Image by Erik Adams
Nylon string-slingin' stars
Percussive beats and extended solos fill Rodrigo Y Gabriela's Austin show
By Erik Adams
Published: February 18th, 2008 | 10:43pm
February 16, 2008, in Austin — I was really hoping to be able to review this show in non-rock terms, but Rodrigo Sánchez and Gabriela Quintero just wouldn’t let me.
They took the stage after a heavy dose of PA-delivered Tool and exited to the opening strains of AC/DC’s “For Those About to Rock (We Salute You).”
Among their set of speedily plucked instrumentals, they dropped full-on covers of “Wish You Were Here” (Pink Floyd, not Incubus) and “Stairway to Heaven.”
Elsewhere, riffs from “Smoke on the Water,” “Voodoo Child,” and “Seven Nation Army” cropped up.
Sánchez conducted the massive La Zona Rosa crowd as if it was a third member of the band, cueing shouts and clapping with the kind of gestures usually reserved for vocalists with armadillos down their spandex trousers.
My discovery: The Mexican duo known as Rodrigo y Gabriela are nylon string-slingin’ rock stars, which was kind of a relief, seeing as I haven’t the vocabulary or the expertise to effectively comment on their speed-metal-influenced folk guitar stylings or the throbbing South Asian-derived rhythms that drive them.
But oh, that throb. Quintero pulls sounds from the body of her guitar that on record resemble bongos or tabla, but in a live setting sound more akin to a house or disco kick drum. It’s a body-rocking pulse that’s downright hypnotic and disproves any notion that Quintero and Sánchez are nothing more than noodley virtuosos; they’re guitar elites with a beat for the masses.
Still, virtuosity for virtuosity's sake managed to mire the show’s energy more than once, particularly when Sánchez and Quintero gave into that most bloated of mid-concert rock star indulgences, the extended solo. Both induced a number of “gee-whiz” moments during their respective times in the spotlight, but the loudest cheers during Sánchez’s solo were prompted by the aforementioned homages to Jimi Hendrix and Jack White. Incredible skill can only get you so far — Rodrigo y Gabriela will continue to pack the fans in so long as they deliver guitar god-worthy licks like the 16-note melody that dominates “Tamacun.”
Issue #35
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