G-Love at Thanksgiving in Nueva York

G-Love and the Special Sauce

G-Love was on point and kept the spirits thankful. Since the show, I have aquired a shake when I play just to simply act cool like G-Love. Dude shakes in his seat while playing, which to some may seem odd, but I have this recording of the great Son House fliping out on slide guitar making movements and sound just sitting there with an instrument. The recording in on Roots Music DVD from PBS. This is a four disk set. It covers Conjunto (Flaco Jimenez), Bluegrass (Bill Monore), Honky Tonk (Willis, Cash, Haggard,..), Zydeco (Clifton Chanier), Cajun (Balfa Brothers). I was caught by the song on the DVD from the Balfa Brothers, Port Arthur Blues. Those vatos or whatever is slang in creole for cool dudes, are singing their soul out on that cut.

Oh yeah, G-Love he is tight, he has the blues harmonica down to a science, and he is obviously aware of all the greats since he mentions pretty much every artist he has been influenced by on one song but I forgot which one it was. It may have been Banger with an extended rap. Here is the set list, if a torrent is out there, I have not found it.

Where to go for jams?

Now that summer is over and the sun falls everyday before 6 pm, what better to do than search for new bands to see next summer. The sites I search the most are torrent spy,
archive, amazon.com, and bestbuy.com.

I can tell you that each year brings a new band. This time last year I never heard of the Subdudes if it weren't for searching the net and of course LaLa.com. If you have disk you want to trade then LaLa is for you.

Dance with Los Lobos Blues Band!

LOS LOBOS

01-Sep-06 Boarding House Park, Lowell MA

David Hidalgo-El hombre mas chingon on the guitar. We set up in front of him this show to bear witness to the greatness. Nothing short of spectacular. I was simply laughing during his solos, it was true joy hearing him rip up the summer night. This vato is truly gifted and I was honored to see him twice this summer! Gracis David. We got to see him close up when he invited us to dance on stage during La Bamba>Good Loving>La Bamba.

The Set List:

Wow! This evening was so much fun. The set list was rocking and quickly slipped into dancing music. Here is the set list:

• The Neighborhood-very nice opener
• I Walk Alone-rather fast jaming on this cut.
  
• Reva’s House-nice to hear some Kiko stuff.
  
• Chuco’s Cumbia-Cesar asked if every one was ready to cumbia before this song.
  
• Don’t Worry Baby-very nice version. Still like to see Flaco Jimenez onstage with them once.
  
• Come On, Let’s Go-Before this song Cesar said, "This is for the youngsters in the crowd".
  
• Hold On-What can you say other that the lyrics to this tune are awesome and powerful.
  
• *Maricela-The vato on the congas was nice!
  
• Manny’s Bones-They played a short version on this.
  
• The Road to Gila Bend-This tune is growing on me.
  
• Good Monring Aztlán-Awesome!
• Kiko and the Lavender Moon-David gave a Birthday shout out and ripped up the accordion.
  
• Let’s Say Goodnight-Ok. now everyone is dancing by now.
  
• Ay Te Dejo en San Antonio-My favorite! What a great song. If only Flaco was there.
  
• Maria Christina-Very happy dancing.
  
• +I Got Loaded (w/Lovelight verse)-So much fun.
  
• #Mas y Mas-What?! The horn section was amazing.
• @Cumbia Raza-The best Cumbia Raza I have heard with the whole opening band supporting.
  
• *La Bamba>David intivet all of us on stage to dance and sing!!
  
• *Good Lovin’>
• *La Bamba
  ---

  Encores:

• &Hey Joe
• &Georgia Slop-Oh my! This was such an energized song.
  
• &Baby What You Want Me To Do?-Barrance has so much energy. He was doing flips on the stage and caused me to freakout with him. Controlled freak out of course. What a great encore.
  

*-w/Yahuba Garcia on congas
+-w/Cory B. on trombone, Henley Douglas Jr. on saxophone, and Mark Mullins on trumpet
#-w/Cory B. on trombone, Henley Douglas Jr. on saxophone, Mark Mullins on trumpet, and Yahuba Garcia on congas
@-w/Jen Kearney on keyboards, Cory B. on trombone, Henley Douglas Jr. on saxophone, Mark Mullins on trumpet, and Yahuba Garcia on congas
&-w/Barrance Whitfield on vocals

Cougar Estrada-I can never get a good shot of this guy. This was during his drum solo.

Jen Kearney on keyboards. This woman can sing and is sick on the keys. She was rather fine to look at as well.

Cesar Rosas-He was on once again. He talked a lot tonight. He made fun of us for sitting during the first five songs. He got us all on our feet by the end of the evening.



Barrance Whitfield on vocals. This guy is a ball of fire. If anyone was sitting during his songs then they must have been deaf. I think I have been saved! This dude had the spirit of a revival preacher. In the words of John Lee Hooker "The blues a healer, it can heal you, it can heal me".

Louie Pérez-This guy is a quiet bad ass with the wisdom of an ancient curandero. I suggest checking out the i-tunes podcast to get a feel of his true wisdom on song writting. (Below) He and the masterful Steve Berlin jam. (Above) Louie was on fire duirng La Bamba with his quatro. I was about four feet from him on stage dancing with Kari.

Yahuba Garcia on congas looked to be having a great time with the boys. He was sporting a Carlos Beltran jersey from the Puertorican National team. Go Mets!

Conrad Lozano-Such a nice guy. We walked by him before the show as he walked around the city of Lowell. I would have missed him if it weren't Kari pointing him out. She said, "Hey isn't that one guy who is always happy on satge." Sure enough it was Conrad. We just stopped and stared for a second and went on our way. One of the best bassists living just walking around just a simple man. Que vida.






During La Bamba, Steve Berlin turned his mic to the kids and said sign! Sure enough these little kids, I am sure not native Spanish speakers, sang La Bamba to perfection! These ninos nailed it. I love these times, la cultura de la raza es en todo mundo! Talk about assimliation. Los Lobos have done so much for us by encouraging tolerence through music.

What a great summer! Gracia a Los Lobos!

Any tapers out there??????

Gracias~Here is the torrent!!!!

On the way out, I caught this shot. This show got me ready for the new album The Town and the City. Can't wait to hear the story line.

Rhonda Vincent and the Rage

Rhonda Vincent and the Rage
8/6/2006 Uncasville, CT
Mohegan Sun: Wolf Den

Our first LOS LOBOS show!!!

Los Lobos
Del Este Los Angeles
8/3/2006: N.Hampton, MA

Los Lobos were on the loose last night. The pick (Fender Heavy) is Cesar's. It was given to me by a crew guy. Thanks so much for this and the picture. During the hour and a half drive home, all we could do was laugh and smile. The show was absolutely amazing. We really enjoyed the venue. Look Park was very neat and peaceful. We drove through the town and got directions to the venue from the Subway lady. Thanks!

Cesar Rosas rulz! Wow, when I noticed the crew guy motioning me over to him, I was a bit scared. I thought what was I doing wrong. But after a few moments, I noticed his smile as he insisted I walk over to him. Reluctantly, I went and to my surprise he asked me, "Do you want me to take your picture with your girlfriend?" I should have said, "Simon, Ese" but I was shocked and I called Kari over to me. I gave him my camera and we struck a pose, he said, "No come up on stage". We looked at each other and I helped her up on stage. The vato asked me if I wanted to take it with Cesar. What!? Heck yes. So we danced a bit on stage and then Cesar came over and posed with us, during the song. I recall the crowd cheering when the camera flashed. That was truly special. We thank Cesar, the crew guy and the rest of Los Lobos and crew for a memorable evening. The crowd was so pleasant too. Man the kids there are so luck to have seen legends at such a young age. I had to wait 28 years! Well worth the wait.

We stood right infront of Cesar. I got a lot of shots of him. He is the coolest vato alive!


It was a joy hearing Maricela and Cumbia Raza. The crowd was really into the Latin sounds.

Ruth Ungar of the Mammals really tore it up with the boys during the first song of the set. The Mammals were really nice to watch. They mix up Bluegrass with Latin and Folk to make some really good dancing music. Check out their website. The Mammals

Conrad looks like he is having so much fun on stage. I noticed he is a Budweiser man too. As if the picture and guitar pick weren't enough, I got to shake Conrad's hand and tell him, "Gracias for all the great music he has been a part of". He told me, "Thanks for listening". What a classy hombre.

Cougar Estrada was on point. This was during his solo. Real nice jam.

Louie was fun to watch. This vato changes instruments every song. Notice his hand is blurry because he was playing the heck out this song. Simply an amazing musician. He was on drums for a minute too. That picture didn't come out well.



David on acordion. Conjunto at its best. So much fun dancing. Depsite a bum-knee, being barefoot, and dancing on the mud, I had no care in the world. My girlfreind looked to be having a great time too. David knows that chicks dig dancing to the acordion.


The set list was on fire. But during the first couples songs they improvised because David's amp had problems. That jam was real nice.



The evening was well worth the drive. The trip home seemed to fly by as we laughed. Los Lobos put on an amazing show.