At least 5000 people in Sofia are already happier, more smiling and enthusiastic after joining in the inspiring concert of the legendary Cuban band Buena Vista Social Club on the night of February 6 2008.

Tickets for the concert were sold out more than a week before the event and it was painfully obvious that Hall 1 of the National Palace of Culture could not seat all the fans desperate to get in. The alleys, staircases and any other free space in it was crowded with standing fans, although seating down through such a performance was impossible to imagine.

The beginning was impressive, with the first notes of Chan Chan making the crowd scream, nearly bringing down the house. Most of the audience was already dancing.

Cuban music's grand diva Teresa Garcia Caturla, the special guest at the gig in Sofia, made the entire hall rise to their feet with her vivid performance. She fearlessly mixed with the dancing bodies and exulted the crowd before the eyes of the shocked security guards.

The pure charm and embodied elegance of Julio Alberto Fernandez and the virtuoso performances of the other two original members of Buena Vista, who starred in the Wim Wender's film, trumpeter Yanko Pizaco and Julienne Oviedo Sanchez on conga drums, showed the Bulgarian audience the reason why the band is so famous all around the world.

The young members of the supporting band Afro-Cuban All Stars, singer Maria Victoria Rodriguez and Tropicana pianist Rodolfo "Peruchin" Argudin Justiz were no way inferior to the perfection of their prominent colleagues.

Two hours of infectious Cuban rhythms, mixed in with the passion, cheerfulness and joy of two generations of performers made for a night to remember. What better way to spend a Wednesday evening than dancing the night away to the sounds of Cuban music, played specially for you by the Buena Vista Social Club's legends?