So it's been far too long. I have drafts of reviews of Jenny Lewis and those Watson Twins (Lincoln Theater - 9/18) and Okkervil River (9:30 Club - 9/19) and Sturgill Simpson (DAR - October 11) all queued up. But they're just gonna have to wait.. .
Writing this from an airplane to sweet California - I splurged and got WiFi. Flying into LA, then off to the mojave for a week to ramble around the desert - for work. Back to LA on Friday and a few stolen days in the city of angels. Almost two years to the day that I was there with J on that great western ramble. Thinking about retracing my steps (Getty / Malibu) - but also ready to push into the new. LACMA. Griffith Observatory. Thrift shops. Los Feliz. Tacos. The beauty of the freedom of now.
Instead of those reviews, though, I'm still stuck in that tiny club in Roma Norte, CDMX - El Imperial.
First of all, Mexico City was incredible. Solo traveling is incredible. The looseness, the ease. The deliciousness. The rambling. The tacos. The art. The music.
Second - the show. Fishlights came out first. That's them in the clip above (despite my Insta mislabeling) - which only captures a tiny sliver of what it was like to be there. The lead singer had a loping, languid presence - but was simultaneously the center around which the band spun. The keyboard player sang backup vocals and her parents were in the audience, easily the oldest (and happiest) ones there. Cheap drinks, beautiful people. Hipster night out. But they played a kind of heartfelt, guitar-based, lightly psychedelic music that I hadn't heard from an American band in years... I was in the front row. Toe-tapping.
And then, after a short break.. Vaya Futuro took everything up a level. A tight four-piece with a charming lead singer. Long instrumental passages that were aggressive, visceral, yet tender. They took no prisoners. This was for keeps. And I didn't realize until later that they're from Tijuana... border music. Liminal. And I was in the front row. Dancing. Moving. Slip sliding along the floor in my new shoes.. free.
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