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ROLLING STONE

Rodrigo Y Gabriela Dominate KRCW's Indie-Heavy "Sound Eclectic" Event

The night's diverse set-list included Orange County It band Cold War Kids, delightfully crass U.K. pop princess Lily Allen, and a surprise performance by Brit-rockers Travis.

But the show's true breakout act was the Mexican duo Rodrigo y Gabriela, whose blend of heavy metal filtered through traditional Spanish guitar received standing ovations after every song. "We play crazy music, as you can see we love metal…trash metal," Gabriela Quintero told the crowd mid-set, going on to play several cuts off their 2006 self-titled LP — including "Ixtapa" — and a soulful Flamenco-style rendition of "Stairway to Heaven." At the merch table, the duo's modest stock of CDs sold out about three minutes after their set's end.

They were an indisputably hard act to follow "We were standing backstage, shaking our heads saying "No, no, no. There's no way we can follow that,'" Travis frontman Fran Healy told us at the show's after party. "The thing is, you don't get that these days. The Mexicans, they're much more raw than we are." Cold War Kids singer Nathan Willet echoed Healy's sentiment: "That was insane," he told us. "I love Spanish guitar, but those guys are on a different level."

MTV
Shins, Lily Allen Upstaged By Shredding Classical Guitarists At Radio Fest

UNIVERSAL CITY, California — How do you inspire L.A.'s Lexus-driving, museum-going cognoscenti into headbanging along to Metallica? Via a Mexican duo belting out a Latin-tinged cover of the band's instrumental "Orion" on guitar, apparently. Someone tell Lars.

Taste-making local radio station KCRW's sixth annual, five-and-a-half-hour "A Sounds Eclectic Evening" indeed lived up to its billing Saturday night. From Rodrigo y Gabriela's show-stealing, fleeting acoustic folk-metal to the Shins' expansive distorted-guitar rock to Lily Allen's laptop-assisted hip-pop to a stanky James Brown tribute and even a harp solo, there was something for everyone — every one of the elite attendees who could afford a $40-$300 ticket, that is.

The Guardian November 22, 2006
Metropolitan University, Leeds
Alfred Hickling
Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero are two Mexican metal fans who wound up in Dublin with no money, no English and nothing but a pair of classical guitars with which they busked their way to a record contract. Their live show features furious strumming and no small amount of motor-mouth swearing in strange, Mexican-Irish accents. But whatever you do, you must not mention the "f" word.
A liner note on their album states: "A lot of people say we play flamenco. We don't. We blend a lot of styles into our playing, but this area of music is not one of them." The fact that Metallica numbers, when played at warp speed on nylon-strung guitars, take on a distinctly flamenco feel is beside the point. But it doesn't clarify the issue of who Rodrigo y Gabriela are supposed to appeal to.
Article continues
The answer seems to be that they've stumbled on a unique formula that shows signs of appealing to everybody. There are plenty of blood-stirring Latin rhythms to please the world music crowd; a stunning version of Dave Brubek's Take Five - which actually takes somewhat closer to 15 minutes - to thrill the jazzers; plus the fabled Metallica and Led Zeppelin covers that have the audience making metal horn gestures in the air.
There's no denying Rodrigo y Gabriela can rock - insofar as it's possible to rock while employing those little footstools classical guitarists use to maintain correct playing posture. Rodrigo picks intricate runs while staring intensely ahead, while his partner spends as much time thumping her instrument as strumming it - it sounds like a controlled explosion each time the heel of her hand slams into the guitar.
They climax with a number dedicated to a Mexican friend who lives among a colony of crocodiles: a stomping workout in which their strumming hands disappear into a blur. Not even remotely like flamenco, of course.

The Guardian
Jazz Cafe, London
Robin Denselow
Tuesday March 1, 2005
****
"We're from Mexico, not Spain", says Gabriela, "and we don't play flamenco. Our music is more like a blender, with rock'n'roll and jazz. Do you want to hear some Metallica?"
The female half of this unlikely guitar duo is clearly enjoying herself, for she and her partner have conquered what appeared to be an impossible challenge. They perform instrumental music on acoustic guitars, and must contend with the noise of the drinkers and talkers at a packed-out Jazz Cafe. Remarkably, they succeed, with the crowd at first hushed and understandably bemused, then cheering on the series of twists in their music.

Rodrigo y Gabriela started out playing in a heavy-metal band in Mexico City, then turned acoustic, specialising in jazz, Spanish and Latin styles. They moved to Ireland where they became buskers before embarking on the concert circuit. At the Jazz Cafe, the musicians perch on stools; both sport jeans and tied-back long black hair. They look like refugees from a rock band, and their introductions, in Spanish and broken English, are witty and laconic, with stories involving anything from Will Young to the problems they encountered while inadvertently living in a brothel.

Their instrumentals have the same gutsy, free-wheeling approach (especially when they launch into those Metallica riffs) - but that is just one part of their subtle and original virtuoso playing. They constantly change direction: at times Rodrigo concentrates on rapid-fire jazz or Spanish-influenced single-string playing, while Gabriela provides slick strummed backing. Then she picks up a plectrum to match the lead guitar work, while switching to a drifting, more delicate mood piece such as Paris, or breaking into a sudden burst of Dave Brubeck's Take Five.

All of which is matched by an impressive sense of fun. "You can do lap-dancing or striptease to this," announces Gabriela as she launches into another complex composition. She and Rodrigo deserve to be the next guitar heroes.

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