Los Fabulosos Cadillacs

Photo Credit: www.myspace.com/lfcoficial

Josué Arias (of Gardenia fame) attended Los Fabulosos Cadillacs' long-awaited return to the stage. This is his blog about the event.

Estadio Caliente
Tijuana, Baja California
14 de Noviembre, 2008

There are rock bands, and then there is Los Fabulosos Cadillacs. I mean, don't get me wrong, there is a lot of good music out there, but there are not that many bands in latin america that have such importance and history as Los Fabulosos Cadillacs. They are as rugged as rock gets. They are as universal as rock gets. Who can resist such captivating percussive rhythms, screaming horns, aggressive guitars, ridiculously refined bass lines and the presence and unique voice of Vicentico? If you only know Los Cadillacs because of "El Matador" this is not for you. This is for those of us who anticipated and waited more than 7 years to see them again, for those of us who take-on nicknames based on their songs (i.e. The Matador, El León), and especially for those who could not attend because a border stands in the way of enjoying not just a concert, but a historic moment- this recap is for you.

30,000 + filled the stadium waiting to see Los Cadillacs. Some first timers, others seeing the cadillacs for the third time (*yours truly) and others countless times, but as soon as the lights dimmed, you knew that the place was about to explode. The first song was a given, they would start with "El León". But first they came out with the 007 james bond theme as they walked into the stage. The crowd was screaming and clapping in unison, one voice welcoming back their heroes from their 6 year sabbatical. At around 9:15pm, a bomb went off in Tijuana. There are very few things you can compare to the beginning of a concert of this magnitude. It was an unreal moment, I was in the pit jumping as those iconic horn lines of "Manuel Santillan, El León" blazzed out. The pit is not for the faint of heart. You are not here to be seen or to look pretty as they play their songs for you. A Cadillacs show is about participation, about moving, about letting loose and about going crazy. This was definitely one of the best crowds I've ever been a part of. Everybody there knew every word to every song they played. This might be an easy feat if what you are watching is Mana or RBD, but a band that does not that kind of over-exposure and availability, it is very impressive.

If you name a Cadillacs song, they probably played it that night, with the exceptions of from the top of my head, "El Muerto" and "La Vida". I don't know the particular order of the songs, I know "El León" was first and like tradition, "No me sentaria en tu mesa" was last.

A highlight of the night was their percussive tribute to Gerardo "Toto" Rotblat, their percussionist who passed away earlier this year. The tribute was a 6/8 percussive pattern to his images on the big screen and that led into "V. Centenario", one of their heavier songs. It was brutal in the pit. Punk rock man is intense. haha.