(06/30/09) Cafe Tacuba: Concert Review

Our society's need for immediate gratification crosses all boundaries. In the case of music, an evening's performance of a group of musicians celebrating twenty years together is a necessary 'tweet' to loyal fans everywhere. So it's with no surprise that in Chicago Cafe Tacuba fans giggled excitedly in anticipation of what they were privy to through cell phone photos and social networking uploads from fellow fans in Los Angeles, who were at the same concert the night before.

With a sold-out concert at Congress Theater, fans proved that an overflow of information (in relation to their favorite artist) with a quick click of the "send" button, has now become almost a prerequisite to an evening's final choice of entertainment. On Friday, June 26th, almost five thousand Tacubos joined for the anniversary of Cafe Tacuba's twenty highly successful years together. The band, as a token of appreciation to the exuberant crowd, celebrated with Chicago in an almost three hour dramatic display of talent effectively alleviating, at least temporarily, fan's insatiable thirst for their music.

(click on the photo below to see more photos of the concert)

The concert began in hot darkness. A single light slowly illuminated the drum sound heard from the stage. It was vocalist Ruben, followed shortly with another single light by the rest of the members, Meme, Joselo and Quique. Each one dressed in black but bathed in the single white light, drumming. It was the perfect intro for the celebration about to take place.

No Controles allowed the crowd to start the night with a fury of energy they'd been bottling up since the last concert with their Mexican heroes. With continuously running bright images in the background, they jumped straight into Alarmala De Tos, showcasing Quique on the beautiful electric upright bass. Fans were on fire, jumping non-stop through the first three songs which ended in Labios Jaguar. At this point, Ruben finally speaks..."Muchas gracias, buenas noches, eso fue Cafe Tacuba." Thanking the crowd he jokingly said they were done, then laughed and said: "¿Que paso, muchachos? Ya cumplimos 20 años. A la fiesta!" and after a brief mention of Michael Jackson's parting, plunged into Rarotonga, followed by a sultry cabaret red background that accompanied the sweetness of Que Pasara. This simply added more intensity to the already sweltering environment.

It didn't matter to anyone, they followed Cafe Tacuba through Puntos Cardinales, a keyboard instrumental by Meme, E-O and a heavenly Metamorfosis, with the larger than life spiral of lights we knew about from the previous LA concert, looming bright pink in the background. And, as is now a ritual at their concerts, violinist Alejandro Flores came out to join them during their cover of Juan Luis Guerra's Ojala Que Lleva Cafe.

Also present were the chicken hat, the Tacuba'd Macarena dance version, as well as that ginormous clear rectangular bubble we had seen in other 20:20 Concert photos. Cafe Tacuba, in dazzling synchronization with the audience, bounced, shimmied and blazed their way through three straight hours of non-stop jubilation. They covered just about every song any Cafe Tacuba fan would want to hear live.

Hot, exhausted but satisfied, and with few incidents among the thousands of culturally diverse folks gathered, you saw only smiles and heard only laughter as the crowd finally dispersed after such a rousing event. Thank you, Cafe Tacuba, for once again not disappointing those of us who have admired and supported you for so long. And for those new fans who were there for the first time... it'll only get better.

What did you think of the concert? Where do you think Cafe Tacuba will go from here? We'd love to hear from you so let us know: info@enchufate.com

-ST

(06/24/09) Cafe + Cafe + Last Weekend

As I'm sure most of you Tacubos know, Cafe Tacuba celebrates their 20th Anniversary this year and they're doing so with 20 Concerts in 20 Cities aka 20:20. We're lucky enough to be one of those twenty cities and they'll be here this Friday, June 26th at Congress Theater. I'm excited about this show because there's the possibility of an interview this time. Yes, after all these years I might finally get the opportunity. Fingers crossed, yo!

"Pero la vida siempre vuelve a su forma circular..." my favorite song because of the lyrics...



I'm honored to have been asked to join the blogging team for Cafe Magazine. I'll be covering music and entertainment with a weekly write up. I'm excited about this opportunity and hope you'll join me on that journey. So, if you're keeping up with this blog and have news to share in relation to lat/alt music and entertainment, please keep me updated. I'll do my part to get the information out. ¡Gracias!

Last weekend was jam packed with all sorts of activities. On Friday, Gitana of Jah Cantors, who's making her debut as a DJ on Sunday at Cobra Lounge (more info below), joined me for the Chicago Independent Film Festival at the A.P.O. Building in Pilsen. We only caught the last film, Seki Sano:Vida y Teatro, a short documentary about Seki Sano, a Japanese theater director who lived and worked with many of the leading actors in Mexico. It was an interesting piece (though the sound levels were so off it was hard to understand most of what was being said because it'd get really loud, then really low). I still recommend it.

Afterward, we headed over to Decima Musa for the Pilsen Soundtrack Fundraiser. We got there in time for Fandanguero and their beautiful and lively son jarocho, which had everyone dancing, followed by an energetic ska set by my favorite locals Los Vicios De Papa. Seriously, these kids need to be on someone's label already, touring as headliners. I'll go so far as to say, and I mentioned this to the singer as well, that when they played at House of Blues with Panteon Rococo, they completely outshone them. That's how badass these kids are. Their energy is infectious.

Here's a little sampling, which doesn't do them justice, but you get the idea:


I was just informed our Karaoke night at La Botana will be postponed this week until next Thursday because of their AC situation. No comment on that. I'll update the blog once I know where we're headed on Thursday since we have tickets to Cafe Tacuba and more for Paquita La Del Barrio to give away.

Who's headed to this year's LAMC? I'm not, unfortunately, but there's definitely a lot of Chicago representation this year out there. Yay! It only took 10 years for the midwest to wake up. Hallelume!

Sunday, we're recording at Reggie's Music Joint and this week Hollus, Re. De La Parka and Soul Pollution perform. 6-8PM, free! Right after we're heading to Cobra Lounge for our first ever "Fun(d) Raiser" where you'll get to listen to more great music from Maria Blues, Capitulo 2 and Legion. This is where my beloved friend Gitana comes in as she's participating for the first time as a DJ! Yay! Also DJing are my other favorites Resistol Cincomil and the best friend, Scarecrow. This is a free event but we'll definitely be taking donations. We'll get started around 9PM so make sure to get there on time.



And on that note, see you tomorrow for the Karaoke update!

-ST

(06/19/09) Film Festivals

The Hola Mexico Film Festival begins today in Chicago at Century Centre Cinema. The festival features fourteen of Mexico's finest films. There's also an afterparty at Ole Lounge with special guest DJ, from Los Angeles, Santi. (Note - DJ Angelfuk (me) will not be playing at this event). The festival runs through today through June 25th.

There's also another film festival going on that isn't getting quite the hype and I must mention it because it's also part of what's going on in our city and my dear friend, artist Ray Arroyo, designed the artwork for the festival. Auuu! The Chicago Independent Film Festival began June 17th and runs until tomorrow. The films are being screened at Northeastern Illinois University, Instituto Cervantes and in my 'hood over at the A.P.O. Building.

After tonight's screenings at either of the festivals, head over to Decima Musa for the Pilsen Soundtrack Fundraiser with performances by Los Vicios De Papa, Fandanguero and more. It's going to be a great night of culture..."Fo' sho!"

Tomorrow night, Depeche Mode vs Morrissey Tribute at The Olympic Theater. Who do you like most?

Here's my vote:

See you at the movies!
-ST

(06/11/09) Nortec Collective/MIS/Silverio + Paquita La Del Barrio

Back when I first heard about traditional norteño music being fused with electronic music I was blown away at the possibility. I mean, what? Really... how was that going to happen and who was doing such a thing? It almost seemed like a joke, especially because I was listening to mainstream radio and there was no way something like that would ever get attention. Not on mainstream radio.

I was right about the mainstream radio portion, but since then I've become a huge fan of the originators, Nortec Collective, who continue to surprise and delight people from all over the world, with their unique musical magic. Si, magia. Just listen...



This dynamic collective will be performing in Chicago on July 11th together with my other all-time favorite, Camilo Lara and his Mexican Institute of Sound. Plus, I know, it's so good already how much better can it get? Well, Silverio's joining the crazyness. Can you imagine the backstage area this day? Wow! Wow! Wow!

I had the opportunity to interview genius Camilo Lara at last year's LAMC in New York. What a nice man. Really nice! Of course, I was in awe of him at the time but I quickly got over it once he began to talk about his music and things rolled smoothly from there. I learned so much in my three minutes with him. Oooh!

Silverio was also a treat to interview for our program and I knew he had an eccentric show but man when I saw his show in person, I was definitely surprised. The man is out there! So, if you don't know what I'm talking about, well, first of all Enchufate! Then, watch the videos below. Enjoy!

Did you get enough? No? Well, there's more to check out on their websites and MySpace pages so go take a lookie. You'll love it. Promise!

So, it's a rainy and cold Thursday in June in Chicago. In June! What is going on with our city? We haven't felt a "normal" week of weather in forever, it seems. Regardless, nothing ever stops Chicagoans from going out and having a good time... not the cold, not the snow, much less the rain. And of course, knowing the loyal folks that go to our Karaoke en Español Night at La Botana every week, I won't be surprised to see them all again tonight because we're giving away tickets to the upcoming Paquita La Del Barrio concert at Congress Theater. Y'all is crazy and I'm even crazier for knowing what I'm getting into tonight with the tequila-loving-wailers who'll be most likely singing ALL Paquita tunes tonight. Ay ay ay. (Hee hee!)

See you around town!
-ST

(06/05/09) Orgullo Sox + Amandititita/Reik + Reggie's Music Joint for E>N>E in June

With so much going on, it's been a tad bit difficult to update as often as I'd like.

Anyhoot.

Last night [.DESCARGA.] performed at Zocalo for La Prepa series hosted by Haz+Ruido and TuRitmoTuNoche. It was interesting, to say the least. My favorite part, aside from the boys playing, was trying some new tequilas since it is a tequila bar. Tequila flights? Yum.

Tonight, [.DESCARGA.] performs once again, this time for Orgullo Sox, a latin showcase taking place at US Cellular Field, before tonight's White Sox vs Indians game.

Although I'm not a fan of Reik, not because they're not good, it's just not my kind of music, I am looking forward to seeing Amandititita and listening to her lively cumbia mixes. It should be fun. This concert is taking place at Congress Theater on Saturday evening.

On Sunday, we start recording E>N>E:Chicago Rocks at Reggie's Music Joint. I'm really looking forward to this show because it's such an interesting line-up. We've got Free Ajents doing their hip hop thang, Los Pecados De Maria rockin' it out en español and the crazy-sexy-funny-eclectic rock from I Fight Dragons. I've posted two videos below so you can see what I'm talking about.

I FIGHT DRAGONS:


LOS PECADOS DE MARIA:


See you 'round town,
-ST