Los Lonely Boys

It's growing on me slowly. There are some GREAT rockers on there - Heart Don't Tell A Lie, I'm A Man, and Superman. There's some cool funky numbers like Cruel. And Staying With Me is one of those laid-back Heaven type numbers. It's not my favorite, but I think it's pretty good. Again, I'm still getting acquainted with it.

The music's good. That's all I care about.

Just saw them last night at The Sandia Casino Amphitheater in Albuquerque, New Mexico with Los Lobos opening up for them, and they put on a hell of a show. Los Lobos opened, coming on at pretty close to the scheduled time of 8:00 P.M.. And, I've got to say I was a bit underwhelmed during most of their set. The packed crowd, which I would estimate at around 3,000 pretty much ate up their whole set, so I suppose I was in the minority in attendance who didn't share that opinion. They were really good I suppose if you're a big fan of Spanish music. But, I am not. Latin rhythms and latin flavored rock, yes, but traditional Spanish music leaves me cold.Nothing wrong with it if you're into it, but it's just not my cup of tea. And, since they were playing in front of a predominately Hispanic crowd, they chose to play that the majority of their set, with a few bluesy exceptions such as "Don't Worry Baby" and "Shakin'  Shakin' Shakes". Exceptional musicians, I will give them that, but I was in the mood to hear guitarist/vocalist David Hildalgo wail like I know he can.  I'm assuming from what I've heard and seen via video that had it been a different crowd, such as the one at Clapton's Crossroads Festival, it would've been much more guitar intensive.

But that was largely absent until towards the end of their set when they launched into a cover of  The Temptations' "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone" Whereupon, they asked to welcome a special guest, and on came out guitarist Henry Garza and then bassist Jo Jo Garza of Los Lonely Boys, and that's when things started to get hot, with Garza and Hildalgo trading off searing guitar licks before morphing into  an extended version of Santana's "Oyo Como Va", with drummer Ringo Garza of Los Lonely Boys joining in on drums and percussion. Henry Garza was nailing Santana's original phrases to a t, and adding some of his own, and the combination of Garza and Hildalgo made for an extremely potent guitar duo, and this was the definite highlight of Los Lobos' set. They ended the set on a high note with an extended jam of Richie Valens' "La Bamba"/The Rascals' "Good Lovin'" featuring all three Los Lonely Boys, and while it wasn't up to the high of the previous song, to my ears it still was a cut above the rest of their set, and they finished up strong.

A little before 10 PM, Los Lonely Boys hit the stage, storming through an intense version of "Heart Won't Tell A Lie", the lead off track from their new album 'Forgiven', a song which reminds me a bit live of old Ian Moore before Ian went off to become a singer/songwriter. Full of wah inflected SRV like phrases, this was an extremely fine start. Henry Garza certainly tears up his Strat while playing, wrenching out the SRV by way of Santana guitar notes with ease. He's got a great tone, but never steps out of that style. They did play several tracks from the new album, and as usual, even the softer tracks , when amplified and live, had a rawer edge which benefited them in their presentation. The highlight of their set was once again when David Hildalgo came out to jam with the band, playing a fantastic 10 minute plus blues jam, with the 2 guitarists swapping licks, also sticking around to do the same on the closing number of the night, the band's biggest hit, "Heaven", presented in an extended form. And that was it, no encore. All in all the band are still extremely tight, and the addition of an uncredited second drummer behind Ringo Garza gave added groove to the proceedings.

All in all, it was a fun time, and I'd certainly recommend seeing them. They do seem to be having fun, and it shows in their performance. I would've been happier if they would've played longer, but it was a fun time, and I would say if they come around, definitely go see them as you'll have a great time, which with all the stresses building up in life these days is something which is sorely needed to escape, even for a little while.

Keith, I have seen Los Lobos several times. Once at a bar in OKC when Don't Worry Baby had just hit the airwaves. They smoked that bar best bar band I had seen till I saw Joe B. Then over the years I have been less impressed with them live. The Crossroads I set with David fronting Booker T with Steve Cropper was great.

I got their DVD from the Fillmore and it is quite the yawn for the most part. I'm still a fan and own everything they have done but there is a reason they aren't any bigger than they are. If I had to sit through an entire set of traditional Spanish songs I don't know how long I would of lasted.

It's inconsistency.  David is a killer guitarist/singer.  Henry is, too, but I have a friend/player like that.  If there's not someone there to crank his sorry butt up he phones it in...sings flat & plays lame.  oh well.

If you are paid to do a show then do a show, dammit.

another band that got big after opening for Joe

- Nic from Detroit... posting on JB's Forum since 6-2-2006
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