Electric Ballroom (Camden): 2 November 2023
So, here we are again, another year and another chance to watch Calexico live in London, this time at a new venue for me - the lovely little (1,500 capacity) Electric Ballroom in Camden. This is our third experience of Calexico live, the first two were absolutely outstanding, but I don't want to give anything away yet... but they didn't disappoint.
We had to brave the tale end of Storm Ciaran to get to London for this - but would it be worth the stress and delayed trains.......
Brian Lopez
Support tonight comes from Tucson's Brian Lopez, who also happens to be a current touring member of Calexico.
He starts with a handful of songs with just him and his guitar, including opener 3,000 Stories. He has the laid back style of an early 70s troubadour, with lots of pretty arpeggios and soulful singing. It never quite takes off until he is joined by Joey Burns on bass, for a song about Superman and Lois Lane. This is a little more captivating, with a sparser arrangement and the bass adding some depth. Most of the rest of Calexico are now also up on stage, and this adds some more swing to proceedings, although perhaps a bit too languid for my liking.
We won't dwell on the cover of The Killing Moon, maybe because I am a fan of the Bunnymen. Even with the delicate underpinning of a xylophone (or is it a glockenspiel) it never quite clicks. The penultimate song brings the full brass effect to bear and sounds great, before Lopez is alone again for the final tune. It then hits me - this is a bit like Jeff Buckley - but with no disrespect, never quite capturing the je ne sais quoi that Buckley had.
Calexico
As the distinctive opening notes of Sunken Waltz ping from Joey's acoustic guitar, a broad smile breaks across my face. Calexico are on stage, I am happy and all will be well.....
Now, this tour is celebrating the twentieth anniversary of the Feast Of Wire album - a record that when it is at its best, is supreme. Joey Burns slightly smoky voice rings out as strongly and clearly as it ever has. We can barely see co-founder John Convertino behind his drum kit through the haze of dry ice, but every now and then we see those trademark flailing arms, swirling his sticks and brushes, a sure sign that he is enjoying himself back there.
Of course, that is what Calexico live is all about - the joy that it brings everyone present - and it all starts on the stage. The players are all fantastic, of course - Sergio Mendoza (keyboards, bass), Jacob Valenzuela (trumpet, xylophone), Martin Wenk (trumpet, accordion, guitar), Brian Lopez (guitar) - they have the full set of quality tunes to play, but more than, they are clearly having a ball every night playing them.
Not Even Stevie Nicks builds from hushed beginnings into a Stones style jam, before then morphing into Love Will Tear Us Apart, and back out again. Close Behind is an instrumental that wouldn't be out of place in a Sergio Leone western. Martin Wenk is really showing off now - playing accordion, trumpet one-handed and also a stellar whistling solo too!
Amongst the Feast Of Wire running order, they slip in another cover. But Calexico's uplifting version of Alone Again Or, is a case of where a band really owns a song that isn't theirs so much, that we hope and expect to hear it every time. I didn't take any video footage last night, but here is a classic version to give you an idea....
Guero Canelo smoulders like a sultry night on the underbelly of the gulf coast, with its ripples of mariachi trumpet like sirens, and almost flamenco strumming propelling it deeper into the night. Crumble provides us with a smoky jazz interlude. Now jazz is not my thing, but you really get a sense of how technically good everyone is from this. No Doze concludes the Feast of well, Feast Of Wire, as it rumbles gently like distant thunder towards the encore.
The encore opens with the masterful Minas De Cobre (from The Black Light) - another song that needs a film written for it. There is something about the brass in this that makes the hairs on my neck stand up. Here is a version from a decade ago that will give you an idea of what I am talking about.
(Live with the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra in 2012)
We then get two tunes from 2008s Carried To Dust (my introduction to Calexico) - Inspiracion, with its staccato beat and brass, and Two Silver Trees, which despite its wistful sound, seems to have a much darker tone, with talk of "False sense of warning, no poisoned cup, just deception crawling up like a snake." We finish with the glorious Flores Y Tamales - an irresistible, sexy song, driven by a rhythm that has everyone moving their hips. It is a song full of longing for a time when the singer will be "Celebrating with your laughter every moment, every dance (Festejando con tus risas cada rato, cada baile)." Again, here is a version so you can see what you missed!
(Live on KCRW in 2018)
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