BUENOS AIRES - Hot Joy, a Roxette tribute band formed here, performed for the first time at a musical festival in this city yesterday. The free, open-air concert took place at Plaza Longo in the Caseros section of Buenos Aires.

  The crowd that filled the plaza heard Hot Joy perform "Hotblooded," "Dangerous," "Fading Like a Flower," "Cinnamon Street," "Spending my Time," "Dressed For Success," "Sleeping in My Car" and "The Look."

   The festival opened with The Betters, a Beatles tribute band, and Hot Joy was the third act to perform. According to Juan Infante Camaño (vocals and guitar) the band's name comes from the songs "Joyride" and "Hotblooded."

  Other members of the band include Marcela Hatsatourian (voice), Nicolás Fontimpe (bass, vocals and chorus), Federico Fontimpe (lead guitar), Ariel Prados (Keyboards) and Santiago Rey (drums).


  "It was a spectacular show and they had a fantastic sound, which has to reflect a lot of work from these six guys," said Silvina Arnouil, one of about 20 Roxette fans in attendance amongst a crowd of over 200.

  It was a kind of reunion for the local Roxette fan community, as many had not seen each other in a very long time, and most gathered near the stage.

  "Many of the fans sang along," Silvina tells The Daily Roxette, "and there was a group of about four that danced like crazy to ALL the songs. It was a lot of fun for the Rox fans, of course, but the bigger crowd seemed to really enjoy the show as well."

  "I'm one of those fans who have followed Roxette since the beginning, a long time ago… like 1989," says Juan. "Roxette are what encouraged me mostly to become a musician."

  "The real Hot Joy project started in February of this year," he continues. "I say 'real' because this idea has existed for some time in Nicolás, Marcela and Federico's minds. They are the band's founders. They're the ones who put it all together."

  "I don't like to call our band a 'tribute band' because tributes are for dead bands and they [Roxette] aren't. So this is more of an homage," he says.


Zerot contibuted to this article.

• Listen to Hot Joy (four songs available)