Last Thursday night, in front of an excited and full house at Club Bahia in Silver Lake, El Conjunto Nueva Ola (ECNO) celebrated the release of their new EP, Mitotem.
ECNO has taken the motto, “Cumbia is the new rock” and they are definitely living up to the expectations as they have been able to infuse creativity and great energy to their cumbia covers of well-known rock hits and other popular songs.
To begin this great energetic evening, the East L.A. trio, Thee Commons, set the bar very high right from the start. With a fusion of all 60’s rock, Chicano rock, chicha, surf music, cumbia and some punk energy to spice it up, Thee Commons got everyone in the mood with a blistering performance that definitely turned me and many others seeing them for the first time into fans of this band.
After the energetic performance of Thee Commons, it was hard to imagine that the momentum could be kept up, but Viento Callejero not only kept the momentum going, they re-set the bar and pushed it a little higher. Gloria Estrada led her band mates with her guitar hooks and rhythms and even strapped on the accordion which she handled with the same virtuosity while bassist Federico Zuñiga Jr. on bass and pinch drummer and percussionist Jimmy Sorensic and Gustavo Cayro delivered pulsating beats while singer Tony Sauza delivered the goods with great energy and charisma.
Before ECNO took the stage, a white curtain covered up the stage and when the lights went down, after a short video introduction, the silhouettes of the masked cumbia rockers appeared and the energy in the room exploded.
I remember the first time I saw ECNO at one of the Super Estrella concerts at Staples Center, I thought it was an insult to rock music and its musicians, but after understanding their concept and the humor, ingenuity and musicianship involved and after getting to know the outstanding and talented musicians behind the masks, I became a fan.
Needless to say, I had high expectations for this show and ECNO did not disappoint. There was great thought put into their stage production, which only enhanced the experience of their already bombastic performance.
The usual suspects up in front of the stage, Luzio Nava on guitar, Primitivo Rios on bass and Urbano Lopez in singing duties, kept the momentum on high gear for the entire show. Luzio jumped off the stage several times and constantly engaged the crowd, while Primitivo not only kept a tight grip with the bass, but also showed off great virtuosity while at the same time keeping up with the antics of Urbano who danced and pranced around all over the stage. All of these while Hipolito Madero and Tacho Vasquez on percussions delivered the beats with great dynamism, while Raio Manzares put the icing on the cake behind the keyboards with melodious interludes that drove that familiar cumbia sound.
The band ripped through some of their most recognizable hits such as their cover of A-Ha’s “Take On Me” and other well-known hits of the band like “Chido, Chido”, “De Quien Chon” and cuts from the new EP. like, “El Jom Dipo”, “Dancing With Myself”, “Tapenme Porque Me Encuero” and others.
To close out the night, ECNO called on another defender of the “luchadores enmascarados” (masked wrestlers), Sergio Arau of iconic band Botellita Jerez who along with the members of ECNO delighted the crowd with a rendition of “Alármala De Tos”
The new EP Mitotem is the second production for ECNO and it can be downloaded on iTunes and Amazon and it can also be streamed on Spotify.
