A Night with the Buena Vista Social Club

The Buena Vista Social Club is one of our favourite bands, and this week we had a rare opportunity to go and see them in Manchester at the Bridgewater Hall.

We’d been looking forward to it for ages, but when the time came, we wondered if we’d done the right thing. It was a Monday evening, and we never go out on a Monday evening! It was cold and windy, it was a long way to go, there was a match at Old Trafford so the traffic would be bad - and we just had so many other things to do.

But we’d bought the tickets, so we went…

The band originally hails from the run-down but colourful backstreets of Havana and their music is full of the spirit of old Cuba.

We took our seats feeling agitated and with our minds on other things...but what a night it turned out to be.

Later on that evening, when the band was in full swing, I suddenly caught myself totally engaged in the moment – happy and smiling, really engrossed in the here and now.

My mind was no longer pre-occupied with everything I had to do.

The vibrant music had somehow transported me back to many personal, treasured moments with family and friends –relaxing holidays, fun parties, making silly cocktails for the children, dancing to the CD in the kitchen as we prepared a summer tea… no wonder I was smiling and happy.

We both left the venue feeling wonderful. Calm, relaxed and completely uplifted – even though it was a cold, wet, windy Monday evening in Manchester...

..and a long way from Cuba!

MG