I could not believe how good the dude looks for 55. Lean and mean he looks years younger for sure. Revived as well. With his latest CD, “The Boxing Mirror”, he is backed by a large ensemble of electric country and chamber string ensemble. Violinist Susan Voelz is bad ass on the CD, but was not in tow this very evening. If you were looking for strings, forget it! Although a rockin’ cello was present, this gig was a flashback more to AE’s “True Beliver” type roots. Rockin’ out on new cuts such as “Evita’s Lullaby”, “Sacramento and Polk”, & a killer “Break this Time”!  His Tex Mex explosions continued on “Rosalie” and always earth shakin’ “Castanets”.

The sweat soaked jam packed crowd was dancin’ around thee whole show. Alejandro was as antimated as I’ve ever seen him, jamming relentlessly. He never likes to take control, but when he does-like this night-it was a pleasure to see. The encore of Rolling Stones’ “Beast of Burden” was a fitting closer.

This reviewer has had the pleasure of being exposed to the Austin music scene since the early 80’s. A lot of the acts, including this one, just take off when performing LIVE. Recently in fact, Alejandro’s segment on Austin City Limits was so good that they stretched it to an hour show! In the words of ACL producer Terry Lickona :”Alejandro is the epitome of what Austin music is all about!” It is beyond inspiring to have a very cool person and musician like him back on the scene again….