SHOW ME LA BAMBA . . .
The demand to see the headliner seems politely etched onto the subdued yet puzzled faces of those NorthShorreños sparsely seated in the pavilion, though enough Latinos are present to sing along with opener Julieta Venegas, to respond generously to her unassuming presence and charming bilingual embrace of the audience, even if she sometimes breaks a word or two, but apologizes: “Tengo que pensar doble … I have to think double, in English and Spanish.” This admission seems as honest as her voice — at turns fragile and then growling, but with cariño — and the mewling, cabaret-siren of her piano-accordion instrumentation, that sounds more European than Latin American.


“Thinking double” is not a new strategy for such artists, but Venegas makes it seem refreshingly sincere. After all, Highland Park is a ways from Tijuana — where Venegas got her start as a hard-rockera with Tijuana No! before going solo, now with two records and a Grammy nomination to her credit — just as Ravinia is a far cry from the backyard barbacoas and drunken-compadre party-tune-request quinceañera culture that bred those infamous beer guts that, if nothing else, keep Los Lobos from glam pretentions. Venegas finishes a half-hour set, and toasts are served on the lawn, where the pachanga fare is a tad more elaborate than tacos.
Security guards cannot hold back the rush of fans who break the staid seating borders when Los Lobos take the stage. After a trickster-rendition of “Sweet Home Chicago” plus some going-through-the-motions cuts from their last three albums, guitarist César Rosas urges the crowd to dance. This is when Los Lobos seem to be most at home, as the crowd pushes forward with herky-jerky gyrations and sloppy swing — new interpretations of Latin dance that might be called “noterno,” as the official Ravinia program comically labels “the traditional folk music of northern Mexico” — and the band launches into a barrio-garage mix: “Cumbia Raza” from This Time, then a Flaco Jimenez polka, a speed-corrido for “El Mexicano-Americano,” a doo-wop R&B version of “Volver,” a nod to the late Sir Douglas Sahm with “She’s About A Mover,” and eventually the obligatory “Oye Como Va.”
Puro party. But not for long. Los Lobos play a solitary encore tune, ironically “Más Y Más,” from Colossal Head. They do not play “La Bamba.”
8 August 2001, Illinois Entertainer

« »