Posts tagged Los Lobos
Two Times One Night: Los Lobos at the Compound Grill
Feb 21st
Los Lobos delivered as expected last night at the Compound Grill in Scottsdale. The wife was a great sport, and powered through two full shows with me – an 8pm dinner show and a 11pm late show. Friends Jen and Brian also rocked out all night along with us.
The Compound Grill is a brand new venue, having been open only a few months now, and it was built with live music (and good food) in mind. So the atmosphere was just fantastic – a small club feel, friendly and attentive staff, and a great sound system. The early show was sold out with the max capacity of 200 people, so it felt like the coolest private party I’d ever been to. Eating dinner, putting back a pint or two, with Los Lobos as the house band.
After the first show, most of the folks cleared out, leaving those of us who were in it for the two shows. I was expecting it to fill up again, but the late crowd ended up being probably 80-100 people tops. This only elevated that private party feel. Guitarist Cesar Rojas set the celebratory atmosphere from the very beginning – toasting “Salud!” with a glass of red wine. He toasted “Salud” throughout the night, right up through the last tune of the night as the clock ticked past 1am (“Bertha”).
The highlights were many. The cover tunes included a blistering 1-2 punch of Neil Young’s “Down by the River” into Jimi’s “Are You Experienced?” in the first show (jaw dropping solos by David Hidalgo, Cesar, and Louie Perez); a great cover of Howlin’ Wolf’s “300 Pounds of Joy”; Traffic’s “Dear Mr. Fantasy”; another Jimi cover, “Red House” near the end of the late show; and of course their popular take on the Grateful Dead’s “Bertha”.
Another cool moment: slow dancing with my wife at the foot of the stage, as Lobos played a 50’s doo-wop ballad, “Daddy’s Home”. Dancing slow with the lady, and looking up to see Los Lobos playing five feet away? Priceless.
Of course, Los Lobos has a rich catalog to draw from – and the night featured old and new (full set list below) – including great versions of “Kiko”, “Evangeline”, “I Got Loaded”, and the always raucous “La Bamba”/”Good Lovin’” combo, which whipped the dance floor into a frenzy, and Hidalgo inviting a few young ladies to dance on the stage.
I always get instantly nostalgic after a great live music experience – so tonight feels a little bittersweet. The feeling I get while watching Los Lobos live is one I’d like to carry around with me every day of my life. If you’re one of the many who haven’t seen Los Lobos live, please put it on your bucket list and find out what this feeling is all about…
—-
Cesar threw a few CD’s into the crowd last night. My wife grabbed a hold of one – their latest CD, Los Lobos Goes Disney. We listened today, and the album is a blast. It also contains a slow, beautiful tune called “Not in Nottingham” (from Robin Hood). Check it out…
,
—
Buy the MP3 of Not In Nottingham
Check out the whole album:
—
SET LIST
LosLobos
February 20th, 2010
The Compound Grill, Scottsdale, AZ
8pm Show
La Pistola y El Corazon
Saint Behind the Glass
I Wan’na Be Like You (The Monkey Song)
One Time One Night
Happy Birthday – electric
Chuco’s Cumbia
Dream in Blue
Down By The River (Neil Young) >
Are You Experienced? (Jimi Hendrix) >
Kiko and the Lavender Moon
Let’s Say Goodnight
Ay Te Dejo en San Antonio
Soy Mexico Americano
Volver, Volver
Road to Gila Bend
Don’t Worry Baby
Encore:
Mas y Mas
11pm Show
La La La La La (Blendells)
Evangeline
Luz De Mi Vida
Whiskey Trail
Why Do You Do?
Emily
Wicked Rain
The Neighborhood >
300 Pounds of Joy (Howlin’ Wolf)
Dear Mr. Fantasy (Traffic)
That Train Don’t Stop Here
Daddy’s Home (Shep & the Limelites)
Maricela
Red House (Jimi Hendrix)
I Got Loaded
La Bamba > Good Lovin’ > La Bamba (Ritchie Valens)
Encore:
Bertha (Grateful Dead)
Los Lobos – Live & Late Night this Saturday in Scottsdale
Feb 18th
This is already the perfect time of year here in the Phoenix area – sunny, 75 degrees, and Spring Training about to kick into high gear – but when I got the news earlier this week that Los @#@! Lobos will be in town this Saturday, I about spun around and did the splits James Brown style – and that is not an easy feat.
This Saturday night, Los Lobos will play not one, but two shows at one of the valley’s newer live music venues: The Compound Grill in north Scottsdale. They’re slated for a 8:00 show and a late night, down n’ dirty 11:00 show.
Look, if you’re in Arizona, and especially if you’ve never seen Los Lobos – a national treasure of a band – you need to make your way to the Compound Grill on Saturday night. Do yourself and your friends a favor, and experience a quintessential American band: roots, Tex-Mex, 50’s rock & roll, Latin, Americana, rhythm & blues… there are few things as satisfying as the live Los Lobos experience.
I know this is the ultimate fluff piece, but seriously people, look to the sidebar, Los Lobos are permanently enshrined in the Ickmusic Hall of Fame!
Long Live Los Lobos! And see you Saturday night!
Buy tickets from the Compound Grill Web Site.
A Nudge in the Right Direction
Jan 2nd
Happy New Year, folks. I’ll get into the groove of posting some tasty tunes soon, but for now, here’s a few nudges and news nuggets to keep you occupied.
Oh, Twitter. I decided to join up and blast out random music-related musings at any moment’s notice. If you’re on Twitter, and feel like “following” me and my music-obsessed brain, check out my profile here, and let’s connect. I’m keeping it music-centric, so you won’t be hearing from me when I’m “tired” or “working” or “taking a dump”.
On to the nudges…
- Ann Powers, a music writer for the LA Times, was summoned to the Hall of the Mountain King, or in this case, Prince’s pad off Mulholland Drive. Prince shared his plans for ‘09, which include 3 albums (‘MPLSOUND’, ‘The Lotus Flower’, and protege Bria Valente’s record). Prince also explains that “Jehovah’s Witnesses haven’t voted for their whole inception.” I did not know that.
- Mr. Malchus from the Popdose crew shares my love for the Los Lobos song “Be Still”. It was even his wedding “song”, along with Bruce’s “Book of Dreams”. Malchus and I – same wavelength…
- Speaking of Lobos, Gregor shares a show from ‘84 on Captain’s Dead. Great to see love for the Lobos on the blogs.
- I am not a Zune person, but seems the 30 GB Zunes did not like the leap year, and decided to lock up. Any of you out there experience the Zap of the Zune?
- Last, and definitely not least, former Eurythmics-man Dave Stewart is releasing his own line of diamond-studded vibrators. How about that for extraordinarily random news? Oh, and be careful with that thing, ladies. I know diamonds are a girl’s best friend, but they also cut glass. Easy does it.
Live Los Lobos
Aug 24th
You know, this blog will turn four years old this year, and it turns out I’ve never graced the pages with live Los Lobos before. Huh? That’s just wrong.
Here’s a great soundboard show from last year’s Edmonton Blues Festival. The crowd is great, and they go bonkers when the band pulls out Neil Young’s “Cinnamon Girl” for the encore. Another highlight is David Hidalgo’s guitar wizardry on “Mas y Mas”.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again (and again): Los Lobos are an American treasure, and hands down one of the best bands around.
For the whole show, download the ZIP.
Los Lobos @ the Edmonton Blues Festival
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
August 27th, 2007
1. Pigfoot Shuffle
2. The Neighborhood
3. Don’t Worry Baby
4. Evangeline
5. David Hidalgo intro to Fat Man
6. The Fat Man
7. Manny’s Bones
8. Let’s Say Goodnight
9. Ay Te Dejo en San Antonio
10. Volver, Volver
11. I Got Loaded
12. Mas y mas (mp3)
13. Cinnamon Girl (mp3)
Keep up with the boys at Los Lobos.com.
This Land Is Your Land – Vintage Dead and Lobos
May 14th
Jumpin’ back to 1989, here’s Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir singing “This Land is Your Land” with the boys from a band I get more and more obsessed with by the day: David Hidalgo, Cesar Rosas, and Steve Berlin from Los Lobos…
Review: In Tucson with David Hidalgo and Louie Perez
Apr 22nd
This past Sunday, I jumped on I-10 East and headed down to Tucson for a Dave & Louie show. Dave & Louie being David Hidalgo and Louie Perez, two members (and the main songwriters) of Los Lobos. The atmosphere and show format could not have been cooler: two 45 minute sets of music followed by a Q&A session – where audience members could step to the microphone and ask questions. Did I step to the mic? But of course! More on that later.
Sunday’s Tucson show was the final stop on a short seven city tour of the West, celebrating almost 40 years of writing songs together.
Review: Los Lobos at the Mesa Arts Center
Feb 17th
Eleven years had passed since I last saw Los Lobos (1996 at the Electric Ballroom in Tempe). But like fine wine, time only makes them better and intensifies the experience. A gray bearded David Hidalgo and his band mates of thirty plus years took the stage Saturday night at the beautiful, 2-year old Ikeda Theater at the Mesa Arts Center. For the next two hours, the band took us on a journey that clearly showed why they remain one of the tightest, most eclectic bands out there today. It also reminded me how grossly underrated these living legends are. A freakin’ travesty, to be honest.
Upcoming Shows – Los Lobos
Jan 30th
Seeing Los Lobos live should be on the Lifetime To-Do List of every music lover out there. Well into their fourth decade of making music together, with the same core lineup of friends / musicians since their start in East L.A. – David Hidalgo, Cesar Rojas, Louie Perez, Steve Berlin, and Conrad Lozano – these guys are as talented, tight, and dynamic as ever. They dip into several genres: blues, roots, latin, folk, traditional Mexican, and others. And if you haven’t heard their take on the Dead’s “Bertha”, you’re cheating only yourself, my friend.
Los Lobos – Bertha (mp3)
Los Lobos is kicking off a tour on Friday night at Royce Hall at UCLA. Saturday night, they’ll be at the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach, CA. I’ll be catching them in a couple of weeks at the Mesa Arts Center in my neck of the woods (I’ll have a review up soon after).
Check out the tour dates, and go check out these legends when they come to your area. That’s an order. You’ll thank me.
Another Los Lobos classic…
Los Lobos – I Got Loaded (mp3)
Links: Los Lobos Official Site | Los Lobos on LastFM | Hear their version of Bob Dylan’s “Billy 1″ from the I’m Not There soundtrack (LastFM)
Buy: Amazon MP3 Store
Tour Dates
02.01.08 – Friday – Royce Hall, UCLA – Los Angeles, CA
02.02.08 – Saturday – Belly Up Tavern – Solana Beach, CA
02.15.08 – Friday – Abraham Chavez Theater – El Paso, TX
02.16.08 – Saturday – Ikeda Theater – Mesa, AZ
03.05.08 – Wednesday – Ithaca State Theatre – Ithaca, NY
03.06.08 – Thursday – McCarter Theater – Princeton, NJ
03.07.08 – Friday – William Patterson University – Wayne, NJ
03.08.08 – Saturday – Shubert Theater – New Haven, CT (Michael, represent!)
03.09.08 – Sunday – Strom Auditorium – Rockport, ME
03.11.08 – Tuesday – The Ridgefield Playhouse – Ridgefield, CT
03.12.08 – Wednesday – Birchmere – Alexandria, VA
03.13.08 – Thursday – The Grand Opera House – Wilmington, DE
03.14.08 – Friday – Lehigh University / Zoellner Arts Ctr Bethlehem, PA
03.15.08 – Saturday – Bardavon 1869 Opera House – Poughkeepsie, NY
03.16.08 – Sunday – Calvin Theatre – Northampton, MA
03.21.08 – Friday – Columbus Palace Theatre – Columbus, OH
03.25.08 – Tuesday – Burton Cummings Theatre – Winnipeg, Manitoba CANADA
03.27.08 – Thursday – Jack Singer Concert Hall – Calgary, Alberta CANADA
03.28.08 – Friday – Northern Alberta Jubilee Aud. – Edmonton, Alberta CANADA
03.29.08 – Saturday – Bowness Hall – Calgary, Alberta CANADA
03.30.08 – Sunday – Eric Harvie Theatre – Banff, Alberta CANADA
04.01.08 – Tuesday – Vancouver Centre For The Arts – Vancouver, B.C. CANADA
04.02.08 – Wednesday – Royal Theatre – Victoria, B.C. CANADA
Check out their tour page for more dates extending into the summer.
Los Lobos – Be Still
Jun 29th
A majestic Los Lobos tune. One of those songs where I picture the singer (David Hidalgo in this case) standing atop a high hill, tall green meadow grasses all around, looking over the Pacific Ocean sunset. Love the way the intro transitions into the great lyrics. Inspiring…
Los Lobos – Be Still (mp3) – from this amazing box set: El Cancionero: Mas y Mas
Be Still
(David Hidalgo/Louie Pérez)
Let the calm, calm blue waters through
Wash your soul, passing right through you
Like the smallest rose out of the hardest ground
Like a tiny hand reaching up for the sun.
Let us pray that our hearts are one
The toughest love is the strongest one
Like a crippled man fights his bitter pain
On two tired legs that hope to walk once again
Stay gold and be still.
As we grow, a river flows
Through our hearts
Finding peace wherev’r it may go
Let the pure, pure blue waters through
Don’t let the wind take ‘em away from you,
like the littlest star shines in the darkest night
Like a mother’s egg brings in a new life
Stay gold and be still
Pray that we all can stay gold and be still.
Recent Comments