The morning of July Tuesday July 21st, social media was on a rampage with postings of desperate fans looking for last minute tickets and personal requests for passes for what turned out to be a sold out concert for Natalia Lafourcade at the Regent Theater in downtown Los Angeles.
From early in the evening, long lines extended on both sides of the Regent Theater entrance. Many people were surprised that this show would sell out, including those fans that waited until the last minute to buy tickets only to find out there were not more tickets available.
Once inside the theater, the atmosphere was of jubilation for their musical heroine, it had been a long wait to see Natalia on an L.A. stage, but the wait was worth it, as this was a show in which the artist and the fans joined their energies for a night of great music, emotions and fun.
Natalia Lafourcade’s latest album, Hasta La Raiz has been a complete success with fans as well as the critics and that success has also transferred to the live stage as her fans sang along and cheered on every song and I must admit that I was surprised by the musical knowledge shown by the fans as they followed her muse as she went from a Bosa Nova tinted songs to jazzy interludes, to the more traditional pop songs and even sophisticated musical arrangements.
The day after her triumphant return to the L.A. stages, we had the chance to chat in person with Natalia Lafourcade and here we share a bit of our conversation:
Al Borde (AB) – Tell us how you felt walking out on to that stage of the sold out Regent Theater?
Natalia – It was an incredible experience to see so many people out there, and especially the way the venue is set up, all I could see was a sea of people rising towards the back and looking at the front, it felt as if they were about to come up onto the stage and the fans were so great supporting me and the band in everything we do, we wish we could have played longer, but as you know, theaters here have such strict rules, otherwise we would have continued.
AB – One of the things I admire about your music and your fans is that you go wherever your musical muse takes you and your fans go with you, unlike other famous bands that have been playing the same song over and over for over 20 years and have not evolved at all.
Natalia – I have always been the type who likes to try new things, I am not complacent at all, I started out very young and had some of the rebellion of youth with a more pop rock sound, then I began to mature, then I did the album with Agustin Lara’s songs, which I wanted to use to introduce the younger audiences to that beautiful music, and it worked in two fronts, my fans liked the album and older people who probably had never paid attention to my music, were now listening to this album too, and I guess, I am the type of person who always like to try out new things.
AB – For this latest album, Hasta La Raiz, you recorded in different studios, how does that affect the mood of the music?
Natalia – Yes, it definitely affects your point of view when you are in the studio, for example when we were in Cabo San Lucas, there were times that in studio things were just not going well, and later I would go for a swim in the ocean and as I was surrounded by all that natural beauty, it would put things in perspective and it would make me think that not everything revolved around that song I was working on, and the pressure would be lifted and I would go back to the studio, and then the song would just flow naturally.
Hasta La Raiz has been topping the charts in Mexico and Latin America and the critics have loved the album, and obviously the fans love it to as it was evidenced by the sold out crowd at the Regent Theatre.
*Photos: Angel Aguilar*
