I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: May 2, 2018] Calexico

Back in the 90s when Calexico first came out, I had no interest in their blend of alt rock and countryish music.  I never really gave them a chance (that was before you could freely listen to music and determine exactly what things sounded like).

Then a couple of years ago, Sarah bought me their then new CD Algiers and I loved it.  Their new single, “Under the Wheels” is wonderful (albeit too short).  So when I saw that they were playing at World Cafe Live, I decided to grab tickets right away.

I didn’t really know what to expect and what I got was a delightfully life affirming set of fun songs, great musicianship and a tremendous amount of diversity.

I don;t really know that much by Calexico as it turns out (no surprise really).  And it was a bit of a bummer that they only played one song from Algiers.  But they played a lot from the new album and (if the crowd reaction is accurate) a whole bunch of old favorites.

Calexico is primarily Joey Burns on guitar and vocals and John Convertino on drums.  For this tour they were joined on Joey’s right by Jacob Valenzuela on trumpet and vocals and Martin Wenk on trumpet, keyboards, accordion, glockenspiel and even more. On Joey’s left were Scott Colberg on bass, Sergio Mendoza on keyboards, accordion and guitar and Jairo Zavala on guitar, lap steel, pedal steel and charisma.

Joey came out and started singing and hos voice was unmistakable.  even though I didn’t know all the songs, I always knew it was Calexico.

They opened with “Trigger” and that recognizable Southwestern sound.  It got the evening off to a fine start.  I didn’t want to get too close to the stage, having learned my lesson.  But there were a few tall people I had to navigate around.

After that they played a lot of new material from their latest album The Thread That Keeps Us.  I loved hearing “Under the Wheels.” Burns switched to acoustic guitar for “End of the World with You.”

Calexico is based in Arizona and they write a lot of music to reflect the area.  Which means that some of their songs are in Spanish.  They were sung by Jacob Valenzuela and Jairo Zavala.  Zavala sang lead on “Flores y Tamales.”

I love any band that has two people who play accordion, so it was neat to see them both in one song.  Among all of the sounds, I loved hearing the glockenspiel, the vibes and an e-bow solo.

When introducing “Girl in the Forest,” he told us that the inspiration came from his daughters who are excellent songwriters in their own right.  He also told us that he was wearing red in solidarity for the teachers of Arizona.

Even though Joey Burns was the main focus, Jairo Zavala was an unstoppable force.  Whether he was playing some amazing pedal and lap steel (the part just before this was amazing), or whether he had to be encouraged to play an amazing solo (in which we sang back to what he played us) or even just singing along, he was really amazing.

As was trumpeter Jacob Valenzuela, whose Spanish-sung “Inspiracion” was wonderful, especially when he alternated vocals and trumpet.

But honestly, we were there for Joey (and John of course, but he stayed in the back and I never even got a very good picture of him at the kit).  He played a few different guitars, including his vintage white Aliner guitar with too many knobs to be actually functional, right?  Sometimes his voice was deep and serious.  Other times he was playful, inviting us to sing along and making faces at various people in the crowd.

Since I didn’t know a lot of the songs, I was genuinely surprised to hear the very realistic sound of a train whistle come over the speakers and go across the room from my right to left.  That was for “Minas de cobre.”

I was really impressed with the variety of music the band played.  There was the strand of folk and rock, complete with a southwestern feed, but with a whole bunch of mariachi/conjunto/cumbia/Tejano music filling in the gaps.  Burns asked us a few times if we were ready to cumbia, like on “Cumbia de Donde.”

When they came back from the encore, Burns asked if we were wanted to hear “Fortune Teller” (I see the setlist had a choice).  It was wonderful to hear him so clearly.

Then after a bit more they played “Guero Canelo” which included a joyful sing along from Burns and then as he introduced the band, he asked if we might encourage Zavala to play a solo.  He played a wild, rocking solo and even had us sing back to what he played.

Then Burns invited us to howl along like the dogs in Roscoe y Pancetta (Who were two dogs on set who did indeed “sing” along to the song).

It was a lot of fun and Burns seems very receptive to the response.

The setlist at this point just says Xtras, so I’m not sure what they played.  But I was super excited that they played a cover of “Alone Again Or.”

 

They played an outstanding version of it with Burn’s acoustic playing off of the rest of the band.

It was an excellent set and gave me real appreciation for the band’s total output, which I’m excited to hear more of.

I really wanted to get a pair of Calexico socks, but the merch line was just too long.

 

Setlist

Frontera/Trigger [Algiers/black]
Dead in the Water [thread]
Voices in the Field [thread]
Under the Wheels [thread]
End of the World with You [thread]
Flores y Tamales [thread]
Bridge to Nowhere [thread]
Sunken Waltz [feast]
Stray [black]
Thrown to the Wild [thread]
Girl in the Forest [thread]
Minas de Cobre [black]
Inspiracion [dust]
The Town & Miss Lorraine [thread]
Cumbia de Donde [edge]
Crystal Frontier [aerocalexico]
encore
Fortune Teller (solo) [Algiers]
Splitter [Algiers]
Güero canelo [feast]
Roscoe Y Pancetta [edge]
Alone Again Or