On November 1, 2003, there was an historic concert featuring
some of the top bands in Chicano music. The lineup included
Tierra, Thee Midniters with special guest Little Willie G.,
El Chicano, Mark Guerrero & Radio Aztlán, The East L.A.
Revue All Stars featuring the Premiers, the Best of Everything,
and Caldron. The venue was the Arrowhead Credit Union
Park (a baseball stadium) in San Bernardino, California.
It so happened that major fires were raging that week around
Southern California. The San Bernardino mountains and
foothills had numerous fires and bad air quality warnings
were being issued in the area. In addition, one of the
top officials of the venue had the misfortune of his house
going up in flames. Due to these conditions, there was
talk of postponment, but the organizers decided to go ahead
with the concert. To complicate matters further, the
day of the concert was overcast and there were forecasts of
rain. Because of these factors, the turnout
was less than expected, however, the people who turned out
were treated to some phenomenal musical entertainment.
Cauldron and the Best of Everything
opened the show, in that order, and got the show off with
some solid sets to get things rolling. Thee Midniters’
horn section (Romeo Prado, Larry Rendon, Bobby Navarette,
and Bobby Loya) sat in with the latter band on their set.
Next in the lineup was the East L.A. Revue All Stars.
They played a set of doo wop, r&b, and “Eastside
Sound” oldies with authenticity. They have a fine
lead vocalist in Maria Sandoval and band members who are veterans
of the Eastside sound of the 60s and 70s. Special guests
with The East L.A. Revue All Stars were Mickey Lespron, former
lead guitarist of El Chicano, and Lawrence and John Perez
of the legendary Eastside band, the Premiers. Mickey
put his instrumental abilities on display and the Premiers
played some covers, as well as their classic '60s hit recordings,
“Farmer John” and “Duffy’s Blues.”
My band, Mark Guerrero & Radio Aztlán came on next with
of set of my original songs, including “On the Boulevard,”
“Pre-Columbian Dream,” “Zoot Suit,”
and “Orale,” as well as “Los Chucos Suaves,”
and “Tin Marin de do Pingue” written by my dad,
Lalo Guerrero. Our lineup included, me on guitar
and lead vocals, Ron Reyes, guitar, Leo Valenzuela, bass,
Bobby Dominguez, drums, Al Lopez, sax, Alex Armstrong, acoustic
guitar and background vocals, Aaron Routteneberg Guerrero,
timbales and congas, and playing with us for the first time
was Karl Carasco on keyboards. El Chicano followed with
a strong set, which included their hits “Viva Tirado,”
“Brown Eyed Girl,” and “Tell Her She’s
Lovely.” Next in line was Tierra, who tore it
up with a set that included their classic hit, “Together.”
Closing the show was Thee Midniters with Special Guest
Little Willie G. They did a great set, which included
their classic hits “Sad Girl,” “That’s
All,” and “Whittier Boulevard.” The
show’s master of ceremonies was Hank Castro, a veteran
Eastside vocalist, who did a great job introducing the bands
and keeping the audience interested and entertained during
the transitions with his comments and by singing to tracks.
He seemed to enjoy his duties as MC and had the necessary
enthusiasm to pull it off.
Aside from being one of the best
lineups of Chicano bands ever, the reunion and camaraderie
between the bands was great. In addition, a camera crew
was there to interview various musicians for the documentary
in progress, “Chicano Rock.” Tom Waldman and David
Reyes, co-authors of the book “Land of a Thousand Dances”
conducted the interviews. I witnessed a great interview
by Tom Waldman with the leader of Thee Midniters, Jimmy Espinoza,
where he talked about playing at the Rose Bowl in the 60s
with a lineup that included the British Invasion band,
Herman’s Hermits. Also footage was taken of a
conversation between me and Bobby Espinoza of El Chicano, reminiscing
about some of our experiences in the 60s with our respective
bands, Mark & the Escorts and the VIPs. I had a
chance to speak with Little Willie G, Jimmy Espinoza, Romeo
Prado, Bobby Navarette, and Bobby Loya of Thee Midniters,
and John and Lawrence Perez of the Premiers. In the
audience were many Eastside music veterans such as Andy Tesso,
formerly of the Romancers and the Mixtures, and John Valenzuela
and Ernie Hernandez of my 70s band, Tango. The unfortunate
and unforeseen forces at hand could not, and did not, diminish
the quality and enthusiasm of the performances of all the
bands or the unforgettable reunion between musicians who have
played together, or in parallel bands, since the '60s.
"Radio Aztlán"
words & music by Mark Guerrero
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