Album: Los Lobos <!-- none onestar twostar threestar fivestar -->

Live at the Fillmore, HOLLYWOOD

Andy Gill
Thursday 07 July 2005 19:00 EDT
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For a couple of decades now, Los Lobos have been one of the world's most reliable live bands, guaranteed to cook up a storm in any size of venue, with a broad range of styles that incorporates the various strands of native Mexican music, heartbreaking C&W, rolling cajun fais do-do, tough R&B, and a bunch of other stuff that doesn't fit into any familiar niche, like the spooky "Kiko and the Lavender Moon". While some great live acts channel their volatility into a brief burst of brilliant performances, Los Lobos' enduring reliability is rooted in their stability: the band have retained the same five-man line-up for more than 20 years, developing the sort of familiarity with each others' ways that's usually reserved for funk/ soul ensembles such as Booker T & The MGs. Extraordinarily, they haven't released an entire live album until now. Thankfully, Live at the Fillmore doesn't disappoint, drawing on material from all stages of their career, slipping between loping cumbia rockers, stinging blues licks and plaintive love songs, the string of Lobos originals topped off by a beautifully measured encore of "What's Going On". It has a great sleeve too, a delightfully ironic pseudo-psychedelic period piece appropriate for both band and venue - sort of a Flying Taco Brothers deal, with extra-hot sauce and jalapenos. Tasty!

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