Rodrigo y Gabriela liven up the mid-week slump with beautiful music in Oakland

September 23, 2009, at the Fox Theatre

By Niema Jordan
Published: September 26th, 2009 | 11:55pm

The newly restored Fox Theatre was packed. Hundreds had ventured to Oakland’s Uptown district to witness Rodrigo y Gabriela perform songs that are appealing yet too distinct to fall under the umbrella of world music. Inside the theater, the historic landmark was a picture of the San Francisco Bay Area’s diversity — local college students, mother-daughter combos, pregnant women willing to stand the entire show, and everyone in between were amped to see the Mexico-born, Dublin-based duo.

As the opening act, Rocco DeLuca, began his acoustic set the theater was far from capacity — not surprising for the middle of the week. The solo artist has a great voice but for the first couple of songs, DeLuca was merely providing background music for people grabbing a quick drink and catching up with friends. Suddenly, DeLuca’s quiet voice got louder and higher, showing the range and strength of his vocal chords and capturing the attention of the social group who were focused on him for the duration of his set judging by the huge round of applause that marked his exit.

Two chairs were then placed center stage and the screen was marked with 11:11, the title of Rodrigo y Gabriela’s latest disc (Rubyworks). The once sparse crowd became difficult to move through as the lights dimmed and the masses moved forward to watch Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero ignite the stage with passionate picking for 40 minutes straight. Just when it seemed like the pair had bionic hands (or their fingers were going to fall off), they stopped. The break was long enough for Sanchez and Quintero to take a few sips of water and then it was back to business with original songs and covers that produced massive crowd participation.

There were moments when Sanchez would stop mid-song and throw his hand in the air and every time, the crowd always responded with a collective “Ay!” Throughout the show Sanchez opted to kneel on the floor, rather than sit in the chair that was set out for him. Next to him, Quintero was planted firmly in her seat but still showed an equal amount of passion.

The Fox Theatre’s Middle Eastern architecture was the perfect background for the distinct melding of music rooted in Mexican tradition and under the influence of metal. It was the perfect show to get concert goers over the mid-week hump and beyond.

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For more photos from this show visit Venus Zine’s Flickr page

Rodrigo y Gabriela official site

Rodrigo y Gabriela MySpace page

Rubyworks Records