{"id":11571,"date":"2025-05-21T21:59:19","date_gmt":"2025-05-21T19:59:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wajari.com\/blog\/public-disorder-40-years-of-ska\/"},"modified":"2025-06-18T13:22:26","modified_gmt":"2025-06-18T11:22:26","slug":"desorden-publico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wajari.com\/en\/blog\/desorden-publico\/","title":{"rendered":"Public Disorder: 40 Years of Ska"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Last Sunday, I experienced an emotional rollercoaster thanks to seeing the Venezuelan ska band<\/strong>: Public Disorder<\/a> live. It’s my favorite band. It evokes wonderful memories for me, as it’s a group I grew up with since childhood. <\/p>\n\n

I was born in the \u201cvalley of bullets\u201d, and I’ve never stopped following them.<\/p>\n\n

My first concert, I was about 12 years old and I got to see them at Christmas festivals where they mixed Venezuelan gaita groups (it’s a type of Christmas music, with groups like: Guaco, Maracaibo 15, etc.) with this delicious \u201cVenezuelan ska<\/em>\u201d that never leaves anyone indifferent.<\/p>\n

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Public Disorder. Photo<\/strong>: Diario Caribazo<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

My first cassettes were theirs, and at that time, the usual way to listen to your favorite groups was to wait for them to come on the radio<\/strong> and record them to listen to them anytime.<\/p>\n\n

Ska<\/strong>, a musical genre born in Jamaica<\/strong>, has grown and evolved beyond its borders and in Latin America<\/strong>, it found a cradle that gave it style and character.<\/p>\n\n

DP has been an original proposal that gets anyone dancing. <\/p>\n\n

With intelligent, poetic lyrics (\u201cSimon Guacamayo\u201d), without forgetting the irony, humor, and social criticism of the reality of their environment.<\/p>\n\n

I must have seen them live more than 15 times, when they celebrated their 18th anniversary<\/strong> at the emblematic Teresa Carre\u00f1o<\/strong> theater, which generated an album, I was there. Today, May 2025<\/strong>, celebrating their 40th anniversary<\/strong> tour, I had the honor and privilege of being at the first concert of the tour in Santiago de Compostela<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n

For me, borders have always been imaginary. I never paid attention to nationalities or flags. <\/p>\n\n

I believe, as the Mago de Oz song says:<\/p>\n\n

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\u201cYou are not a tree, that’s why you have two feet, the wisest man is the one who knows that his home is as big as he can imagine\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Me as a \u201clighting\u201d assistant to meet DP. Year<\/strong>: 2004?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

I’ve been an immigrant in Galicia<\/strong> for 17 years from Venezuela<\/strong>, and although from a Galician family, it’s normal that I think about my origins with some nostalgia for what it was. <\/p>\n\n

But in all these years, it’s the first time I felt nostalgia for my country<\/strong> of birth thanks to the emotions experienced in this concert. <\/p>\n\n

The repertoire was impressive, as they took us through the entire artistic career of the group, from their origins and first songs, their evolution, the most current titles, to closing the circle with \u201cparalytic politicians<\/strong>\u201d, one of their first hits and the first song composed by Horacio Blanco.<\/p>\n\n

As a teenager, I was excited by \u201cbad breath\u201d, \u201cslippery shoes\u201d, and danced non-stop to \u201cthis is ska\u201d.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cWhere is the future?\u201d, seemed to me much more than a song. It was an anthem of my childhood that introduced me to a type of ska that was very much our own and close to our reality. <\/p>\n\n

The \u201cDance of the skeletons<\/strong>\u201d for me, has more philosophy than many sacred books. It’s a cry against intolerance, racism. An ode to life<\/strong> in which I have always seen myself reflected when I felt sad. Music has an incredible healing power. <\/p>\n\n

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The skeletons danceThey dance through the agesWithout jewels or arrogance, without etiquette rulesWithout vanity, without pride or modesty(\u2026)The skeletons don’t go to templesThey discovered that there’s never a good reasonfor hate and humiliationThey discovered that love sees no color<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

It’s a shame that at that time we didn’t have Spotify’s wrapped<\/em>, but without a doubt the album \u201cPopular Song of Life and Death<\/strong>\u201d I must have played millions of times, accompanying and cheering almost all moments of my life (even today). <\/p>\n

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Kind and affectionate, with all the exhaustion after the 2.5-hour concert, they gave me this moment. Old and new generations of the group. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Some curious details about my history with DP:<\/p>\n\n