Alejandro Escovedo, Los Lobos and Los Lonely Boys triple the rock fun at Meijer Gardens (review, photos)

Starting with Alejandro Escovedo’s bracing rock ‘n’ roll show, Los Lonely Boys and Los Lobos had folks dancing into the evening at Meijer Gardens on Friday: The Local Spins review and an exclusive interview with Escovedo.

 

I hear quite a bit of Mott the Hoople’s Ian Hunter in Alejandro Escovedo’s voice, music and attitude.

And more than a smidgen of Bruce Springsteen, Gram Parsons, Joe Ely and Iggy Pop & The Stooges.

Oh, and not surprisingly, there’s a fair amount of overlap with David Hidalgo, Cesar Rosas and the boys of Los Lobos, too, with all of them sharing some of that rootsy Tex-Mex upbringing that colors their music in such compelling fashion.

Escovedo first met Los Lobos in 1982. His band at that time, Rank and File, shared a bill in Austin, Texas, with the band from East L.A. – or as Escovedo remembers it, “six huge Chicanos” who drove up in an old station wagon and stole the show. “They just blew my mind and destroyed the whole evening,” Escovedo recalled.

His band the True Believers would later spend many nights on the road with Los Lobos, even playing 45 gigs in 43 days in one stretch.

BACK TOGETHER AND BACK ON THE ROAD AGAIN

Well, after many years, Escovedo and Los Lobos are together and back on the road again, performing the second show of their U.S. tour on Friday night in front of about 1,100 fans at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park along with that lovable blues-rock trio of Texas brothers, Los Lonely Boys (who Escovedo also came to know from their performances at Austin’s Continental Club).

It certainly was a family-reunion style evening, with Hidalgo performing during Escovedo’s opening set, Escovedo playing the True Believers’ “Rebel Kind” during Los Lobos’ set, and Los Lonely Boys not only bringing Hidalgo and Los Lobos’ Steve Berlin and drummer Enrique Gonzalez up for the end of their set, but also joining Los Lobos for scintillating renditions of the Spencer Davis Group’s “I’m a Man” and Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Pride and Joy.” (View the Local Spins photo gallery below.)

Of course, Los Lobos and Los Lonely Boys have played Meijer Gardens before, and as usual, their energetic sets – and especially Los Lobos’ cumbia-driven tunes – drew hundreds of dancers to the front of the stage for a Friday night party that many didn’t want to end … though eventually it did with Los Lobos’ “La Bamba/Good Lovin’ ” medley after more than three hours of music over three sets.

PRODIGIOUS OPENING SET

Technically, Escovedo was Friday’s opening act, but with a brilliant new album, “Big Station,” released just a couple of weeks ago, he could just as easily have been the headliner with his prodigious talent, influence and background, not to mention a terrific rock band, the Sensitive Boys.

And while his live performances rank among the best I’ve ever seen by any artist, the lion’s share of Meijer Gardens concertgoers seemed blissfully unaware of that: He remains a virtual unknown amid mainstream audiences despite his intoxicating blend of Americana, folk, punk, country and roots rock. I’m not sure most folks realized just what they were witnessing.

In an engaging interview in a Meijer Gardens conference room prior to Friday night’s show, I asked Escovedo about that very thing – enjoying critical acclaim and the reverence of fellow musicians even though commercial success has largely eluded him despite releasing more than a dozen studio albums since 1992, including classics such as 2006’s “Boxing Mirror” and 2008’s “Real Animal.” It escapes logic.

LACKING THAT ONE BIG HIT, BUT STILL CREATING PASSIONATE MUSIC

As he put it, he’s just never scored that one big hit – like “La Bamba” for Los Lobos and “Heaven” for Los Lonely Boys – to elevate him to household-name status.

“You need that one hit. One hit can sustain you forever,” he said. “Personally, I think what we do is really special. I love music. I love rock ‘n’ roll. I’m not going to tell you we’re good if we’re not. … I’m not trying to pretend. I look around and I listen and I watch and, I don’t know, I don’t get it. It just happened that way. … I never wanted to be a pop star. I wanted to write. That’s all I wanted to do. I wanted to write like Lou Reed. I want to write like John Cale and Brian Ego and Iggy Pop and Ian Hunter.”

And he certainly does: Heck, his opening set on Friday – a mix of new material from “Big Station” as well as powerful tunes from “Real Animal” and “Boxing Mirror” – made me want to listen to his band play for three hours rather than the 45 minutes allotted.

But as it was, Escovedo was just part of a stellar triple bill that should have drawn a sell-out crowd on a steamy summer night. For that, once again, there’s no logical explanation.

THE VIBE
Los Lobos and Los Lonely Boys always attract a cumbia-loving crowd of dance-happy fans and Friday night was no exception. They took awhile to warm up, but 38 minutes into Los Lonely Boys’ second set with the trio appropriately enough unleashing, “Friday Night,” that dance party was well under way.

THE NIGHT’S BIG MOMENTS
Most of them involved guest appearances on each other’s sets: Hidalgo, Escovedo and Ricky Ray Jackson tearing it up impressively on guitar during a fiery rendition of Neil Young’s “Hurricane,” Henry Garza of Los Lonely Boys (who remains, in my view, one of America’s most under-cited guitar powerhouses) trading licks with Hidalgo on “I Am the Man to Beat,” and Los Lonely Boys joining Los Lobos near the end of the night.

THE BANTER
“If it wasn’t for a band by the name of The Stooges, I wouldn’t be here right now.” – Escovedo, midway through his set.
“Those were the days.” – Hidalgo, after Escovedo joined Los Lobos for a rendition of “Rebel Kind” which dates back to the 1980s when they toured together.

ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO, LOS LONELY BOYS, LOS LOBOS AT MEIJER GARDENS: THE LOCAL SPINS PHOTO GALLERY (6/21/13)