Los Lobos, Jazz Café, Camden, London, 29-07-09
30/07/09 18:08 Filed in: Gigs
So admittedly, I knew next to nothing about them. I know what many of you probably know -- that they had a freakish number 1 hit with La Bamba in the 80s. No doubt this song has given them a great life and they still probably earn money from it to this day. It's allowed them the kind of career any band dreams of. You get to play music for a living and no-one drives you mad in the street. You get to meet your heroes and play on their albums. It's a dream and you sensed that they were gladly aware of it, full of smiles and appreciation.
There's a Mexican edge to it, with a few songs sung in Spanish, but on the whole they're a hard, fast, blues rock band. Imagine a soup of Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jeff Healey, a bit of Santana and that band from the strip club in From Dusk Til Dawn. In a way they are somewhat like The Band, drawing together the musical strands they know and love into something unique. To top it off I have a weakness for a good guitar and co-leader and multi-instrumentalist David Hidalgo is a serious shredder. Imagine David Gilmour in a Tex Mex band. Tremendous player. The other leader, Cesar Rosas, is fairly recognisable, with his slicked back hair, black goatee and ever-present sunglasses. Both have unexpectedly tender voices, which bore no trail of the 25 years of gigs that brought them to Camden.
It was a masterclass, undeniably. Indeed, the cool LA vibe coming off the stage reminded me of my own travels there. I was enthralled, as Dude lookalike Steve Berlin blew hard on the sax and guitarist Louie Perez laid in extra guitars, either electric or on jarana (a small acoustic guitar native to Mexico), before going back to bash the drums -- I later learned he had been the original drummer but had switched, making them a three guitar attack. This was how music should be played, to a small and appreciative audience, with flawless covers of My Generation and Traffic's Dear Mr Fantasy ending the show.
My dad bopped in that embarrassing dad way. My mum couldn't resist asking Hidalgo about his last session gig -- playing accordion (an instrument I found oddly mesmerising live) on the most recent Dylan album, Together Through Life. The night ended with me cracking up talking to Berlin and cuddly, charming bassist Conrad Lozano, as I watched my dad tell a story about drummers Philly Joe Jones and Keith Moon, while being filmed, no doubt for some DVD extra, by Perez. It was an unexpectedly brilliant night, one I'll be happy to repeat.