Despite a 15-year career under their belt, even award-winning bands like Café Tacuba get the jitters.
Will the seats be filled? Will the set list go off without a hitch? Will the crowd invest enough emotion to get through the night?
Fortunately for them, it’s a yes, yes and most definitely yes.
Of course with Café Tacuba every night on stage fans are getting a kaleidoscope of ska, punk, reggae and polka cranked with a chunk of Latin rock sure to send the crowd into a hip-shaking frenzy.
They leave little to the imagination and little room for disappointment. So why get nervous?
“The pressure for us is that there is a public that is waiting most of the time a very enthusiastic crowd,” said Joselo Rangel, guitarist for the Mexico City quartet. “So many times we are surprised by the rush of Latin crowds even if we don’t know if there will be a crowd or not. Then all of sudden the place is packed.”
The band recently embarked on a U.S. tour which lands in the Rio Grande Valley, tonight in McAllen.
Throughout their career, so many fans have latched on to the band’s against-the-grain mentality and blend of traditional sounds. There’s no formula at all, Rangel says, but an approach that led them to the upper echelon of rock en Espańol.
“With every album we show how we are as individuals and how we are feeling,” he said. “The group can change and evolve but the important thing is to communicate with each other and not set things in stone.”
Their latest effort, "Sino," released in October, surprised fans once more with little more elements of rock than they had used in previous albums, proving no Café Tacuba album sounds like the other.
It also showed that the four-year gap since 2003’s "Cuatro Caminos" was a healthy lapse of time to prepare.
“There are people who say taking time between albums is a way to stay fresh,” Rangel said. “We are four people who make business decisions and the trick is to know how to make those decisions. The destiny of the record starts with what’s already there.”
When it comes time to hit the studio, Rangel along with Enrique Rangel (no relation), Ruben Albarran and Emmanuel Del Real, must be on the same page, no matter what.
It’s the visions between each member of the band that allow them to create such stylistically diverse pieces of music, Rangel said.
“Nothing’s definite with the band,” he said. “We have to experiment with different music and those artistic changes are appreciated by the public. In the early days there was more experimentation, more folkloric music - our roots combined with rock. But everything changes.”
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Café Tacuba
WHEN: Friday, Dec. 7, 7 p.m.
WHERE: Las Palmas Events Center, 500 E. Hackberry, Ste. A
COST: $35 and $45
FOR MORE INFO: (956) 212-8081
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Miriam Ramirez covers features and entertainment for The Monitor. You can reach her at (956) 683-4468.
