Old industrial building, first as an oil factory and then as a recycling center, Ciudad Cultural Konex is today a cultural center where various innovative artistic activities have been carried out since 2005. Located in the Balvanera neighborhood, at Sarmiento 3131, the objective is to promote expression, inspiration, enjoyment and creativity through theater, music, dance, film, design, fashion and architecture experiences during events and parties. One of its spearheads is the Time Bomb, a percussion concert that has brought together hundreds of people every Monday for 16 years.
Created in 2006 by Santiago Vazquez, the idea was to produce powerful and danceable music that could represent the influences of all the members of the group and the multifaceted culture of the inhabitants of Buenos Aires. Demonstration group, this fifteen musicians challenge themselves to entertain the public with their improvisations. With this idea, they link and vary the rhythms, constantly changing the conductor. The ears are easily seduced, but keep your eyes open: lighting effects enhance the music, always intervening at the right time. They highlight the passion of the musicians, a passion that becomes contagious and before you know it, your body begins to dance on its own. That passion is transmitted between the two parts, the energy of the public and the improvisation of the stage feeding each other much more until the bomb explodes, making each show unique.
They also invite others artists to join them to mix other instruments and forms of singing, and give an increasingly surprising result every week. There are more than hundreds of musicians of all styles who played the game of improvisation on this stage: Calle 13, Paulinho Moska, Café Tacuba...
With and without them, La Bomba de Tiempo performed several shows throughout Argentina, also in Chile, Brazil, Colombia, and Uruguay. In 2016 they went to the United Arab Emirates for the Dubai Jazz Festival and in 2019 they started a European tour, passing through Barcelona, Madrid, Berlin and London, before the pandemic canceled the plans. This same year his studio album Revolución Beat and his musical theater work Ritmo were released. Today, La Bomba de Tiempo is declared “Of Cultural Interest” by the Legislature of the City of Buenos Aires.
Tourist trap in appearance, there are many national and international tourists, but it allows an immersion in the Latin culture that is worthwhile. The porteños who come here are regulars, so whether you are passing through or have been a resident for years, the result is the same: Mondays are amazing! Don't hesitate to check out their photos and news on their Instagram page: @labombadetiempo!
A true weekly ritual, it is a meeting place that brings together all ages, from 18 years on. Indeed, the cultural center has a bar where you can drink beer or fernet, one of the typical Argentine drinks since the wave of Italian emigration in the 19th and 20th centuries: here, a liter costs only $800!
The event starts at 8pm and ends at 10pm for a price of $1400 if you pay on site or $1100 if you pay online: https://www.cckonex.org/show/the-time-bomb-2/. I recommend that you arrive a little early, as it is usually crowded and it shows in the queue. But the party does not end at 10 pm and continues in the street, where people gather around other percussionists to start a procession of a few hundred people. The march moves to the rhythm of music through the Balvanera neighborhood, passing through the Torres de Abasto and Corrientes, the avenue that never sleeps and is often compared to Time Square because its lights never go out. At 11pm, the procession arrives at the entrance of the club, where the party continues throughout the night for the most motivated.