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Los Lobos will perform Sept. 18 at Indian Ranch. PHOTO COURTESY PIERO F. GIUNTI
Los Lobos laude California’s ‘native sons’ at Indian Ranch show
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Richard Duckett Worcester Magazine | USA TODAY NETWORK
The legendary and seemingly ageless rock band Los Lobos describes its latest album, “Native Sons,” as “our ode to Los Angeles.”
Los Lobos
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An album of covers of songs written and recorded during the formative years in East Los Angeles of most of the band’s members, “Native Sons” includes the Beach Boys’ “Sail On, Sailor,” Jackson Browne’s “Jamaica Say You Will,” War’s “The World Is a Ghetto,” Thee Midniters’ “Love Special Delivery,” The Blasters’ “Flat Top Joint,” Don and Dewey’s “Farmer John,” deep cuts many of us might not even recognize as covers of originals, and one original, “Native Son.”
To put it another way, the album’s great.
Los Lobos (which translates in English to The Wolves), notwithstanding that it was formed in 1973, sound terrific. A number like “Sail Away” pays tribute to the Beach Boys but isn’t a Beach Boys sound- alike, being evocative, almost haunting, in its own right.
But band member Steve Berlin (saxophone, percussion, flute, midsax, harmonica, melodica) said “Native Sons,” which was released July 30, did not make him feel nostalgic.
“I couldn’t say that. By and large these are just records that were awesomely cool,” Berlin said.
And now the band is back on the road making music again. That’s pretty cool for Los Lobos as well.
“It’s hard to complain,” Berlin said.
Los Lobos returns to Indian Ranch in Webster for a show at 1 p.m. Sept. 18.
“It’s kind of a delightful gig. I’m looking forward to it. Especially being outside,” Berlin said.
Los Lobos has always been known as a touring band. With the pandemic, “We’ve done a few things here and there,” Berlin said, but Aug. 1 was “more or less official” in terms of doing live in-person shows again.
But COVID-19, particularly the Delta variant, has been putting up a fight which has led to some disagreements between Los Lobos and some venues, mostly in the South.
Los Lobos, especially for indoor shows, is insisting that show attendees provide proof of vaccination or the results of a negative COVID test done within 48 hours.
Berlin, during a recent telephone interview, said two shows had been canceled in Nashville over the matter.
“If the venues don’t agree with that, then, frankly, they don’t deserve a show,” Berlin said. “Some places in the South think the virus is over.”
On the contrary, the Delta variant is “very scary. I’ve had two close friends fully vaccinated get infections. So it’s no joke,” Berlin said.
“Native Sons” seems like it could have been a pandemic project. Indeed, “it turned into one but didn’t start out that way,” Berlin said.
“We started talking late fall, 2019. We hadn’t had a record in a while. We weren’t that concerned about it (because) we tour.”
To record a new album Los Lobos usually “will take two months out of our touring plans … (For) 2020 had a very busy year planned.”
Still, a record of covers could be done in “small batches” because “we didn’t have to write all the material,” Berlin said.
“A week here a week there, that’s why we decided we were going to do a record of covers (while touring).
That year 2020 proved to be a lot less busy as life went into lockdown.
“When COVID hit, it was the same idea of doing it (’Native Sons’) in bits and pieces. That’s more or less how we came to finish this record. It was kind of weird at first. The recording studio was really big, plenty of room to distance. We were tested for each session.”
For the song selection, “Everyone brought in a song they wanted to do,” Berlin said. There is a significance to the album’s opening number, “Love Special Delivery” by Thee Midniters.
“Thee Midniters, they were like the Los Lobos of their day,” Berlin said.
His selection was “Never, No More” by rhythm-and-blues singer and songwriter Percy Mayfield, who was originally from Louisiana and moved to Los Angeles.
“I’m a huge Percy Mayfield fan,” Berlin said.
“Native Sons” was recorded at a studio in East Los Angeles, “very, very close to where the guys all grew up. That made it extra cool, extra emotion. Someone would talk about a house they drove by.”
But not Berlin, who is not a native son of East Los Angeles.
“I’m a Jewish kid from Philadelphia. Growing up Chicano was not part of my life,” he said.
Berlin came on board in 1984. He had moved to Los Angles a few years earlier and played in bands including Top Jimmy & the Rhythm Pigs, the Blasters, and the Flesh Eaters.[
Joining Los Lobos, “The guys really went out of their way to make me not feel like a stranger,” Berlin said.
“Musically, we shared a lot of the same influences. That was the shared bond, and we built our relationship out of that. It was meant to be, obviously,” he said.
Los Lobos has been described as “the progenitors of Chicano rock ‘n’ roll, the first band that had the boldness, and some might even say the naiveté, to fuse punk rock with Mexican folk tunes.”
It put accordion, a saxophone and bajo sexto alongside drums and Fender Stratocaster guitars and then “blasted a ranchera-flavored folk tune or a Conjunto inspired melody through double reverb amps at about twice the volume you’d normally expect to hear.”
Over the next five decades, the band explored an enormous diversity of genres such as rock-and-roll and R&B, surf music and soul, mariachi and música norteña, punk rock and country while building a bold unpredictable sound all their own. Their music is multilingual, with some songs sung in Spanish.
Los Lobos’ cover of “La Bamba” for the soundtrack of the Richie Valens biopic became a hit in 1987, making the band international stars who are enduringly popular in Europe. Los Lobos has won several Grammy awards and continues ex-
If You Go
Los Lobos
When: 1 p.m. Sept. 18 (doors 11:30 a.m.) Where: Indian Ranch, 200 Gore St., Webster How much: Tickets: $16 to $65. www.indianranch.com
Thai food is cooked at one end of the festival. CHRISTINE
PETERSON/T&G
stART
Continued from Page 14
“I was talking to someone the other day and they pointed out that, after 16 years, there are kids who were born here who
have never known Worcester
without stART on the Street.”
And unlike some other
crowd-drawing events in the city, the people who stream into town for stART don’t just leave when they’re done, as anyone who’s tried to get a table at a West Side restaurant
during the run of the thing can attest. The event clearly has an economic impact beyond its value to the arts, and indeed, if it’s been this successful, it’s because of the full year of work Zlody and her collaborators put into making it work.
“We love what we do and we
love to volunteer and make
stART happen,” says Zlody. “We love seeing people there, we love creating the event, and we love seeing that the city loves it.”
The festival itself is entirely volunteer run: “Everyone works a full-time job, is a parent, is taking care of an elderly loved one,” says Zlody, and yet, for those volunteers, the festival is effectively a second job, from logistics having to be planned out down to the square foot, to permits having to be pulled.
The event itself is self-
funded, with nominal funding from the city. Artist and food vendor fees pay for the performers, insurance, ASCAP licenses so a singer can sing a Beatles song, outhouses, police details, and on, and on, and on. That it runs at all is
amazing. That it runs so consistently well is nothing short of miraculous, and a testament to the stART team’s efforts.
So, yes. Its absence again this year is tragic, but Zlody feels it’s the responsible choice. “There’s so much uncer-
tainty with this disease, and no festival is worth anyone’s life,” says Zlody. “We can’t put people at risk if we don’t know what’s happening with COVID. We can’t put our artists’ resources at risk. Let’s hope when we regroup it’ll be better than ever. Maybe stepping back for a couple of years, we have an opportunity to come back to stART with a fresh eye, maybe come up with crazy new ideas.”
Indeed. I think we’re all
Los Lobos
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perimenting, even releasing Disney and holiday albums before now returning to basics with “Native Sons.”
The reviews of “Native
Sons” have been appreciative and admiring.
“Even when they’re playing songs from other artists, Los Lobos sound like no other
band,” said Pitchfork.
Americana UK noted that
Los Lobos’ “heartfelt tribute to
their own hometown and in-
fluences is a great rocking party record that celebrates the signature sound of Los Lobos through a variety of genres and songs and helps shine a light on how Los Lobos developed their unique sound. If you are new to Los Lobos this would be
a good introduction to their unique sound, and if you are already a fan then this is a must-listen.”
The current lineup is David Hidalgo, vocals, guitars; Louie Pérez Jr., vocals, guitars; Cesar Rosas, vocals, guitars, bass, Hammond B3 organ; Conrad Lozano, vocals, bass; and Berlin. Amazingly, Hidalgo, Perez and Rosas have been members
since 1973, while Lozano joined in 1974.
Could any of the members have envisioned Los Lobos
still performing 48 years after being founded?
“No. Flat out no,” Berlin said. “We’re still the same
band …
“We were just having fun, making music, touring the world. Life was very simple. Even now we just plow ahead and don’t look back, ever. We don’t live in the past.”
So safe to say a break-up at this point isn’t likely. “I would say I think at this point we’re aware the thing we would make together is bigger than the thing we would make separate,” Berlin said.
“Everybody has the space to live outside of the band. We
give each other space. We never stay out of town for more than three weeks. You can do a
countdown. It keeps a lid on everything. We’re fully aware if we stay out too long, bad things happen. Not just to us, but for our family and kids,” he said.
Another trip back to the recording studio may be in the cards for “a new non-covers”
album to be “released some
time next year. That seems like a reasonable approach,” Berlin said.
As for any thoughts of retirement, “No. It’s still working,” Berlin said.
“We made a new record and
people seem to like it. I guess the world will tell us when it’s
time to quit. But it seems to be going OK. We get to make music for a living. How many people get to do that?”
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‘Who Do You Love?’: George Thorogood and The Destroyers at Indian Ranch
Robert Duguay
Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK
Since hitting the club and bar circuit during the ‘70s, George Thorogood & The Destroyers have been putting their own spin on electric blues rock. People definitely know Thorogood from his hits “Bad To The Bone,” “I Drink Alone,” his rendition of John Lee Hooker’s “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer” and his version of Bo Diddley’s “Who Do You Love?” which are still being played on the radio today.
He and his band are also known for their energetic and engaging live shows along with touring on a consistent basis, which they’ve been doing since live concerts opened back up earlier this summer. Listening to Thorogood play is like reading a blues encyclopedia, each song in his repertoire can educate somebody about the art form he abides by. At 1 p.m. Sept. 19, Thorogood & The Destroyers will be getting amplified at Indian Ranch on 200 Gore Road in Webster.
A lot can change in more than 45 years of performing and touring, and it’s certainly been the case for Thorogood and his band. Change can be good and he’s recognized that while also acknowledging the community that embraced him and his sound when he and The Destroyers first started out.
“I think what’s really happened with our band, like a lot of bands, is that we’ve evolved to what is being classified as ‘classic rock,’” he says. “As time has gone on, we’ve just kept playing and playing and playing and we’ve evolved into what we are now. Everyone who starts off playing blues thinks that’s going to be your thing forever, but the more you play, the more things happen with your guitar and your energy. All sorts of stuff changes, so to tell you the truth, when we first hit in ‘77 with our first record we went straight to the rock world and they embraced us more than anything, way more than the blues scene did. We went straight to FM, straight to MTV, straight to classic rock radio and that was the direction we were getting pulled into.”
When it comes to playing live, Thorogood knows that his audience is getting older, but says the energy has always been consistent. He also has high praise for the people that have come to see him and The Destroyers play Indian Ranch in the past.
“Let’s face it, most of our crowd are older people now, and they still boogie in their own way but they don’t do it for every song,” he says. “They do it at the Indian Ranch though, when we hit that place there’s always some wonderful shocks and surprises. I’m not real big on playing in the daytime, as a matter of fact, I don’t even like being out in the daytime, but one of the exceptions to the rule is that venue. When it comes to the whole live music spectrum, the PAs are better, the stages are better and everything is much more organized.
“We’re glad that we could hang in there all of these years and it’s perfect for the people because a lot of places we played during the ‘70s and early ‘80s had things that were left to be desired,” Thorogood adds. “There wouldn’t be a bathroom for the ladies, the PA system might not be adequate or the hotels wouldn’t even be that nice. Since then, a few things have changed while putting a little extra spark into our band.”
Ever since the dawn of the 2000s, blues music has played a major role in popular rock, with acts like The Black Keys, Jack White, Gary Clark Jr. and many others fostering a new generation of blues fans. While Thorogood can be too busy at times with his own music, when something he hasn’t heard before grabs ahold of him he certainly appreciates it.
“I go through waves of things and if something turns me on, I’ll ask who the artist is and sometimes they’ve been around for 20 years,” he says. “I’m so busy doing what I do that I haven’t really had any chance to pay any attention. In the last year, I discovered Amy Winehouse and I knew nothing about her before. When I started listening to her I was unbelievably knocked out and I hadn’t heard anything like this since I heard Robert Johnson for the first time. It wasn’t something I was looking for, I kind of stumbled upon it. When I first saw Gary Clark Jr. perform, I said to myself, ‘This guy is gonna go all the way,’ and if he wants to stay with the blues then that’s his business.”
“If he wants to bring it up a notch, he can go as far as Buddy Guy and maybe even farther,” Thorogood adds. “I don’t go looking for things, they find me on occasion and sometimes I’ll go, ‘What’s that? I’ve never heard anything like that before!’ The same goes for Jack White, and I think he’s fantastic. But if it’s something that’s not very good then nothing is going to turn me on to it.”
George Thorogood and the Destroyers will perform at Indian Ranch Sept. 19.
PHOTO COURTESY MITCHELL GLOTZER
Coheed & Cambria is set to perform Sept. 18 at the Palladium. PHOTO COURTESY JIMMY FONTAINE
Coheed & Cambria set to perform on Palladium’s outdoor stage
Robert Duguay
Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK
Coheed & Cambria are one of those bands you have to see live. The Nyack, New York, act has a thunderously progressive style that echoes late ‘70s and early ‘80s arena rock while going by a comic book narrative created by vocalist and guitarist Claudio Sanchez. They’re for both the rock purists and the weirdo nerds. Not a lot of bands can say that.
These days the quartet of Sanchez, guitarist Travis Stever, drummer Josh Eppard and bassist Zach Cooper have a lot going on. They have their own coffee brand, a new music video out and they’re currently in the middle of a tour with The Used, Meet Me At The Altar and Carolesdaughter that’ll be making a stop at The Palladium’s outdoor stage on 261 Main St. Worcester at 5 p.m. on Sept. 18.
On Aug. 9th, the band released a new single titled “Shoulders” along with a music video for it. The track, which is supposed to be off of the band’s upcoming 10th album that has yet to be officially announced, exhibits a synthy tone from both Stever’s and Sanchez’s guitars.
“I think that as far as ‘Shoulders’ is concerned, it was really about picking the tones that work for the song,” Stever says. “Zakk Cervini, who produced the song, definitely had a hand in creating those sounds. It was more or less thickening, as you can tell by the song itself there’s a lot of guitars doing the riff and it was more about making that riff as thick and vicious as possible. Doubling the riff, for me, was different in a sense that maybe I would be playing a different melody a lot of the time but on this particular song I just doubled a lot of the stuff that Claudio was playing on the riff. It gave both Zakk and us a chance to really add a lot of dynamics to it because the whole hook, especially in the verses, is that riff coming in and out.”
Earlier this year, the band launched its own line of coffee under the brand Coheed Roasters. So far there are three blends, The Inferno, The Knowledge and The Beast, with Stever and his household having an affinity for the latter.
“We all are coffee drinkers, especially Claudio and Zach,” he says on how the coffee brand started. “I’m not much of a coffee aficionado but my wife is so I was surprised by how much she loves The Beast blend, and I do as well. We have a lot of it in our household but a lot went into creating it because we do love coffee the way we do and everybody was able to center in on it. It’s just like if you love beer, you’re going to put a beer out there which we did through Coney Island Brewery a couple years ago. When we did that, we all took it pretty seriously to make sure that it was an IPA that we would actually want to drink.”
“It goes the same with the coffee. We didn’t just throw our name on it, and it’s been tasted, approved and we really stand by it,” Stever adds. “Being that it was during the middle of the pandemic, what better time to release something like this because we weren’t going out and doing shows? We centered on creating something that we could still interact with our fans and discuss with. We didn’t want to sit still and being that we love coffee it made total sense.”
While being completely mum on the status of the next Coheed & Cambria album, Stever is really excited to perform live in front of fans after such a long time. He’s also excited to come back to Massachusetts after spending a lot of time here during the COVID-19 pandemic last year.
“We’ve been working on this live set that has a lot of special surprises,” he says. “I can’t give a lot away with the upcoming album, but I will tell you that it’s pretty far along. There is no set release date and there is a title but I can’t release that information yet. It’s so exciting to have something ready and have numerous things ready to be able to give to the people who have been so dedicated to us as a band, and it’ll all happen in due time. What I’m excited about more than anything is this super special live set because it’s been almost two years since we’ve been able to do this.
“I have a new love for Massachusetts now because my family decided to head to Cape Cod during the pandemic when so many things were closed down and there was so much price gouging at the places we would usually go to,” Stever adds. “I used to go there when I was a kid and we wound up going to Manomet Beach in Plymouth and staying there for the summer. I literally fell in love with that area, I’ve met people that I’m hoping will be coming to the show at The Palladium and I can’t wait to come back and play.”
