MIMI MAURA
The Diva of Ska in the Crystal Palace
The award-winning Latin ska singer Mimi Maura returned to Fuji Rock this year for the first time since 2012, taking the stage at the Crystal Palace tent for a late night set on Saturday. She wore a velvet rose in her hair, a red velvet dress and black Doc Martin boots, a mix of classic Argentina and modern punk rock.
Maura has an amazing, classic voice that’s clear as a bell. Her songs — sung in Spanish and English — are not fast, punchy ska, but more moderately paced mix of ska and Latin rhythms, to make a dance metaphor more tango than salsa, and actually pretty good for couples dancing. The concert was a family affair, with her husband, Argentinian rockstar Sergio Rotman, on saxophone, and her son Leeroy on keyboards. The rest of her backing band was the Japanese ska group Tex and the Sunflower Seed, who slowed down their normally breakneck pace to Maura’s measure. The tunes were still very dancey and fun, and after 40 minutes, the crowd didn’t want to let her go. There’s little room for encores in the Fuji Rock schedule, and it’s possible the band hadn’t prepared anything. But Maura walked up to the mic and sang the audience a beautiful a cappella serenade that was short, sweet and a brilliant capper to a set that was tailormade for the intimate confines of the Crystal Palace.
