Last night was a great night for music lovers. I’ve been going to concerts for years and out of the multitude of groups and entertainers, there’s only a few that I can count on my fingers and toes that perform an extremely well put together show. And last night I saw one of those rare groups at the Canyon Club in Agoura, CA – Los Lobos.

It was the first time they had played there and they enjoyed it very much, as well as the packed house, with standing room only. “We didn’t know this place existed”, Cesar Rojos commented after one of their songs. Now they do and I’m sure they’ll be back – the audience loved their performance.

I’ve been going to concerts since I was 16, from Dave Brubeck to Mothers of Invention and besides being a musician for over 40 years – playing in rock bands since I was 14, I consider myself someone with the experience and knowledge to intelligently critique the concerts I go to.

Los Lobos, if you haven’t heard them before, are eclectic in the best sense of the word. They play mexian folk music to old time rock and roll and on a couple tunes, they mix in late 60′s pysychedelic. If you buy a Los Lobos CD, they’re one of the few bands that sound like their CDs, live. In fact, Friday night, we watched their DVD, Live at the Fillmore, to prep ourselves for the concert on Saturday. Any other band probably would have been a letdown after watching their DVD, but not Los Lobos.

They’re excellent, and very versatile with the ability to play several differnt instruments. They put on a show last night like I consider a good concert to be – a mixture of hits and old favorites and a tinge of new stuff, but not playing only new stuff. If you’re like me, you don’t want to hear all their new songs at a concert until and unless they become hits.

Everything about this concert was great from the lighting to the amplification. And by the way, the Canyon Club has a great PA system. All in all, it made me happy again to go to a live concert. The last few have been very disappointing.

For example, Todd Rundgren recently showed up to do a concert with NO band and just played his new music alone on acoutic guitar and piano. Then there was Johnny Winter. I guess I expected too much. I remember Johnny the way he used to be – a very energetic blues musician. Instead I saw an old man being helped out on stage, seated in a chair throughout the entire concert. It wasn’t all bad, but certainly wasn’t what you’d expect at a live concert. I guess none of us are as young as we used to be – except for perhaps Los Lobos…

Seeing a performance like this gives me a feeling of accomplishment without having to accomplish anything other than being able to say “Hey, I was just at a great concert and it was a killer!” I definitely give this concert a 10.

They have a new CD out, Los Lobos, The Town and the City. I haven’t heard it yet, but Amazon reviewers give it 4.5 stars.

A bit of trivia: did you know that Los Lobos played all the music in the Lou Diamond Phillips movie “La Bamba”, the Ritchie Valens story?