Los Brujos was an essential band in Argentina in the 90s.
Then, they went dormant for more than15 years.
They reunited, adapted to the new millenium, in 2014.
Ever since 2014, I have been meaning to go see them live, but every time I had an opportunity, I had some reason to miss them.
Unfortunately, in 2016, Ricky Rua, one of the two lead singers, died.
This made me even sadder I had missed seeing them live.
So when the opportunity arose inOctober, I jumped on it. They were playing at Artlab Pro, a nice place to see a band- small enough to get up close, big enough to have interesting bands, with great sound, lights, and, a rarity, ventilation. Even when they turn on the ubiquitous fog machine, you can still breathe.
Minus Ricky, they are not as powerful,but it was still an amazing night.
Argentina had almost ten years of military dictatorship from 76 to 83, during which time bands and music were restricted, arrested, and even thrown out of airplanes into the Atlantic.
As a result, starting in the late 80s, Argentine bands digested and interpreted a whole decades worth of musical influences all at once, so there was an explosion of bands,concerts, and record sales, and many of the bands were mixing various historical genres with reckless abandon.
Los Brujos were rock, punk, grunge, and weird all at once- a compression of varied ideas that came out in a frenzied explosion.
They were non-commercial, not trying to please, and from the very start, were highly influenced by and enhanced by the incredible design sense of Vero Ivaldi, Rua's wife, fashion designer and professor of indumentaria, who designed allt heir costumes and many early stage elements.
She is the unsung 7th memberof the band.
They had dozens of looks, each different, all wild and unlike other bands.
The first three albums were very different from what more mainstream Rock Nacional bands were doing, and live, they were unexpected and crazy.
They were cute and sexy cavemen, ala Chili Peppers, at the same time the Chili Peppers were, but they were always, like all Argentines, more put together.
They were witches and skeletons and aliens and demons, better dressed monsters than Gwar, straight from DR Seuss acid trips, or a dozen other looks that you cant even begin to describe.
But thru it all, the twin guitars weresynced and fierce, the drummer never missed a beat, and no amount ofstage antics messed up their timing.
Their first album, produced by guru Daniel Melero, was almost all first takes recorded live, as they had so much energy pent up that no overdubs or overthinking was required.
The second coming, in 2014, was more considered, and the musicianship shines more in tight, short, pointed songwriting. Age and focus, along with years of practice. Most of them had been in a few more bands in between, honing their chops.
A bit of Surf, Garage, and early punk, less psychedelic mess. I like both eras equally.
At this point, they are all in their 50s, but their energy level and pacing means that they still get the audience pogoing.
The crowd was a typically argentine mix, with graying middleaged original fans next to tiny 20 somethings elegantly dressed in high fashion, plus some goths, hippies, and lots of nerdy musicians of all ages.
They played a mix of older songs along with lots from their comeback album, Pong!
I am really glad I got to see them.
Sure, I wish I had seen them in 1991,or even in 2014, but better late than never.
Here is their original "hit", Kanishka, in a vid from the early 90s. Rumor has it that Nirvana stole the melody because they liked the song so much (Los Brujos opened for Nirvana on their sole Argentine tour).
I particularly like Ivaldi's achievement of getting both lead singers to wear one sweater.