It was the day after the Presidential election, 2020, deep into the pandemic and hope finally surfaced with the ousting of 4 years of nastiness and ignorance and something different was in the air, through my open window came the melody and words of a song being blasted by a neighbor… freedom is free…eee….eee… and just like that I was hooked, to the sounds of Chicano Batman. Music that spoke with a different voice, a different vibe, but one that was beyond welcoming.
Having weathered the pandemic by releasing their new album, Invisible People, it took another year but finally Chicano Batman made the trek from their native Los Angeles to the East Coast. Bringing their psychedelic soul, funk, indie, prog, rock musical mix on tour I finally clapped eyes and ears on them for real at the Paradise Rock Club in Boston.
Although I was Initially attracted by the politics of their lyrics, I soon discovered that their songs are frequently, if not always, a celebration of love and delivered in person at the Paradise that joyful attitude shone through and the audience was giving the love right back.
Walking, jumping, bending, laying down, Bardo worked the stage with a passionate energy and the audience roared with every new move, I had to laugh at the roar when his hat came off (revealing his seeemingly much anticpated full on rock star hair flipping curls.) When Edouardo took his guitar to the front mike, the audience went wild, when Carlos and Eduardo paired up their guitars and then Bardo made it a triple, Gabriel on the drums kept them all together as the dynamics of the band shifted, physically on stage and musically as each took their turn to support or lead the others.
Color my life. A moment of Joy. Yep. All that and more!
Paradise Rock Club, Boston
December 13 2021
Photos and Review By Tanya Ahmed
