Not an April's Fool...

Raul Malo

Last night, my brother and I saw Raul Malo. Malo has been someone I have been dying to see for several years, but always had a conflict. Out of town, other plans, etc. He was the singer/songwriter with The Mavericks and has been solo for quite some time. He recently released "Lucky One", his first album of originals in 7 years. Plain fact is nobody has a voice like Raul Malo.

The Venue: The venerable Beachland Ballroom. Of course, this remains one of the best concert settings in town. They had the chairs set up for this one, with standing room along the sides and back. These were the first tickets I bought after the economy tanked, but for a Tuesday night, I thought the crowd was fine. Plus, they have Old Grand-Dad there, so I cannot complain.

Stage Banter:: Malo did not have that much to say. After taking a break after the first five songs or so, someone started to shout out old Mavericks tunes. He replied with a devilish grin, "Don't start that shit. I'm gonna play what I want and you're gonna like it...or not. Either way, I'm gonna play what I wanna want."

He also had two tequila breaks. The final one during a song he stopped in the encore. "Hey, tequila's on stage. Gotta stop. Don't worry, I promise we'll pick up right where we left off. You'll get your money's worth. Salud!" as he and his bandmates downed the shots.

The Tickets: Got the tickets ahead of time for this General Admission show. We grabbed a couple of seats at the end of a row on the left. Once again, no problems.

The Crowd: OK, another one where the crowd was considerably older. And we thought Nick Lowe drew the oldies. Ai-yi-yi! With the band encouraging the crowd to stand up, hardly anyone bit. And as I predicted, when Malo came out for his Encore, the crowd sat back down.

The Sound: The sound was awesome. Even the stand-up bass was coming through with floor-shaking clarity.

The opening act was Northeastern Ohio's own, The Magpies. Our Polka DJ guy handles the keyboards for this outfit. Not sure which one is his alter-ego. But they did a nice job for about 40 minutes or so and had more upbeat music than I thought they played.

The Stage: Malo had the full band effect in play. So, I am intrigued when a horn section shows up. We had horns (who doubled on guitar and keyboard) up front on the left, Malo (not Malcolm) with his guitars in the middle, and keyboards on the right. Drums were rear left, stand-up bass on a riser rear right. And they sounded great.

The Music: Raul Malo played about 90 minutes and grabbed a lot from the new album, but also touched upon some Mavericks tunes as well. As I said earlier, no one sings like this guy. You get the whole package: Jazz, Tejano, Texas Swing, Tradicional, Country, Rockabilly, Blues, Salsa. A terrific display of musical talent from him and his band.

Setlist: (I think)

"Every Little Thing About You"
"Lucky One"
"Dance The Night Away"
"Pretend" (A song Dwight Yoakam was born to cover. Do it, man!)

"Pretend"/Raul Malo



"Ready For My Lovin"
"Haunting Me"
"Lonely Hearts"
"Hello Again"
"So Beautiful" (Game over with regard to his voice on this ballad.)
"One More Angel" which led to...
"Guantanamera" (Yes, that "Guantanamera"!)
(I think I missed one here)

Encore:

"Today" (I thought we were gonna form a conga line to our cars)
"Moonlight Kiss"
"All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down" (The old Mavericks hit.)

"Today"/Raul Malo



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Exercise Yard

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