It’s pretty difficult to put veteran East L.A. quintet Los Lobos in any particular box. They’re a band that really touches on quite a few influences in their music. Certainly, early rock and roll, with a little bit of soul thrown in and early country as well for good measure.
Or I suppose it could just be called Americana music, period. Most importantly, they’ve never forgotten their musical Mexican roots throughout their fifty-plus years in popular music. The first night of two sold-out shows on Tuesday May 5th at the MIM displayed this range of influences remarkably well.
Commencing the 95-minute, 20-song set with Emily (from 1990’s The Neighborhood), it was a solid mix of hits, rarities and some of their favorite cover songs (both well-known and obscure songs as well).
A Matter Of Time (from 1984’s major label debut album How Will The Wolf Survive?) got everyone’s hands clapping prior to some fans getting up and dancing to Maricela (from 1996’s Colossal Head).
Without further ado, the band (consisting of lead vocalist/guitarist David Hidalgo, guitarist/vocalist Cesar Rosas, guitarist/vocalist Louie Perez, bassist/vocalist Conrad Lozano, saxophonist and longtime multi-instrumentalist Steve Berlin and touring drummer Alfredo Ortiz) then went into their all-time classic Will The Wolf Survive? In short order, a Los Lobos live set isn’t complete without it.
More dancing took place after Rosas asked if anybody wanted to hear “a little cumbia” prior to Chuco’s Cumbia (from 2006’s overlooked album The Town And The City, an album centered around immigration as a key theme).
Los Lobos always had a knack for remaking songs respectfully yet putting a contemporary and convincing spin to them. One example was their take on Ritchie Valens’ 1958 song Come On, Let’s Go from the soundtrack of the summer 1987 hit biopic La Bamba.
On this night, they even went back to their independently-released 1978 debut album Del Este De Los Angeles (translated Just Another Band From East L.A.) for Sabor a Mi, which I’m sure was a pleasant surprise for their earliest fans.
It’s important to note that while the band is musically tight overall, there is a definite looseness at times. My understanding is that they tend to mix their set list up pretty consistently throughout any given tour. Which means they take pride in digging into their glorious catalog.
Yes, good readers, that means they actually rehearse to give the fans the best show possible, while I imagine it keeps things fresh onstage for the band as well. That should be a lesson to every so-called “legacy” touring act that’s perfectly (if not shamefully) content with going through the motions onstage with the same stale set list every night.
The title track from The Neighborhood was a surprising addition. In a way, it sort of reminded me of something The Fabulous Thunderbirds would’ve recorded at the time.
It’s been a widely held belief among many critics (and fans) that 1992’s Kiko remains Los Lobos’ finest hour on record. Not hard to understand, given the live response to Kiko And The Lavender Moon, which has held up extremely well over time.
Continuing the cover songs, the band played tribute to the late Vicente Fernandez with their take on Volver, Volver to the delight of several fans in the first five rows.
Hidalgo also took the mic to announce “a surprise guest” from Tucson, which turned out to be his brother, Joe Hidalgo, for two songs. One of them being a Freddie King cover of I’m Tore Down. The main set concluded with the Grateful Dead’s Bertha.
I can understand if a fan was disappointed over the amount of cover songs they played. Be that as it may, the show still flowed pretty well overall. A killer version of Cinnamon Girl by Neil Young and Crazy Horse brought the roof down– a timeless classic indeed.
It goes without saying that their version of La Bamba was the song that the casual fans were waiting for. It was performed in hybrid form with Good Lovin’, arguably closer to the original version by The Olympics as opposed to the more well-known remake by The Young Rascals. Either way, both songs fit together pretty well.
It sounded like Hidalgo’s voice was giving out a bit during La Bamba. His vocal phrasing seemed a little different as well. But the audience was more than happy to help out on the vocals.
Overall, Los Lobos is still a solid live band after fifty years. Hopefully, a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction won’t take much longer. Long overdue.
The final verdict? Four out of five stars.
