What The Future Of Rock Should Be
Who Says Rock Is Dead? You Need To Open Your Mind To Sounds In Another Language
I don't listen to the radio anymore. Do you?
Whether I'm tuning in for some pop or hip-hop, radio stations play the same 10 songs over and over, and then when they do play "new" music, it sounds a lot like those songs that they're already playing.
And to have clowns like Ricky Martin represent music by Latinos is embarrassing. Shake your bon bon? I don?t think so.
So what's a frustrated music fan like myself to do? I headed for the Watcha Tour 2000.
Watcha, a Spanglish term for "look out," features eight roc en espa?ol bands back-to-back in a blistering five-and-a-half hours.
What? Don't think you'll "get it" just because the music is in Spanish? That's where you'll be greatly mistaken.
How can you not understand the bravado in the punk band A.N.I.M.A.L.? A.N.I.M.A.L.'s acronym roughly translates to Harassed Native Americans Who Died In Their Fight.
There's no teenage angst here.
I walked into the Universal Ampitheater, where Watcha Tour 2000 made its debut in Los Angeles on Aug. 11, at the start of A.N.I.M.A.L.'s set.
I'll confess, I had already missed two bands, Riesgo de Contagio (Risk of Contagion) and Resorte -- Spring or Slingshot, and I'm not quite sure which one it translates to. I could have gone backstage to find out, but I didn't want to miss this band that was making so much noise.
The Argentinean band's sound is definitely thrash-metal, complete with deep, hoarse vocals by Andr?s Gim?nez, bass player Marcelo "Corbata" Corbal?n who sported a mohawk, and thundering drums by Mart?n Carrizo.
Although the band has been around for nine years, not a lot of the sold-out audience knew who they were. The mosh pit was half-empty and there were more people in line at the margarita islands outside than in their seats.
That does not mean the band didn't rock. Their speed-metal is so fierce that it earned them the opening slot on heavy metal tours with Pantera and Suicidal Tendencies. Now you know what you're getting into.
A.N.I.M.A.L. would fill the radio void that Metallica has left now that they're creating over-produced material with symphonies. Give me heavy metal straight up!
"P**o! P**o! P**o!"
I didn't expect to hear over 6,000 people chanting a Spanish expletive over and over at the end of punk-rap band Molotov's set, but I shouldn't have been surprised.
When word spread that Molotov hit the stage, the place was suddenly vibrating with raised fists and chanting voices.
Molotov is the band to love if you're looking for fun when Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit doesn't shock you anymore.
Oh, come on. Don't tell me you don't know any Spanish cuss words. Molotov will make sure you're familiar with all of them.
The Mexican band's set consisted of a lot of songs from their first album "?Donde Jugaran Las Ni?as? (Where Will The Little Girls Play?)" and the crowd couldn't have been happier. Most of their songs are bilingual, including "Voto Latino" and "Gimme Da Power," which has the genius punk lyrics (translation in parentheses):
Dame, dame, dame (gimme gimme gimme)
Dame todo el power (gimme all the power)
Para que te demos en la madre (so we can kick your a**)
Gimme todo el poder (gimme all the power)
So I can come around to joder (... to bother)
Which brings me to the expletive chant. If you've ever listened to the album cut of Rage Against the Machine's "Killing In The Name," then Molotov's chant will be familiar to you. Only it's in Spanish, of course.
And Now, For The Grateful Dead Portion Of Our Program
If rap-punk is not your thing, just sit tight. Enanitos Verdes (Little Green Dwarves) had the thankless task of following Molotov on the stage.
As the Argentina band wound their way through their first song, I kept thinking "Now, for the Grateful Dead portion of our program."
Felipe Staiti's lead guitar sounded like early plucking by The Police, and I was afraid that Staiti, Marciano Cantero (vocals and bass), and Daniel Piccolo (drums) were going to start jamming for endless hours.
I was sure that bottles or worse would get thrown at the stage considering that Enanitos Verdes were not rapping or scratching, but actually singing and grooving.
But that did not happen, and much to my surprise, the crowd ate it up. The band was singing about injustices in Argentina like A.N.I.M.A.L., but the sound was so different, the audience was now swaying instead of hopping.
It is a shame that radio stations don't play more of this kind of music. If it had the power to mellow out a live crowd that was just shouting "Go to hell," imagine its power on un-agitated listeners.
"If You Paid To See A Fight, Go See De La Hoya!"
As Enanitos Verdes wound down and spun away on the revolving stage, (how else could the concert organizers pull this off?) everyone's attention turned to cowbells and huge drums about halfway up the ampitheater.
That is the distinctive way the East L.A. band, Ozomatli, start their live sets: Four members of the band drum their way to the stage, high-fiving the crowd while keeping rhythm. And their sound is all about rhythm. At one point, I counted 13 men up on stage playing a wide array of instruments, including playing two saxophones and a trumpet, blowing into a conch, and banging on conga drums and other percussion instruments.
Real instruments and great rhythms is what dance music should sound like on the radio. Not the blips and coughs of a computer, and certainly not the over-stylized and choreographed pop tunes.
The band is all about having a good time. In fact, they believe in having such a good time that they stopped in the middle of a song to chastise two men who started a scuffle in the mosh pit.
One of the trumpet players bellowed into the microphone: "If you paid to see a fight, go see De La Hoya!" The audience booed the guys as they were escorted out of the place by concert security. I'd hate to be those party-poopers.
"Was That A Woman?"
I was eagerly anticipating the next band, a trip-hop duo called Aterciopelados from, again, Argentina. Don't ask me what Aterciopelados means -- I have no idea.
But their music gives you a weightless feeling that only trip-hop delivers. Singer Andrea Echeverri's smooth, deep voice sounds like nobody on the radio right now, except maybe British singer Dido, who isn't played all that much on the radio anyway.
Echeverri, with band partner, Hector Buitrago, were able to pull off their unique sound with the help of three extra musicians. It was convenient for them to play their greatest hits because they released a greatest hits album, "Serie 2000" in March.
I was so impressed by Aterciopelados' set. It reminded me of seeing Moby run back and forth across a stage to achieve his multi-layered sounds in an earlier summer show.
Echeverri, rail-thin and wearing a blood-red dress, didn't have to run around, which gave her a chance to show off her excellent concert demeanor. She talked to the crowd and threw a bunch of little toys into the mosh pit, including frisbees and little maracas.
Her androgenous appearance was not enough to convince a concert security guard that the singer was a woman.
"But that voice?"
"Are you sure that was a woman?" he repeated, shaking his head.
"He's Dancing Like Beck!"
Aterciopelados were rotated away, but strangely, the curtain went back down and the night's headliners, the Mexican group Caf? Tacuba, did not immediately follow. The crowd stomped their feet and chanted "?Viva M?xico!" and "?Queremos caf? (we want coffee)!" for a full 10 minutes.
For these fans, it must have felt like an eternity.
Caf? Tacuba recently released their fourth effort, a double album of new material called "Rev?s/Yo Soy (Backwards/I Am)." One of the CDs consists of compositions sans vocals, using samples and off-beat instruments.
This was a risky maneuver for a band whose known for lead vocalist Ruben Albarran's nasal voice and spit-fire singing.
But the experiment paid off. Caf? Tacuba is nominated for two Latin Grammys this year, including Best Rock Album.
The crowd at the ampitheater could care less, I'm sad to say. When Albarran strapped a guitar and started jamming with Enrique "Quique" Rangel (bass), Joselo Rangel (guitar) and Emmanuel del Real (keyboards) on one of the instrumental songs, the audience kept shouting "?Ingrata (Ungrateful woman)!"
That song, from their second release "Re," does slam an ungrateful woman in the lyrics, but the music sounds like you're trapped in a wild carnival. Call it polka on speed or a Mexican ranchera on overdrive.
As soon as the first chords of "Ingrata" were played, the place just exploded. I looked around and saw people dancing in every open space -- aisles, stairwells, you name it. After a while, security just gave up. One woman even jumped on stage. Albarran quickly grabbed her waist and spun her in a crazy waltz before letting her off the stage.
The band members have as much fun as the audience. For example, the lanky and hirsute del Real doesn't just hide behind his keyboard. He performs these elaborate robotic dance moves that kept drawing my eye to him. I screamed, "He's dancing like Beck!" to the hopping masses.
The dancing didn't stop for the rest of the set. The place looked like everyone was on handstands, swaying their legs back and forth.
Caf? Tacuba would fill the songs-to-have-fun-by spots on the radio currently occupied by Blink-182. Their twist on traditional Mexican sounds and the music's high energy are infectious, although I have to admit that Albarran's voice takes a while to get used to.
Are you ready to discover music beyond the boring stuff on the radio? Then brush up on your Spanish expletives and have a great time.
Catch the Watcha Tour 2000 in the following cities near you:
- 8/19 -- Detroit, at St. Andrews Hall
- 8/22 -- Worchester, Mass., at The Palladium
- 8/27 -- Miami, at Bayfront Park
- 8/30 -- Houston, at Metropolis
Updates:
Just when I thought they were going to hide in their recording studio, Travis announced more live shows throughout the East Coast and Midwest this fall. If you missed them the first or second time they?ve come around, you should be ashamed of yourself for missing this leg.
Here?s where you can find the great Scottish band:
- 9/9 -- Boston, at Avalon
- 9/13 -- Cleveland, at Agora Theater
- 9/16 -- Cincinnati, at Bogart?s
- 9/17 -- Milwaukee, at Varsity Theater
- 9/21 -- Minneapolis, at Quest Club
- 9/26 -- Houston, at Numbers
- 9/29 -- New Orleans, at House of Blues
Winner:
I almost forgot all about my drawing for a free CD of the Push Stars, another great band headed for the recording studio that I profiled in an earlier column. Well, the lucky (and patient) winner is Jean McCabe of West Linn, Ore. Congratulations!
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