Love for my hometown

Anyone who is from a valley town knows that it’s not very often that something great happens there. Not to hate on my hometown, but let’s face it, the myraid of good things that happen in Sacramento cannot stack up to the great things that happen elsewhere. After all, Sacramento is basically on the map so Arnold Schwarzenegger's staff can have a place to call home, which means that Sac is also home to lots and lots of people employed by the state of California, which means that it’s a comfortable place for liberals but that folks with varying degrees of radical politics flee to the Bay Area for sanctuary everyday. Not that I think this is the best course of action for the good of my town, but that’s how it is.

But enough on mediocrity. Here’s the great news: Panteón Rococco is on tour right now, and while here in the Bay Area we will have the pleasure of partying to "La Carencia" after the May 1 march in S.F. (see below), Sacramento will have the pleasure of partying with Panteón the day before…with La Plebe as the opening band! Not only is La Plebe good musically, they’re good politically, and both their music and their politics will be a perfect warm-up for Panteón’s show—and we all know such chemistry is not always the case with opening acts. So, Sac folks, if you want to get your revolutionary mosh on with two great bands on the eve of International Worker’s Day, show up to La Tropicana on April 30.

¡Fuga! celebrates new CD and bids goodbye to the Bay

“Si vas a ser un ritmo, que sea peligroso” sings the opening track of Fuga’s new album Relatos Rebeldes. Listening to Fuga play live Friday night at Slim’s in San Francisco, I wondered, which ritmo are they referring to? Fuga has a rhythm all their own. But is it ska? Mambo? Cumbia? Whatever you call it, Fuga’s rhythms are infectious, danceable, and, as the CD title indicates, rebeldes.

I first caught up with Fuga four years ago when, recently relocated from Tejas, they opened for Quetzal at La Peña in Berkeley. I appreciated the fact that they had a female the lead vocalist/rhythm guitarist (Tania Rodriguez) and enamored by the way co-vocalist Kiko Rodriguez’s head bobbed around oh-so-adorably whenever he laid down those irresistible accordion riffs. Add to that that los Rodriguez are, yes, brother and sister (I love family acts!), and I was ready to purchase the first CD Desde La Frontera then and there.

As all good musicians should, Fuga has matured during their short Bay Area stay. As they set off now to tour Relatos Rebeldes and then to settle in a yet undisclosed new location, they take with them a fuller sound and more profound lyrical content. Their repertoire of new songs has no doubt been influenced by their time in the Bay, as evidenced by the song “Blvd Internacional,” a tribute to the working class immigrant communities who live and work along the Oakland strip. The song is characteristic of Fuga - minor tones that bear witness to the heavy realities of the borderlands, a beat that puts your feet into action, and lyrics that put your actions into motion.


"Blvd. Internacional" - ¡Fuga!

My friends, I will tell you about a famous boulevard
A street of good and bad reputation, it’s norotious and everyone knows
It’s where everyone gathers to look for work
It’s called International Boulevard…

Poverty, wealth, sadness, joy
I earned it all, I lost it all that day
but this rhythm is vibrant and full of sound
and look how good this outdoor dance is getting..."
(translation by Fuga)

Also playing Friday night were South Bay tropicalistas La Colectiva and La Misión’s very own “bilingual punk with horns” a.k.a. La Plebe. While La Colectiva warmed up the dance floor with traditional salsa, cumbia and vallenato, La Plebe got the mosh pit going with their ska-influenced punk revolucionario and a chorus of “¡pinche frontera!” Both bands gave solid performances, and Fuga brought it all home with the Rodriguez siblings sporting pachuco hats while alternating between cumbia induced booty-swinging and punk-style on-stage jumping. By the end of the 3-hr show, I was exhausted, exhilarated, and once again eager to stop by the merch table to drop an hour’s wage’s on the new CD.

If you’re reading this and you’re not from the bay Area, make sure to catch ¡Fuga! when they come through your town.