We are kicking off 2026 with two events to keep you on the dance floor. If you like to move to the sounds of cumbia and salsa, Eli's and Mad Oak are where you need to be. The Eli's event is a one-off, but you can become a regular at the salsa night at Mad Oak, which takes place three times a month.
Here, cumbia isn't just a soundtrack amidst hardship. Rather, it's a way of life that preserves and amplifies the rhythms that fuse African, Indigenous and Spanish culture. Cumbia is something very special but it sounds cooler with our tunes, Alfaro proudly declares. He adds: For me, it's the most beautiful thing in the world. Any song you play touches your soul. It's something magical.
Marcel Campos, the lead singer of Spaghetti Cumbia, often talks about being caught in between two cultures not Mexican enough for Mexicans and not American enough for Americans. Ni de aqui, ni de alla. The Spaghetti sound was born out of a fusion of the two cultures. The members of the band all have deep connections to their Mexican roots.
Once the soundtrack of the working class, cumbia's simple, yet contagious, rhythm absorbed local styles, morphed, and reinvented itself. It has traveled underground through the veins of Latin America and spread throughout the world, from the remote villages of the Ecuadorian Andes to the bars of downtown Los Angeles. It has become one of the most listened-to genres in the Americas, symbolizing Latin American identity.
Hailing from San Francisco, Bululú brings a tropical, Latin vibe to the Bay Area. And this weekend, they will be playing a free show with Salinas' Flaco El Jandro y Sus Perros Callejeros (who mix punk, cumbia, and soul) and El Pecado de Juana (a Bay Area Bolero rock trio) for a celebration of Latin and Chicano music and culture.