists Crew, UTI Crew was there too. A wide variety of creative individuals made their presence known, our friend Edward from Cold Fire Art Co. dance the night away with us; thank you for the dance and good laughs. It was funny how it worked out to be a completely ladies night because all of our men were either working or doing other shows that same night. My vato Pryer was getting down at Battlegroundz in San Diego; so it was nice to know we were both being supportive and productive within our arts communities from LA to San Diego. For the most part, it was Anuh, Yasmin, Pesky, Lea, Kadoty and myself hanging out and enjoying the gallery and live performances; thank you ladies for such a great night. (Anuh, you still owe me some tacos.)
My first place to document was the gallery reception, which was curated by Manone from Crewest; this is a man who has been working in the Arts for over decades so it was nice to see someone like this at work. I still remember going to Crewest during Downtown LA Art Walks, crazy times but fun times. The layout of the art show allowed the public to begin from either entrance point because at every corner, the lighting and layout was filled with colors and great pieces of work which all worked together as installations. Taking in a Lucha Libre concept can be challenging but all the artists did an amazing job and I really enjoyed all the photography.
As the night progressed, the public had two different dance floor locations but the main “pari” always remained at the main stage which was also used for the Lucha Libre matches and Loretta Vampz Lucha Libre Fashion competition hosted by Ariana a young talented Fashion/ Costume designer. The night was filled with vivid colors everywhere you turned; a reflection on how colorful and enriched our Cultura is; such a nice sight to see throughout the night!. One of the special moments while the crowd all gathered to the sets DJ Slowpoke was when he started mixing one of my favorite songs of all times “cumbia sobre el rio” Sonidero! Sonidero!.
And then the time we were all waiting for finally came; el Conjunto La Nueva Ola’s live performance! Oh my, that the term “ Ya se Armo” defined this moment as the crowd went wild and put front their best Cumbia dance moves for the next two hours. And I mean everybody danced; including La Bulla staff, hosts and press staff; everybody was grooving to their intoxicating Cumbia mix beats. Being on stage and feeding off their energy is still a vivid melody in my mind. And if you must know, I am writing this entire experience with their music on the background; estos cabrones rocked the night.
But all great things do come to an end, and they rocked their final song; although we did not want them to. I must say that at the end of it all we were all united as a community. To hold such a large event filled with people of different backgrounds and different age groups with no drama, but the mere respect and admiration for the Arts, a Mexican Lucha Libre Sport and the genuine want to have a taste of good Cumbias; it was executed with tremendous success. I can speak for myself and my friends that we danced the night away until they made us leave! Walking out of Plaza de la Raza with high heels on hand, filled SD cards and smiling faces; this is Los Angeles baby! Lets give thanks to everybody that worked so hard to make this adventurous night happen! And to many more “La Bulla” events.
Please enjoy this gallery of the highlights of La Bulla!
Much Love & Respects,
Monica Smiles Tobon
Chicano Slang Translations: (for all you non-Spanish speakers)
Panchangon: Festivity, party.
Ranflas: Dope automobile
Mas Firme Que Wow: Really Cool
Pari: Party
Ya se Armo: Oh its on!
Firme: Cool
Estos Cabrones: These Fuckers
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