Los Lobos

Moe's Alley proudly presents a rare and exclusive intimate evening with historic LA rockers LOS LOBOS. Get your tickets early!

2 full performances, shows at 6:30 PM & 9:30 PM

Los Lobos still are:
Louie Perez- Drums, Guitars, Percussion, Vocals
Steve Berlin- Saxophone, Percussion, Flute, Midsax, Harmonica, Melodica
Cesar Rosas- Vocals, Guitar, Mandolin
Conrad Lozano- Bass, Guitarron, Vocals
David Hidalgo- Vocals, Guitar, Accordion, Percussion, Bass, Keyboards, Melodica, Drums, Violin, Banjo
Enrique "Bugs" Gonzalez - Drums/Percussion

Los Lobos were already East L.A. neighborhood legends, Sunset Strip regulars and a Grammy Award winning band (Best Mexican-American/Tejano Music Performance) by the time they recorded their major label debut How Will The Wolf Survive? in 1984.

Although the album’s name and title song were inspired by a National Geographic article about real life wolves in the wild, the band—David Hidalgo, Louie Perez, Cesar Rosas, Conrad Lozano and Steve Berlin—saw parallels with their struggle to gain mainstream rock success while maintaining their Mexican roots. Perez, the band’s drummer, once called their powerhouse mix of rock, Tex-Mex, country, folk, R&B, blues and traditional Spanish and Mexican music “the soundtrack of the barrio.” Three decades, two more Grammys, a worldwide smash single (“La Bamba”) and thousands of rollicking performances across the globe later, Los Lobos is surviving quite well -- and still jamming with the same raw intensity as they had when they began in that garage in 1973. The band chronicles a key moment of their expansive journey on Disconnected In New York City, a dynamic live album that marks the band’s 40th anniversary and launches their new association with 429 Records.

Recorded over two nights in December 2012 at The City Winery in NYC, the engaging 12-song set celebrates Los Lobos’ great legacy as a freewheeling and unpredictable live band, which most recently includes touring in Europe with Neil Young and Crazy Horse in June 2013. Disconnected in New York City features fresh interpretations of songs from throughout their three decade recording career, including their first ever live recording of “La Bamba,” their worldwide pop crossover hit from the 1987 film which reached #1 on the U.S. and UK singles chart and whose video won a 1988 MTV Music Video Award. The collection covers the band’s 25 year studio discography, from “Gotta Let You Know” (a bouncy zydeco rocker driven by Hidalgo’s accordion from How Will The Wolf Survive?) through “Tin Can Trust,” a bluesy rock ballad that was the title cut from their last studio release in 2010.

By design, Disconnected in New York City has songs that have been longtime staples of Los Lobos’ tours mixed with other gems that had somehow fallen by the wayside over the years. The mix includes the mid-tempo shuffling rocker title track from The Neighborhood (1990); the easy flowing and whimsical (thanks to Berlin’s jazzy sax solo) “Oh Yeah” (from This Time, 1999); the spirited, traditional flavored, Rosas penned Spanish language “Chuco’s Cumbia” (from The Town and the City, 2006); the graceful and spiritual “Tears of God” (from By The Light of the Moon, 1987); “La Venganza de Los Pelados,” a fiery burst of Latin rock fusion with mariachi textures (from The Ride, 2004); the soulful, simmering blues of “Little Things” (from The Town and The City, 2006); the Latin blues funk classic “Set Me Free Rosa Lee” (from By The Light of the Moon); and two mid tempo funk pop/rock tunes from 2002’s Good Morning Aztlan, “Maria Christina” and “Malaque.”

As per the literal meaning of its title, Disconnected In New York City sets itself apart from Los Lobos’ other acclaimed live recordings (most notably, 2005’s Live At the Fillmore) by stripping down the instrumentation for a mostly acoustic affair. Lozano, who drives the grooves with his bass and also plays the deep-bodied Mexican 6-string acoustic bass called the guitarron, says, “It’s funny because when the venue hired us, they specifically requested that we do something acoustic to fit its smaller dinner house vibe. The idea popped into our heads to ask them if we could record it and they were cool with that.

“We’re well known for our electric, high energy performances but we’ve done acoustic stuff for certain smaller auditorium tours,” he says. “Playing these songs acoustically makes them feel more intimate. We notice that when you play softer and quieter, the audience tends to pay attention to everything we’re doing. When you play rock, they’re thinking more about rhythm than melodies and lyrics, but playing them this way allows for more subtle elements of the songs to stand out.”