I saw Calexico tonight at the Buskirk Chumley Theater in Bloomington, IN. As I expected, they were awesome. Some details:
First of all, their opening act was Oakley Hall. . A folky-rock band with great vocal harmonies and the ridiculously cute Rachel Cox on guitar and vocals, they did a great job in setting the stage for the show. I met Oakley Hall during the intermission and they were very nice and charming people. I hope they gain the recognition that they deserve.
As for Calexico: they were in top form, with terrific intensity from all the members. Especially noteworthy was the amazing drummer and Johnny Knoxville lookalike John Convertino, who beat the shit out of those drums like you wouldn’t believe. They played my favorite Calexico song, Sunken Waltz, early on in the set with a great accordion part played by the German native Martin Wenk. They followed with a mix of work from their various albums, including some great instrumentals with the distinctive Mexican sound provided by their trumpet players, Jacob Valenzuela and the aforementioned Martin Wenk who doubles on many different instruments.
I noticed that the vocalist and frontman, Joey Burns, was playing a white Airline guitar for much of the show, which was awesome. The other guitarist also seemed to be using a cheap guitar - I think a Noble or Teisco. I love cheap vintage guitars so this was a plus for me.
They played an encore at the end of the show, of course - including their amazing cover of All The Pretty Little Horses which manages to make this classic nursery rhyme sound like pure evil. They also called Oakley Hall back onto the stage for one last song, which was a great combination of sounds and voices.
After the show, my friends and I spoke with Joey Burns. He said that he loved the town of Bloomington and was very impressed with the quality of the theater, the acoustics, and the appreciative crowd. I shook his hand and congratulated him on an excellent performance. He was very nice, friendly, and down-to-earth. Burns has a unique singing voice which I would compare to David Gray - breathy, mysterious, and haunting, with excellent projection and tone. The rest of the band was also outstanding and the show rocked. Calexico is the musical heir of Neil Young and Johnny Cash, mixing folk music and traditional European and Mexican instrumentals with the vigor and punch of electric rock. I would reccomend that anyone who wants to see one of the best bands of the current music scene catch Calexico if they are in the area.