CK and I saw Rodrigo y Gabriela last night. I think it was the best concert I've seen all year, aside from Paul McCartney which gets automatic 1st place due to historical and musical significance and whatnot. But taking into account musicality, originality, and audience participation, this was the best show all year, and maybe the best show in years that I've been to.
They absolutely owned the audience. It looked like it was their first concert, or their ten thousandth. They looked simultaneously comfortable and shocked to be on stage with everyone cheering for them.
The highlight for me was watching Gabriela beat the shit out of her guitar. It's amazing to see her play live. I don't know how they designed that thing or what kind of microphones and pickups they rig inside of it, but when she slams her wrist down on the bridge the guitar booms like a drum (a floor tom for the musician readers). When she flicks her knuckles against the edges of the guitar, it sounds like two-by-fours banging into each other. She does wonders with that guitar. It's quite a sight, and it sounds like nothing else I've ever heard on a guitar. She creates rhythms that are complex and groovy, and make white people dance. Rodrigo, of course, treats his classical guitar like a thrash metal guitar, and it doesn't sound too far off when he gets to tearing out the barred chords that hit every string. It sounds pretty awesome and I especially enjoyed his solo time on stage without Gabriela. I like his writing style.
Musicianship aside, the show was entertaining and engaging. They both consistently urged the audience to clap to the rhythm, and this was one of the few shows I've been to when the audience gladly obliged - every time. They took turns soloing when the other left the stage for a few minutes. They played a lot of new material, which fans will notice makes use of guitar effects like wah-wah pedals and maybe a phaser. Gabriela swapped her guitar for a small hand-held drum and Rodrigo took his turn on a box drum (the kind you sit on). I liked how they've mixed up the sound on the new songs. I don't think an entire album of bare guitar work would have been as cool as a record of guitar work filtered through some fun effects and accompanied by hand percussion.
It seems that a concert of two musicians playing acoustic guitars would get repetitive after a while. No drum set. No bass. No vocals. No keyboards or pianos. But the advantage for R y G is in their ability to experiment with song structure and dynamics by limiting the number of people and instruments in the group. By restricting the number of possible sounds, they force themselves to invent new and better ways to create drama and excitement with their music. And they've become better at it than many "traditional" bands.
There you have it. Go see R y G if you get the chance. Oh, and they told us they had to choose between playing Houston or Dallas, and since they "fucking hate" the Houston airport, they chose Dallas. Sucks to be you, Houston! Intercontinental, thank you for sending R y G to Dallas.
