Ted's Polish-Mexican Page: Tom Reviews Calexico

22 września 2008

Tom Reviews Calexico

My brother said I hadn't written about the Calexico show (I did, but never mind), so he wrote a review:

I find it interesting that, while Gabby was able to find talent from within the community to do such an event, Mr. Bee has to go outside the state to dig up Fred Thompson.

Highlights of the Calexico show on Saturday:

Craig Schumacher appeared on stage, materializing as if out of the ether, to perform a harp solo on “Not Even Stevie Nicks” which was a swirling mass of awesomeness and seemed to go on forever.
Nick Luca was out of town, playing with Neko Case and Howe Gelb at a festival in Chicago, which meant that we got to see Paul Niehaus perform standing up.
Did I hear Congresswoman Giffords call Jim Adkins “Trace Adkins?”
“The El Burro Song” is by far one of the best songs that Joey Burns has ever written, and Johnny Contrerras’ vocals were perfect.
Lulu.
Ruben Moreno, leader of Mariachi Luz de Luna, is the brother-in-law of former State Representative Steve Huffman. Am I the only one who appreciates the irony of this?
Salvador.
Hearing Jim Adkins join Calexico for what amounted to an alt.country version of Jimmy Eat World’s “The Middle.” It actually worked.
John Convertino, as usual, sat unpretentiously behind the band, holding his sticks like he was tossing a salad, somehow appearing fully in control of everything that was happening on stage.
Mariachi Luz de Luna performed “Canción del Mariachi (Mi Morena de Mi Corazon)” twice and nobody raised a stink.
Joey Burns insisted that Jim Adkins join Calexico and Mariachi Luz de Luna for a song. He seemed nervous, but Joey talked him through it.
Does Martin Wenk speak Spanish or does he fake it really well?
“Crystal Frontier”
Oh yeah, well, Tim Bee’s got Fred Dalton Thompson. Uh, I guess that’s really not the same thing at all, is it?
Where was Calexico fan Jonathan Paton?