It’s not often that a concert leaves me completely speechless anymore. After most shows, I tend to find myself rambling on about the drummer’s ability to keep time or the comprehensiveness of the set list or other inane neuroticisms symptomatic of the music critic’s job. However, I was rendered utterly dumb after witnessing Mexican acoustic-guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela’s two-hour set at the Orpheum on Monday night. Never have I seen such instrumental skill synced with such an energy and presence onstage.
Rodrigo y Gabriela’s music owes its roots to the Mexican thrash-metal scene of the 1990s, where Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero met while playing in a band called Tierra Ácida (literally: Acid Earth). After moving to Dublin and performing together on the streets, they formed Rodrigo y Gabriela (affectionately dubbed “Rod y Gab”) and released an album that rose to number one on the Irish music charts above acts like Arctic Monkeys and Johnny Cash. Four albums and six years later, the duo was collaborating with composer Hans Zimmer for the soundtrack to Pirates of the Caribbean and selling out Manhattan’s Radio City Music Hall.
In January, Rodrigo y Gabriela released their fifth album, entitled Area 52, which featured C.U.B.A., a 13-piece Cuban orchestra. While the addition of a full Cuban band was met with mixed reviews as it marks a departure from the band’s bare-bones acoustic intricacies, the band brought an entire dimension to their live show that kept the concept of the seats in theatre foreign to the dancing audience. As they worked through their album (which features re-workings of older tunes), many of the backing band members embarked upon impressive solos, showcasing that whatever skill Sanchez and Quintero possess, their backing band could more than keep up.
That being said, the truly breathtaking part of the night consisted solely of Sanchez and Quintero’s nylon-string guitars on stage, after the band had taken its leave. Quintero’s unrelentingly percussive style of playing filled the Orpheum better than any bass drum could have, while Sanchez carved impossibly fast melodies up and down the neck of his guitar.
It seems incredible, in the root sense of the word, that two acoustic guitars, unaccompanied by vocals or other instruments, could fill a room with such an electric energy, but by the end of the show, Rodrigo y Gabriela ensured that not a seat was kept warm in the entire house. Their genre-bending, mind-blowing, beat-driven tunes were supplemented by a genuine enthusiasm and an honest performance not often found in today’s world of gimmicky, pseudo-hipster live music. Rodrigo y Gabriela are slotted to hit up several music festivals this year, including both Austin City Limits and Bonnaroo. Whatever you do, if you’re anywhere near the tri-state area during that time, buy your ticket. All triteness of this plug aside, you won’t regret it.
Check out some cool snapshots of the Rodrigo y Gabriela show here.
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