Music / americana
Review: Calexico, Colston Hall
Moved from Trinity centre to Colston Hall due to demand, the Arizona-based band Calexico is playing tonight in front of a busy standing auditorium. They have become more and more popular over 22 years of existence and their recent release, The Thread That Keeps Us, explores their music from a different angle. By adding some alt-rock sound to the existent batch of mariachi trumpets and Americana acoustics, they undoubtedly attract a wider crowd.
Standing in front of a massive white curtain on which the light reflections have the effect of a burning fire, the band’s composition tonight includes DJ Camilo Lara from the Mexican Institute of Sound. The music producer, hidden underneath his humongous black hat, adds hip-hop electronic sounds to the mix. The rest of the group is composed of various gifted multi-instrumentalists such as Jacob Valenzuela and Martin Wenk, who swap between trumpets, keyboards and accordions, which turns the whole stage into an explosion of colours and sounds.
The set starts energetically with Dead in the Water, which probably surprises the Calexico fanatics with its rock edge and ardent guitars. Subsequently, the whole set is a rollercoaster of music genres. The Town and Miss Lorraine is light and reminisces of the sixties with the spotlight on the xylophone, Ballad of Cable Hogue introduces the accordion for a Western saloon style and the classic The End of the World With you fulfils the audience with its timeless pop beats.
is needed now More than ever
Between South-American songs and Tex-Mex echoes, Thrown to the Wild is particularly striking. The soft start of the song gets gradually tinted with trumpets interventions. The band is of course loved for his sound of wide-spaces, deserts and tequilas, but the pure Latino songs are a tad bland, contrasting with some other interesting numbers like Alone Again Or, an ambitious cover of the band Love. Frontman Joey Burns is full of charisma and his voice sparkles on Sunken Waltz, which betrays a similitude with Neil Finn’s of Crowded House.
Colston Hall is turned into vibrant party tonight during which Calexico easily transports the crowd into a particular world of their own. The long set is varied and the energy is, if soften with one song, revived with another one. Being an amateur of Tex-Mex music is advised; however the band offers a wide range of material to please the audience. Will the O2 Academy be their next stop? They would definitely have the shoulder span.
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