A Trip Back to the 80’s Freestyle and Disco Era

2022-05-18

Miami, Fl – It’s a Friday evening in the hustling and bustling heart of Miami. Most folks are hustling to get home after a long week at work. A select few are moving their asses as fast as they can to get to the 80’s Legends Dance and Disco concert at the Miami Airport Hilton!

Charlie Rodriguez Live Entertainment continues to bring the best 80’s Freestyle and Dance music shows to the South Florida Market. The Miami Airport Hilton hosts the event in their Grand Ballroom, where fans and approximately 900 of their closest friends gather to take a trip back in time enjoying the music that resonated with those in South Florida during the eighties. As in the eighties, there was a lot of excess, especially when it comes to drinking and having a good time.

The show brings together some of the biggest names from the era including Cynthia, Lime, Coro, Judy Torres and France Joli. Nightshift, a local Miami Disco cover band, was added to the line up to get the crowd warmed up for the evening’s performers. Mission accomplished.

Cynthia, coincidentally celebrating her birthday on this evening, opens the show and the fans can’t get enough of her. They sing along, word for word, with Endless Night, Dreamboy Dreamgirl, Change on Me and many others. Cynthia receives a birthday serenade from the entire crowd when she wraps up her terrific set.

To ensure that there are no lulls in the intensity, South Florida’s own Dj Jorge Santana serves as hype man and music maestro. Jorge does an excellent job with the music selection, and the crowd is on their feet even in between sets and dancing like it was 1985 once again. Although, truth be told, we might be moving a bit slower and/or a bit more awkwardly, but dancing nonetheless.

Next to take the stage is Coro. Coro is a Freestyle legend. Coro, along with his Hip Hop dancer, put on a great show. In his signature style, Coro opens his set a cappella with his single “Where are you Tonight“. Fans can’t get enough of it, almost drowning out Coro’s own vocals. He continues on with a string of hits that include, “Stand By Your Lover”, “My Fallen Angel”, “Can’t Let You Go” and “Do Unto Me”. Coro throws in a little Hip Hop / Reggaeton rhythm and delivers a rock solid performance for the crowd. Coro allows a fan, Eli, to join him on stage and become a secondary dancer during his performance of “My Fallen Angel“.

By the time Lime hits the stage, fans are primed and ready for more. The dance/disco rhythms of classic Lime songs like “Angel Eyes”, “Your Love”, “Unexpected Lovers”, “Come and Get Your Love” ensure that all seats are empty. Lime is the duet of Joy Dorris and Rob Hubertz. The crowd just can’t get enough of Lime. Joy and Rob do an excellent job of engaging with fans, tossing out those rubber bracelets that were so popular way back when and even letting fans have the five minutes of fame while singing on their mic. Their set ends quite comically when at the end of “Angel Eyes”, they meet for what appears to be an embrace and Joy busts out laughing saying “it’s too weird, he’s like my brother!”

The Queen of Freestyle, Judy Torres, follows Lime. No easy task, by the way. But who are we to doubt Judy? Judy has a great stage presence, can easily interact with her fans and is quick with a joke, sometimes even taking jabs at herself. She is an excellent storyteller. Judy Torres kicks off he set with “No Reason To Cry”, her first single. Her set goes on to include a medley that includes “MacArthur Park” and “Last Dance” by Donna Summer, and Jellybean Benitez’s “The Mexican“. Judy delivers a powerful set that includes “Come Into My Arms” and “Love You Will You Love Me”.

It’s now late, some of the fans showed their age and couldn’t hang with the real Freestyle and Disco freaks. While the crowd was a bit thinner, it seemed that they are just that much louder. These are the hardcore fans. France Joli takes the stage to wrap up the show and it is apparent that this is the main reason folks came to the show. France has a history here in Miami, or more specifically Hialeah, Fl, where she performed at the legendary Casanova’s, a tiny club adjacent to a bowling ally in the heart of the town. Many in attendance on this night were at Casanova’s whenever France Joli performed there. France belts out hit after hit and takes fans on a trip through Disco paradise as she, as well, performs a medley of the best Disco songs from the era. France wraps up her set with her mega-hit, “Come To Me“. She is joined on stage by Rob Hubertz of Lime who provides the male vocals during the bridge of the song. France delivers a great performance although she was limited in her ability to move as fluidly as she typically does due to a knee injury. But that did not take away from the performance in any way.

The show complete, fans are abuzz as they walk away, having had a fantastic time dancing and reminiscing about the good ol’ days. Throughout the night, there were appearances by local radio legends and dj’s such as Funk E Frank, formerly of Rhythm98, Power96 and currently with the online Miami One Radio. Jammin’ Johnny Caride, of Power 96 and El Zol fame also took the stage to introduce an act. There was mention of Leo Vela, a pioneer in Miami dance music radio who recently passed away. His son was in attendance. In the end, no matter how long it’s been, this music never seems to get old, although us fans may have!