4 Extraños en D.C. came from the creative scope of Bogota-native Jaime Moreno back in 2005, around the time Youtube was on the rise to become the most accessible tool for us procrastinators to dwell in. In my case, it was around the time I was working on my bachelor thesis, when I was looking for some kind of distraction that I encountered these four extremely funny stereotypes of Colombia’s main regions.
For those of you not familiar with the geography of Colombia, this country is blessed with very distinctive landscapes. Those landscapes shape the way people behave and their culture, which are influenced by music as well. So, in this satirical, bi-dimensional cartoon there are four heavily humourised Colombian cultural stereotypes.
We have the stereotype from the coast in the flesh of Arnoldo Viafara, whose dark skin and the particular way of speaking gives a broad idea of what Caribbean culture looks like. From the Capital, we have Julián Vargas who represents the posh petulance of a spoiled city boy. On the other hand, we have Miguel Forero who represents those brought up in farms who are stubborn, hard workers to the extreme with a particular taste for beer. And last but not least we have Byron Gómez, a long-haired rock enthusiastic with a soft spot for heavier sounds, loyal to his friends and extremely tolerant of other cultures.
These four friends have gone through several versions of Festival Rock al Parque, we found out that Kerry King is Arnoldo’s lost uncle, and they have some horrific adventures around the beautiful and very extreme city of Bogotá. The cartoon has grown from mini episodes of seven minutes to 25 minutes. This coming August 27th at the ‘4 Extraños en D.C. La Fiesta V2.0’ party there will be a release of a new episode full of that dirty sense of humour that we have grown used to, which will include the voice acting talents of Colombian bands Pitbull, Narcopsychotic and Cuentos de Los Hermanos Grind.
But the episode will not be the only reason to celebrate as it will give the opportunity for tribute bands to perform. As a celebration of this country becoming a concert hotspot of sorts over the last couple of years, the ‘4 Extraños en D.C. La Fiesta V2.0’ party will have two tribute bands. The first one is a tribute to the ´Smash’ album by The Offspring called Nee-Tro, who will play the entire album start to finish plus some extra bonus tracks of the early work from the Californian rock-punk band, who will visit Colombia on September 9th. The second band is a tribute of another beast of a band, Rock Brick, a tribute band to Guns N’ Roses who will come to Colombia on November 6th.
Another notable activity in the ‘4 Extraños en D.C. La Fiesta V2.0’ are the giveaways. There are some interesting presents to be given out on that day, besides the good fun one can achieve from watching the quartet going through life. Tattoos from Brocken Skull G, wrestling masks by Strong Minds of Wrestling, a parachute jump and a significant discount for skydiving by Aeroclub Bogota Skydive, will be up for grabs for the attendees of this second version of the party. Besides these tokens of appreciation, there will some surprises given out by the Rock & Shout Festival.
Do not miss the opportunity to have a good time with Arnoldo, Byron, Julián, and Miguel this Saturday, August 27th at Auditorio Lumiere at 8:00 p.m. The tickets for ‘4 Extraños en D.C. La Fiesta V2.0’ are for sale at Revolution Store, 4Cuartos rehearsal studios for $15,000 Colombian Pesos (5.5 US Dollars) and at the day of the event at Auditorio Lumiere tickets point for $20,000 Colombian Pesos (7.5 US Dollars).
