Marching through Boston, up the shore a bit and landing in Harvard Square, Calexico brought serious heat to the packed house at The Sinclair. We can posit that it wasn’t the “dry heat” of a Tucson evening, but the music on this Thursday night in Cambridge, MA drew heavily enough from Edge of the Sun to convince otherwise, with crowd favorites and chestnuts carefully strewn through the course of the set.
Opening with the circuital refrain of “Falling From the Sky,” the stage was set for a comfortable overall mix of classic tunes and new material. The back-snapping, infectious drums, wallop of mariachi horns and cool tones of vibraphone and harmonicas definitely set the crowd moving to cumbias, salsas and two-steps. Charging the audience, singer & guitarist Joey Burns took care to enunciate each sly syllable of the desert scenes he described.
It almost seemed as though the band was a bit self-conscious about their newer material. With the huge tapestry of their newest album artwork proudly displayed (and very cleverly colored and lit) behind them, Burns and Joey Convertino (drums, primary songwriter) took the initiative to really push the “big” hooks of their tunes. Throughout the evening, Burns initiated hoots and hollers, keeping the audience members not only moving, but thinking about these desert landscapes, as well.
As a band with such an idiosyncratic and beloved sound, it’s understandable that Burns & Convertino would tentatively approach the more experimental aspects of their new songs. Nowhere was that sort of awareness more apparent than in their gorgeous execution of “Tapping on the Line,” a tune that begins with the four/four of a drum pad, slowly building up against the elegant washes of Convertino’s cymbals. One could almost hear the band inhaling as they introduced such an organic tune with the cold beat of a drum machine, but the shared payoff between band and audience was one of a sustained, groovy brilliance.
Gaby Moreno, who opened the concert with a set of gorgeous, off-kilter acoustic numbers, took the stage several times to perform with Calexico, including through their entire encore. Her rich, sultry vocal performance on “Miles from the Sea” adds a certain framework to the song, a dynamic that would be sorely missed without her there.
On the subject of Gaby Moreno: the Grammy-winning songwriter performed songs from across her own career to get the evening started. At times the singer took turns at jazzy, emphatic and empowering vocals, while during others she played ingenious Latina baroque pop star. Joey Burns and keyboard/accordion player Sergio Mendoza helped to fill out the sound that she and her bassist created during a great opening set.
Calexico is a spitfire, veteran songwriting act. Any music lover with an interest in crossover folk and intelligent writing knows that the band is a sure bet. Many tunes from Edge of the Sun (the ones that aren’t instant winners) are bound to become concert staples as the band continues toward its second decade together. Thus, fans are wont to hear great new songs like “Bullets and Rocks” slink more and more perfectly into the mysterious swagger of “Sunken Waltz,” the opener from 2003’s Feast of Wire
Although there were times that the overall sound felt less than beefy, Calexico demonstrated again and again their expertise as a band truly listening to itself, with one ear to the audience. The measured, elegant assaults from the band’s horn section, as well as the flavorful meshing of textured instruments – vibes, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, synth boxes, and those brilliantly punchy drums – really brought home the staying power of this great band.
