Skarnales, Escovedo, Gaines Make Rockin' Nightlife Tour

By William Michael Smith Mon., May 16 2011 at 10:00 AM

Categories: Catfish Reef, Live Shots, Only In Houston, Sonidos y Mas, Soulsville, Texas Me

Photos by Lisa Rosato

Los Skarnales

Friday was one of those nights when Rocks Off wished we operated one of those "show you the nightlife" tour buses filled with people from Omaha, Chicago, Des Moines, and Berlin. When's the last time Houston had a gentle north wind cooling the evening in mid-May? Once the sun went down, we might as well have been in San Diego.

Yep, if we'd been operating one of those buses, we couldn't have done better with a low-cost, low-stress Friday evening. Local favorites Los Skarnales did what they do at Miller Outdoor Theatre, grabbing an audience and refusing to let go. Our favorite vatos amped up the laid-back crowd from the get-go with their signature "Bomba 48" and the thing was on.

Felipe Galvan and his hermanos de musica worked up a serious sweat as they pounded through a dozen songs warming the crowd up for Alejandro Esocvedo. As always, Skarnales swung and boogied hard. It's what they do.

Alejandro Escovedo & the Sensitive Boys

And what a delicious treat Escovedo and his Sensitive Boys turned out to be, opening with several blistering rockers before they even said hello. Coming at the tail end of an East Coast tour, Friday night's gig was a tour de force as Escovedo mixed old and new and even changed up the arrangements on a few to fit his pared-down combo.

All in all, the Miller show was everything the City of Houston bills these performances as: low-key, family-friendly, high-quality, and totally free Another reason we love our town.