Y La Bamba at Seventh Street Entry (05/21/2023)

Y La Bamba Setlist Dibujos De Mi Alma Crema De Melon Boca Llena Mas Manos Cuatro Crazy Collapse Damned Walk Along Hues Gabriel Nunca Bruja De Brujas -- Encore -- Ceniza Se Escucha Read More Y La Bamba Recently Y La Bamba released her single “Hues”, a song featuring Devendra Banhart. Lead vocalist and producer Luz Elena Mendoza Ramos talked about Banhart, “He was the first young Spanish-speaking musician … Isabeau Waia'u Walker stopping by the 7th St Entry in Minneapolis, on May 21st. Isabeau Waia'u Walker to open. Tour Dates: April 26 – Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom April 27 – Seattle, WA – Barboza April 29 – Sacramento, CA – Starlet Room …

It was quite a pleasant evening in downtown Minneapolis as suburbanites filed into the Target Center to see Italian superstar, Andrea Bocelli, sing in a crossover pop-classical style while across the street others stepped into the Seventh Street Entry to see Y La Bamba and their hybrid of Mexican folk music with an electronic-dance beat.

Isabeau Waia’u Walker opened up the evening with Margaret Wehr by her side. Walker is new to the musical scene for she spent a decade first teaching high school in Oregon. It wasn’t until recently that she made the leap to full-time musician as a member of Y La Bamba and a solo artist with her first LP, Body, released in 2022.

Her music has been described as Bright Gloom, but it felt that she brings quite a bit of reverence to her music for it's not often an artist stills a crowd that is out for the evening and looking to catch up or impress or joke with whomever they are with.

Walker and Wehr then joined Luz Elena Mendoza on stage for the more up-tempo sound of Y La Bamba. In fact, the first five songs blended seamlessly into each other with a dance beat informed by the rancheros, corridos and boleros of Mendoza’s parents’ home in Michoacán, Mexico.

Mendoza played the guitar and at moments danced on the tiny stage, singing with Walker and Wehr mostly in Spanish. Before you knew it they were halfway through the set with shouts of approval from the crowd.

Y La Bamba is supporting their latest album, Lucha, but they highlighted songs from previous five albums as well. They are definitely a band that has been playing a while together with Antonio Montanez propelling a syncopated beat on drums and Julia Mendiolea creating a haunted West Coast sound on guitar.

Y La Bamba is a band you could listen to all night and the hour-long set wasn’t nearly long enough, especially when they ended with “Bruja De Brujas”, a song that kept ratcheting up the tempo to a point where you felt they were going to spin out of control.

Remaining Tour Dates:

May 23 – Denver, CO – Bluebird Theater
May 25 – Mexico City, MX – Foro Cultural Hilvana
July 19 – New York, NY – Central Park Summerstage *
Aug 27 – Port Townsend, WA – THING Fest
Oct 05 – Boston, MA – Emerson Colonial Theatre &
Oct 06 – Montclair, NJ – The Wellmont Theater &
Oct 07 – Port Chester, NY – Capitol Theater &
Oct 09 – Huntington, NY – The Paramount &
Oct 10 – Washington, DC – Warner Theatre &
Oct 11 – Durham, NC – Carolina Theater &
Oct 13 – Charlotte, NC – Knight Theater &
Oct 14 – Charleston, SC – Charleston Music Hall &

& - w/ St. Paul & The Broken Bones
* - w/ Julia Jacklin and Black Belt Eagle Scout

Isabeau Waia'u Walker

Y La Bamba

Y La Bamba

Y La Bamba

Y La Bamba at 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis (21 May 2023)

dave ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com