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Los Lobos 06/13/2004

SHOWID 215719

Show Reviews

Jeff Hagood
Rate:
Per Teemo's request, Hartwood Field report. No Vengaza though.

Here's a field report on last night's show at Hartwood in Pittsburgh:

My wife and 3 kids drove down from Cleveland area where we had visited relatives for the weekend. Not a bad drive, maybe 2.5 hours total. We had a bit of trouble finding the venue. We went to the Hartwood Mansion area which was deserted except for an older couple touring the grounds. We retraced our steps and finally found the venue among the hills and valleys about 6:00. There were still only a few hundred people there at most, so we went to grab a bite to eat and got gas (pun intended). Two of my sons were wearing LL T's (Roses with Wolf and Long Beach,Blue Cafe) and were stopped by a woman wanting to know about the concert. We returned about 6:30 to find several thousand people and a steady stream of cars.

The stage, facing West, was at the bottom of a valley with a medium sized hill overlooking it. The stage was raised about 4 feet and had a concrete area in front of it for dancers. Cars were parked in half mile rows on the hill. There were several campers parked on the hill with friends and families enjoying the day. Many families were there, throwing frisbees and having a great time. I tried to talk to a few tapers, but must have caught them at their busy set up time. I see there's a thread this morning about how to approach a taper: http://loslobos.net/mb/viewtopic.php?p=6142#6142

We found a spot relatively close, but high enough on the hill to be able to see over the dancers. We were about 30 feet to the left of center, too close to the left set of speakers. The crowd was pretty laid back and everyone was having a great time. Temperature was in the mid-80's, higher than forecast, and pretty humid. My kids were playing hackey sack, annoying those close to them... They spotted the band on a terrace behind the stage. I could only get one picture at that time.

An announcement was made at 7:30 that there would be a delay due to the sun being in the face of the performers. First time I ever heard of a sun delay!! They got started about 20 minutes late, but not many even noticed the delay. The music coming from the speakers before the concert was excellent, mostly older Motown. Made me wonder if the band picks that music. I heard Papa Was a Rolling Stone and wondered if I'd hear it again later that night. I wasn't disappointed. The music sounded a bit strange, though. Like one channel wasn't on, or perhaps they were karioke versions of the songs. The bass was too high as well. My oldest is a sound man for his high school and said the bottom row of speakers were used solely as subwoofers.

After some announcements the band was started into Dream in Blue. The sound was relatively good, but sounds better on the video we took. Perhaps my ears were overloaded on the bottom end or they're just too old. Cesar's Don't Worry Baby was very good. I moved up to the stage to get some pictures and was blown away by the speakers. I literally couldn't hold the camera still due to the bass! They then launched into Down on the Riverbed - always a favorite of mine. Shakin' Shakin Shakes was next and I appreciated the mix of good older songs and wondered how many new ones they would play.

That question was soon answered with Hurry Tomorrow. The Ride in general is a very interesting album. I've switched favorite songs about 10 times. Hurry Tomorrow is high on the list at the moment and Cesar played it with intensity. They switched up with a rousing Come On, Let's Go and a great Maricela. Louie's 8 string small guitar had 4 name stickers on it, Mary, Matt, Carrie and John. Sounded like a new-age gospel writing quartet, but I'd assume they were his kids names. Can anyone verify? As usual, they were tearing up the song!

As if they weren't hot enough, now came some great highlights. Charmed was made to be played live. I think someone in the Neighborhood made that statement when they first heard the CD and they were right. I'm not partial to it on the CD, but it was GREAT live! The beat, bass and Cesar combined to make it a song to remember. Steve's trademark sax then started into Is This All There Is and it became apparent immediately that this was the Willie G version. David did you proud, Willie. It was completely amazing. At first I couldn't accept the new version of this and of A Matter of Time. I still feel that way about A Matter of Time (sorry Elvis), but really like Willie's version of ITATI. Very funky groove.

Then came the strains of Papa Was a Rolling Stone, though I don't think they did any vocals. It rolled right into I Can't Understand with Cesar having a great time. He carried it into a few verses of Exodus then came the highlight of the night, rolling into Crossroads. I assumed this was related to David's performance at Crossroads festival in Dallas the week before. Damn, did he play it last night - inspired!!

An excellent version of Maria Christina was next with Cesar and Steve trading licks on the guitar and sax and Cougar and Victor really getting into the rhythms. Conrad was his own self, enjoying every minute and holding everyone together. What a rock! I mentioned in another post that he has as much fun out there as David Crosby always seems to. I love watching him play. (No Chuck Taylor's last night, though, straight sandals all the way.) I was aching to hear Luz de Mi Vida next, but it wasn't to be.

They launched into a good version of Kiko, much to the delight of the thickening crowd close to the stage, now probably near a thousand strong. They mixed it up again with a fast version of I'm Gonna be a Wheel Someday and Ay Te Dejo en San Antonio.

The next highlight was a very tight, read excellent, version of Chains of Love, my current Ride favorite. They had a bit of static coming out of the speakers for this, but it was gone further into the song. Cesar's guitar seem to have a feathered shimmering effect on the long downstroke that I hadn't notice in the CD version - it made the song even better. They all seemed to realize the power of the song and really enjoyed playing it. David really shone on the fiddle solo! It was very close to the CD version, but even more intricate and well played. My jaw hit the floor on hearing it! My son got a good close up video shot of that solo - WOW!

Cumbia Raza was next with a nice solos all aroung, Steve on sax, Victor on the congas, a bit of David percussion, Cougar on the drum set and my favorite, Louie on his little 8 string. Damn, how can he do that???!!! They set their guitars down still reverberating from the last notes and left the stage. It went on for half a minute while the stage was dark.

The crowd called them back for an encore and they launched into Rita. I really love that song, but this was probably the low point sound-wise. Too much low end on a high end song for my taste. Of course, nearly two hours into the concert I guess I should cut them some slack, huh! They came back with a loud and fast Good Morning Aztlan and finished with an excellent My Generation. Thanks for the great solo, Conrad!

All in all an excellent show! Just about 2 hours long. Venue was nice, people were nice, band was hot as usual and enjoying themselves and the crowd reaction. Much better concert and reaction than I was expecting for a Pittsburgh venue. Getting out of the place was a bitch, and we were anxious, facing a 3 hour drive back to Columbus through driving rainstorms. But we finally made it out, home at 2:00, and I took the day off of work.

I would rate it as my 2nd or 3rd best show I've seen. The 7/30/02 Raleigh show was very similar to last night, only even better with better sound and as high or higher energy levels. Anyone considering seeing them in Raleigh should definitely err on the side of GOING! Alas, I can't make it this year. Can anyone video it????

Best to all of you and thanks again Los Lobos for the words and music and for making my life better and better through them. I hope I can pay it forward each day.

Set I

Done Gone Blue
Don't Worry Baby
Down On The Riverbed
Shakin' Shakin' Shakes
Hurry Tomorrow
Come On, Let's Go
Maricela
Charmed
Is This All There Is?
Papa Was A Rolling Stone >
I Can't Understand >
Exodus >
Crossroads
Maria Christina
Kiko And The Lavender Moon
I'm Gonna Be A Wheel Someday
Ay Te Dejo En San Antonio
Chains Of Love
Cumbia Raza

Encores:
Rita
Good Morning Aztlan
My Generation

Set II

 

Set III

 

Comment

 

Sources

SHNID 24649
Soundfield ST-250 (M-S, FOB, DFC) > Lunatec V3 (24/96) > M-Audio Firewire Audiophile > Sony PCG-V505Ax > Soundforge 6.0 (24/96) > WaveLab 4 (dither and resample) > CD Wave Editor > FLAC
Recorded & Converted by Jef Fugh
610 MB, 118:58
SHNID 24650
Schoeps MK21/KC5/CMC6 > Lunatec V3 (16-bit/44.1kHz) > Hosa ODL-312 > Nomad JB3 > Adaptec FireConnect 4300 > Notmad Explorer > PC > Cool Edit Pro 2.0 (fades), CD-Wave (tracking) > FLAC
Taper: Brian Skalinder
658 MB, 118:32