Los Lobos and Ballet Folklorico Mexicano January 23, 2016

Los Lobos and Ballet Folklorico Mexicano: the Wolf Has Survived and Then Some at Cerritos

                             By Glen Creason

      Time does fly when you are having musical fun and it has been twenty-six years since I first saw Los Lobos perform their unique mixture of Mexican traditionals, R & B, old style rock and Latin-tinged blues. On an ideal winter’s night in Cerritos the old boys showed once again that they are great talents with plenty left in the tank during a two hour feast of music and dance. While they are a bit more low-key and possess the wisdom of many shows they still play with a spark that demonstrates their love for the old music.  As if the band is not good enough they came with the magnificent Ballet Folklorico Mexico who provided visual dazzle to the lively acoustic portion of the concert. The show was a steady flow of folk dances from different states of Mexico interspersed with mostly Spanish language sones that sounded just as sweet as when they were first put on vinyl back in the day before file-sharing and phone staring. It helped the entire experience that the audience was so wonderfully behind the band, sometimes singing lyrics and reacting to the old favorites that hit the spot developed in the 20^th century when we were just a bit younger. These included “Cascabel,” “Sabor a Mi,” “Cancion de Mariachi,” and a taste of “La Bamba” that caused veteranos y veteranas to stir in their sections. The dancers never failed to increase the temperature in the big hall performing joyful steps from Guerrero, Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Chiapas, Chihuahua and Sonora while donning native costumes of the regions.

     The second half of the program was even more rewarding musically with some great old memories from the best of Los Lobos like “Anselma,” “Volver,” “Las Pistola y El Corazon,” “Saint Behind the Glass,” and a strong finishing shot of a high octane “La Bamba” followed by the evergreen “Guantanamara” that stayed in the hearts and minds of the packed house. The young dancers kept up the visual energy with an opening in  Aztec regalia for “Aquila Blanca,” “Mictecacihuatle,” and “Tonantzin” celebrating life in flowers and love plus “a good death” exemplified by a couple of muertos who danced together. Yet, on this night the happy crowd was filled with life and love and maybe a few spirits from the old country.