>From the Chicago Tribune, Greg Kot reviews Friday's show. My comments on last night's show, which ended (yawn) about seven hours ago, are tacked on at the end. http://metromix.com/reviews/detail/1,1259,2000028,00.html > OVERNIGHT REVIEWS > > Music review, > Flaco Jimenez and > Alejandro > Escovedo at > FitzGerald's > > By Greg Kot > TRIBUNE ROCK CRITIC > Sunday, January 17, 1999 > > We needed this one. With winter > imprisoning Chicago like a > white-coated warden, > FitzGerald's threw a two-night > Texas-style roadhouse party > over the weekend that gave off > enough steam to melt the worst > case of cabin fever. > > The pairing was a natural--Flaco > Jimenez and Alejandro > Escovedo--though, oddly, these > Texas musical ambassadors > had never met, let alone shared > a stage, before Friday's concert. > That historical glitch was > corrected when Jimenez, the > opening act, joined Escovedo > onstage for an encore of Mick > Jagger's "Evening Gown" and > Escovedo's "Broken Bottle." > > Bottles were indeed broken, > figuratively at least, as Jimenez > joined the crowd in a > beer-swilling blowout that made > musicality an afterthought during > his two-hour set. "Cheers, > amigos!" Jimenez bellowed, > hoisting another long-neck to the > ceiling, before imbibing heartily. > After a relatively tight and > focused 60 minutes on stage, > Jimenez and his band began > pumping out the conjunto party > numbers with slap-dash fervor, > the leader embroidering every > verse with his baroque > accordion runs while the rhythm > section held fast to a single > unvarying dance groove, led by > the leader's son, drummer David > Jimenez, and Max Baca on the > bajo sexto, a 12-string bass > guitar. > > San Antonio's Jimenez, a > three-time Grammy winner, is > the biggest crossover star in > conjunto, a border music that > fuses string-band > instrumentation with polka > beats, and he's far from a purist. > His vocalist, Nunie Rubio, is a > young crooner in the mold of the > Mavericks' Raul Malo, but his > smoothness at times clashed > with a groove that reeked of > sawdust and whiskey. Still, > Jimenez's feel-good repertoire > was revelry incarnate, from "De > Bolon Pin Pon" and "La > Felicidad" (everybody sing: > "ha-ha-ha-ha . . . ho-ho-ho-ho") > to "(Hey Baby) Que Paso" and, > of course, the "Sweet Home > Chicago" of Latin rock, "La > Bamba." > > Following this increasingly > raucous and sloppy keg party, > Escovedo appeared to be at a > disadvantage, with his > five-piece band wielding > acoustic instruments. But the > slender Austin resident rose to > the occasion, turning violin and > cello into a fierce rhythm section > on a cover of the Stooges' > "Loose" and his own "Pyramid > of Tears." A handful of > unreleased songs suggested an > even more adventurous, almost > dissonant, approach to > string-arranging, as Escovedo > continues to give expression to > a musical sensibility in which T. > Rex, Mott the Hoople, Bela > Bartok and Charles Ives swap > melodies and arranging ideas. > > Still, Escovedo did not forget to > investigate the quietest corners > of his repertoire as well: "Wave," > "Baby's Got New Plans" and a > richly plaintive version of the > Velvet Underground's "Pale > Blue Eyes" with guest vocalist > Kelly Hogan. > > While Jimenez and his crew > came to party, and blurred into > the moment, Escovedo wanted > it all: to keep the adrenaline > flowing after Jimenez left the > stage, and to create an > impression that lingered beyond > the next morning's hangover. > Improbably, he succeeded. Comments -- Flaco was pretty great. The crowd, which looked to be over half Latino, loved him and sang along with all the hits. His singer, though, should stop shouting "Chicago, lemme hear you say 'hell yeah'" every few minutes. Re: Alejandro -- the very good news is that he recorded an ep at FitzGerald's yesterday afternoon. It should include concert faves "Evening Gown" (a Mick Jagger song) and "I Was Drunk". Last night's set was more electric than Friday's. He looked just a bit tired ("I had a birthday -- I turned fifty-eight on January 10th"), and his ninety-minute set was shorter than his usual FitzGerald's marathon. He played a bunch of new stuff (hope he includes "Sad and Dreamy / The Big 1-0" on the ep) and a handful of covers (the Jagger song, "Like a Hurricane", "Hot Legs"). Alejandro played one encore and then left the stage, leaving his band to play with Flaco and his band for thirty minutes of slightly inebriated jamming, including about fifteen minutes of "La Bamba". TWM -- Happy Birthday, MLK Tom Mohr at the office: [EMAIL PROTECTED] at the home: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
