Live review: Calexico turns it up on a Tuesday

Live music on a Tuesday is still a thing my friends. Thats what I learned in the quasi sell-out crowd in the main room at the Rosemount this week. Calexico brought their big-sound and even bigger congratulations for stepping out and supporting live music.

The brilliant Lucy Peach & Fall Electric were impressive but somewhat subdued opening acts for what was to come. Calexico were shockingly ‘extra’ and had the over 45 crowd moving and shaking from the first note. Having heard a handful of their albums, I did not anticipate such an auditory journey through American music.

When describing the set to a friend this week, I could distinctly describe their music into three sub-categories: 1. Tex-Mex meets Central America, 2. Country Folk and 3. Americana. Each song in the set, fit acutely into their respective category and instruments were traded accordingly - horns, trumpets, violin, guitars, accordions and the like. Whilst I was not familiar with the totality of the material, I was impressed by how the band intertwined all three genres with ease. This was particularly prevalent in frontman Joey Burns’ vocals, and the 1960s Dylan-looking lead guitarist.

The evening’s take-away point, was that the band seemed to genuinely enjoy the performance which I think is critical after nine-studio albums. I have since seen another larger band play in Perth this week and noted the stark difference between the stage presence, and also the effect it had on the crowd. Whilst I have listened and admired Calexico for a number of years, the music was not necessarily aligned to my current musical taste. The band did demonstrate a happy energy that was unparalleled from what I have seen from a band in recent years.