NEWS / Oct 16, 2006

Hollywood Reporter Review of Walt Disney Concert Hall Performance

Oct. 16, 2006

Los Lobos

By Darryl Morden

Walt Disney Concert Hall
Friday, Oct. 13

Most bands would push a new album early in a show. But Los Lobos has
never been an ordinary band. The group didn’t even get to the
material from its new release “The Town and the City” (Mammoth/
Hollywood) until the latter half of Friday’s richly rewarding
performance at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.

The show celebrated nearly three decades of remarkably diverse
recordings and a Mexican-American heritage encompassing myriad
musical styles from both sides of the border. The music was festive
and reflective, enchanting and boisterous.

A series of acoustic songs in Spanish led off by their own “La
Pistola y el Corazon” displayed the band’s traditional side. For the
most part, the group put aside the full-jam mode that fires up
appearances at outdoor venues and festivals, and instead played as
artisans engaged in often-delicate craftsmanship imbued with heart
and soul.

David Hidalgo still amazes as a multi-instrumentalist, easily moving
from violin to accordion, then unleashing emotion-soaked electric
guitar leads. His plaintive tenor rang out in the marvelous acoustics
of the venue for the country-rock American fable of “One Time One
Night” and was filled with weary melancholy in “When the Circus Comes.”

Singer-guitarist Cesar Rosas was de facto master of ceremonies for
much of the night, quipping several times about the date, Friday the
13th — especially when the band encountered a few sonic troubles.
His weathered growl turned gentle and caressing for “Beautiful Maria
of My Soul” — the band’s song from the soundtrack of “The Mambo
Kings” — and cut loose for the John Lee Hooker-inspired boogie
“Don’t Worry Baby.”

Other band members took their turns on lead vocals as well: Louie
Perez shone on the lovely, dreamlike and harp-stroked “Saint Behind
the Glass,” and bassist Conrad Lozano turned in a joyous “Guantanamera.”

With a long, thin, graying beard plus hat and shades, Steve Berlin
looked like a bohemian Hasidic as he added subtle keyboards and
punctuating sax and flute. Steady drums and percussion came from
Cougar Estrada, though Perez took over his former seat at one point
to summon the spirit of old times.

When finally addressing the new album, the group focused on some of
the most blues-steeped songs, including the brooding “Hold On,” with
its quiet desperation set to a heartbeat tempo. The band soared on
the arid folk-rock of “The Road to Gila Bend,” inspired by the
Arizona hometown of Hidalgo’s mother.

Several guest musicians added to the special evening, including pedal
steel wizard Greg Leisz, who took the two-step “Our Last Night” right
into the honky-tonk, and a pair of violinists who joined Hidalgo on
fiddle for the lullaby prayer of “Be Still.”

A lively encore was capped by the bump and groove of “Cumbia Raza,”
with irresistible rhythms that brought the audience to its feet. A
folkloric band, blues band, dance band and so much more — that’s Los
Lobos.