Written by James Killen
Alejandro Escovedo brought his ten piece band to the Heights Theater in Houston for his cancer prevention public service tour on a Friday night. One of the primary reasons for the tour is an issue very close to Alejandro’s heart… or more accurately his liver. AE is a hepatitis C survivor and was more than happy to help more people become aware of the relationship between some viruses (HPV and hep B and C) to cancer. The other reason for the tour was to feature Mr. Escovedo’s 2001 release, “A Man Under the Influence” with a band that included several of the original musicians that recorded on that disc. Included from the original recording were drummer, Hector Munoz, guitarist, Mitch Easter and pedal steel player, Eric Heywood.
The band manned the stage before Alejandro and he came up to the tune of a cello and viola introduction before the band slid into a very psychedelic “Wave”. The show followed the order of the album for the first half, continuing with “Rosalie” and “Rhapsody” before Heywood reminded me that the pedal steel is not just for CW songs by providing some intense effects for “Across the River”.
The band let loose full rock and roll for “Castanets” before Eric Heywood donned a Gibson SG for “Don’t Need You.” There was a well-orchestrated string intro for “Follow You Down” that AE had written in memory of Townes van Zandt, which was followed by “Wedding Day”, written for former bandmate John Dee Graham’s wedding.
One thing that becomes quickly evident at an Alejandro Escovedo concert is that he LEADS the band. Every musician’s eye is on him and like a classical conductor, he uses hand gestures to coax more feeling from the musicians (paying particular attention to the strings). The strings played a particularly prominent part on my favorite from the disc, “As I Fall”, which they followed with “Velvet Guitar”, building a crescendo to “About this Love”. Having finished covering the CD, AE introduced a short PSA film on cancer and through in his own commentary regarding his experiences with Hep C.
After the PSA, the band played a series of Alejandro songs, “Sally Was a Cop”, “Luna De Miel” and the psychedelic spoken word, “Tugboat”, written in memory of the Velvet Underground’s, Sterling Morrison. They were followed by Mitch Easter singing lead on David Bowie’s “Moonage Daydream”. The crowd really came alive as Alejandro coerced the whole audience to its feet to join in on the chorus of Bowie’s “All the Young Dudes”, which was one of the most impressive sing-a-longs that I have seen from any audience. After briefly leaving the stage, the band returned to perform a rousing version of Lou Reed’s “Rock N’ Roll”.
In addition to bringing attention to the virus/cancer connection, Alejandro’s tour was a welcome reminder of what a powerful performer he is and the diversity of his influences, talent and compositions. I cannot imagine a reason short of near death illness that I would not attend the next time that he brings a show to town.