Reviews
Artists:Robrigo Y Gabriela
Venue:Bristol Academy
Town:Bristol
Date: 270507
Website:http://www.myspace.com/rodrigoygabriela
The last time that I saw Rodrigo y Gabriela was at Cambridge Folk Festival last year, in a large open air tent that smelt of hot cider and had that electric buzz that you only find on the last day of a long festival when everybody is too exhausted to care that their hair is clogged with dirt and are instead running off the general blissed-out atmosphere, and perhaps a few trips to the Pimms tent. As we drove through the rain to Bristol on a miserable evening in May, my dad and I were slightly concerned that perhaps that atmosphere would be somewhat different. As we found ourselves at the front of a queue that spiralled out of a venue-come-car-park, apparently sponsored by every NME night’s favourite lager company (no names named, but should automatically be a warning to any music-lover) and battled with the most ridiculously tight security in the world, who actually confiscated my chewing gum; once again I suspected that Rodrigo y Gabriela’s intricate and intrinsically eclectic mix of flamenco and thrash metal would be completely lost in this apparently soul-less venue. Let’s face it, it’s no Cambridge Folk Festival.
We arrived half way through the support act; a young American guy called Brett Dennen who could easily be placed somewhere amongst the likes of Jack Johnson and Badly Drawn Boy, to the point that he was joined onstage simply by another young man in a beenie hat who played those simple jazz backing drum-beats that you would expect to accompany such entirely bland non-offensive Café-Nero-background music. Quite literally background music, judging by the reaction from the audience who apparently were unaware that he was even onstage. At one point he even asked, perhaps slightly bitterly, “this song is quite quiet and the lyrics are important so you might like to listen closely… (the crowd continue their conversations, utterly oblivious)… no? That’s cool, whatever.” I almost feel sorry for him. I would feel more sorry if he was a bit more gutsy and actually dropped in something that you can’t buy at the supermarket on a compilation entitled “Acoustic Chill-Out”, or words along those lines. The poor guy is obviously talented, he just seems to be wasting that talent on music for Dido fans.
At this point my dad and I decide to move nearer the front so that we can get a better view of Rodrigo y Gabriela when they come onstage. Unfortunately about 1000 people seem to be having exactly the same idea and as I attempt to descend from the bar I realise that there is absolutely no way we are going to push our way through the audience below without implementing a baseball bat and an ambulance siren. There are people shoulder-to-shoulder up each of the stair-wells leading to the equally-packed balcony, and tensions are starting to rise as every individual elbows their way into their own tiny space and begins to wonder how on earth they are going to possibly find somewhere with a view again if, god forbid, they have to use the toilet.
My dad and I find our own space on the balcony that has a fantastic view of a few people’s heads, a pillar and the terrible quality TV screens depicting the stage that hang precariously from the ceiling. So that’s the “Cambridge vs Carling Academy – what will have the better atmosphere?” query answered. The balcony seems to be made up of all the people who have casually tagged along with friends to see what all the fuss is about; one woman asks “so are they like a cover band or something?” From what I can gather, the main ground floor audience seems to be comprised of those slightly more in the know, and who cheer with anticipation ever time one of the soundmen appear onstage to check cables and mic stands.
It is quite a relief when Rodrigo y Gabriela finally arrive onstage, waving and grinning. The only thing that has changed is Rodrigo’s haircut (in fact, wait, is that… the same t-shirt he wore last time I saw him?) and immediately they plunge into three short explosive pieces that immediately has the entire audience’s rapt attention, and most of the balcony-newbies’ jaws hitting the floor. I hope poor Brett Dennon is backstage taking notes. The two guitarists sit a few meters away from one other on the stage, both dressed in black, heads down and furiously attacking their fret-boards with separate styles that compliment each-other perfectly. Rodrigo handles most of the melodic finger-picking side of things, each time playing faster and more complicated pieces than the last verse. Gabriela, crouching over her little acoustic guitar to his right, deals with… well, everything else. In fact, it is difficult to comprehend how she gets such sounds out of a single instrument, when it sounds like a whole band (including a couple of drummers) are playing at once. With what appears to be a few simple flicks of her wrist she has complex rhythms bouncing out of the body of her guitar whilst she casually dances her hands along the fret-board and keeps the backing melody going, all at the same time. As I have such a limited view of the stage, my eyes wander to the audience who, mouths open, are attempting to dance along to the vigorous rhythms but at the same time straining to watch in amazement. By the time the Mexican duo moved onto more familiar territory, “the hits” for want of a better word, their superior musicianship was already written on the faces of everybody in the room. Obviously there are big fans present who shout out requests continuously, but even watching them play unfamiliar material is mind-blowing.
At one point Gabriela stops and talks to the audience, explaining that they are not allowed to call their music “flamenco” as the hardcore flamenco fans get angry since the rhythms do not technically fall into that classification. It is true that they do a mean “flamenco” version of Metallica’s ‘Orion’, which probably doesn’t please the purists, but nobody can pass this duo off as a novelty act in the way that you might dismiss Hayseed Dixie’s equally unlikely bluegrass versions of heavy metal classics. Having met through playing in thrash metal bands in Mexico City, Rodrigo y Gabriela cite bands such as Slayer and Megadeth as their influences, and when you hear their manic guitar solos and pounding rhythms you can see the techniques that they have lifted. But they also know how to chill out, and do a beautiful version of Pink Floyd’s ‘Wish You Were Here’; the audience is word perfect and does all the singing for them, and the delight is obvious on the duo’s faces.
Equally, while there are obvious traditional techniques shining through, Rodrigo y Gabriela give off an almost punk-rock attitude in a very un-punk-rock scenario. Somehow they get a whole audience head-banging to acoustic guitars, and Gabriela shouts “fuck the US Visa control!” when telling a story about how Visa problems stopped their American tour. They constantly drop in snippets of Hendrix or White Stripes songs, and when Rodrigo leans down to pick up his beer bottle he starts using it for slide guitar. On the other hand, despite having sets both at Glastonbury Festival (cheers from the audience when they mention this) and Latitude Festival (blank expressions from the audience when they mention this) they will soon be supporting Muse at Wembley Arena; a deal probably finalised by the same person who organised for them to play at possibly the most corporate soul-less venue in the whole of Bristol. Although I do take comfort in the fact that I probably got a slightly better view at the Carling Academy show than the poor confused attendees of Wembley , who will no doubt spend even more time straining on their tip-toes than I did; half the live magic being lost if you can’t see Rodrigo y Gabriela’s hands working their magic.
In the defence of their choice of venue, ultimately I would have to say that Rodrigo y Gabriela are so jaw-droppingly amazing that they transcend the entire building and lift the whole audience into their own world. As they take their seats for their encore and effectively have the guitar-playing equivalent of a dance-off, both trying to out-perform the other with increasingly intricate solos until even they are laughing at one another, it doesn’t matter where you are watching it from. Especially as the play-off turns smoothly into their famous version of ‘Stairway To Heaven’, and not a single person can drag their eyes away from the two performers. Finally, as they both lean off the stage to high-five the front row in front of an audience who make the floor shake with awe and applause, it is obvious that Rodrigo y Gabriela are heading for even bigger things, and rightly so. I just wish that I could be there to see the faces of the Muse crowd when they see this.