Calexico
Date: July 7, 2006 Weather Flees Underground Following a great 2005 edition, this year's Bluesfest started with a dilemma, as Broken Social Scene played opposite Calexico. I opted for Calexico and was left wondering how anything else in the festival could top their incredibly tight set. The other advantage of choosing Calexico was that settling in at the Blacksheep Stage early resulted in a good vantage point for taking in Seu Jorge. Jorge is also known for his acting, in films such as City of God and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou; but on this night he led a five-piece backing squad through an hour of music. The Brazilian outfit sounded excellent, with Jorge's deep voice and gentle acoustic guitar supported by layers of percussion and bass. The percussion was so prominent that towards the end of the set, Jorge left the stage while three members of his band stepped forward to trade well-honed tambourine solos. Jorge returned to comically recount the conversation that led to his involvement with The Life Aquatic, before performing a solo cover of David Bowie's "Rebel Rebel" in Portuguese. The full band returned for the closer, "Eu Sou Favela," which Jorge interrupted with a speech about the beauties and heartaches of his homeland. Seu Jorge's smooth instrumentation was a great lead-in for Calexico, who would prove to be equally smooth over a long and varied set. Calexico played Bluesfest last year and had to rely on their tight musicianship to recover from a thunderstorm that split their set in half. With an uninterrupted headlining slot this time, that musicianship had every chance to shine, as it did in a sharply-paced night. Calexico opened with "Roka" from their latest album, Garden Ruin, which would comprise more than a third of the set. While that album presents a more streamlined sound from the group, simplifying the arrangements and eschewing their trademark instrumentals, "Roka" was a great opener, showcasing multiple components of the band. From the forceful bass notes to Joey Burns' strong vocals to the soaring trumpets, everything sounded excellent, which is a credit to the sound crew. The live treatment made the new songs fit more closely with the band's past output, as the six-piece band augmented them with small flourishes from. The chugging "Deep Down," the rocking "Letter to Bowie Knife" and lead single "Cruel" blended very well with proven favourites, such as "Across the Wire," "Dub Latina," and "Alone Again Or." In fact, the whole night was a continuous high--a swirl of horns, guitars, upright bass, vibraphone, drums, accordion, shakers, and audience clap-alongs, seeming to shift styles at every turn without ever steering wrong. Various members of the band stepped up for vocals and a guest female vocalist assisted on a song towards the end of the night. The fast pace made the night fly quickly; and a stellar rendition of "Crystal Frontier" ended the main set with perhaps its greatest moment. Unfortunately, while "All Systems Red" was listed on the printed setlist, it did not make the concert. However, given the density of quality songs, it was hard to complain too strongly, especially after an encore of "Güero Canelo." Although the first night of Bluesfest presented a difficult question of who to see, after opting for Calexico the question remaining is what in the remainder of the festival could possibly top their incredible performance. Calexico setlist (not exactly as played): 
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