Imagine, if you will, sitting with a few hundred people clamoring for space around a campfire. Two storytellers are perched by the flames, spinning their tales. The language is unfamiliar to you, but that doesn't matter - the words are flying out of their mouths too quickly for anyone to be able to string them together into clear sentences.
You can get the gist of what's happening in the story plot, largely due to the manner in which these speakers move their bodies and work members of the crowd, which by this point has begun whooping and clapping and dancing in their seats. There is a sense of frenzy building, and a few brave (or foolish, it's your call) people are shouting out toward the fire pretty much whatever pops into their minds first. The performers don't seem to mind - they'll pause periodically to egg the crowd on.
And just as you're sitting there, making mental notes to learn Spanish and study flamenco, these performers bring it back down with a tale everyone in the space knows by heart.
That was the spirit within the Orpheum on Wednesday night, as Mexican flamenco/folk/metal (yes, metal) duo Rodrigo y Gabriela brought their mesmerizing guitar skills to Boston for the first time in about a year. The first stop on a fall tour, Wednesday offered up a set without a set list, blistering instrumental performances that captivated the crowd before the duo brought the house down with a blend of covers ("Wish You Were Here" and "Stairway to Heaven" among them) and still more logic-defying guitar.
Photos by Victoria Welch. More review after the jump.
What makes Rodrigo y Gabriela elicit rapt glee is the pair's eerie ability to make their instrumentation seem effortless. Sure, they get into the music - the pair might raise their bent right legs in sync and challenge each other to guitar-offs - but the really tricky work is delivered in an intense, yet calm, demeanor. There is no time for the Guitar Face that runs rampant on any given night at any given venue - the focus is on melody, finger movements filmed and projected onto a screen behind each musician and, in Gabriela Quintero's case in particular, a snapping rhythm technique that flicks her hand against her instrument so quickly that a witness's fingers seem to sting in response.
The pair, which peppered Wednesday's set with expletive-happy dialogue thanking the crowd for turning out, also scored points with the Orpheum crowd by inviting an audience member up to the stage for a quick song at the mid-point of the set. The bearded man introduced himself as Hunter, quickly shook his nerves and gave the crowd a song called, "Suzanne," giving an appropriately strong performance. Hunter drew raucous cheers from the crowd and hugs from the headliners, who noted before jumping back into their groove that they hadn't even met Hunter before that moment.
For more photographs of Rodrigo y Gabriela at the Orpheum, click here!
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