6 August 2014: Metalachi- The Belmont

“I feel very proud to be an ambassador of Mexican music. Wherever I go, I will always bring my mariachi. It’s what I grew up with. It’s what I love the most.” ~ Alejandro Fernandez

My apologies for not writing this sooner but time has just slipped away from me that I am just now getting around to writing this post.

Metalachi was playing at The Belmont and even before they reached the stage,  I was just thrilled to the bone about the band who opened.

Yet when Metalachi hit the stage the whole place exploded into one giant party, filled with music and drink. Pretty much: Wine, Women, & Song.

Their technical difficulties led to a few minutes of comedy relief. The microphones on their violinist weren’t set up or working. So the rest of the band members kept the crowds entertained with some of their best raunchy one-liners and humor.

I had to laugh after all of that because their first song that they played was “The Final Countdown” by Europe.

I don’t believe that I mentioned this before but if you do not know who Metalachi is, its a group of five members. If you believe the folklore, these five members are all actual brothers. They all have the same mother, but maybe not the same father.

The band is an actual Mariachi band, playing Mariachi style music. However they basically COVER heavy metal tunes that we all grew up with when it was all over the place in the 1980’s and 90’s. Metalachi played tunes from AC/DC and Metallica. Upon finding them on YouTube you will find a wide variety of different songs that they sing.

Faith No More’s “Epic” and Motörhead’s “Ace Of Spades” are also tunes that they played. 

It is a very unusual and yet exciting experience to use all of your senses to take and soak everything that you are seeing and hearing. To have this band of only a violin, trumpet, guitar, and bass guitar with some excellent vocals to be able to take such famous and familiar heavy metal tunes and play them Mariachi style, you know without a doubt that there’s some awesome talent there.

When you consider that and then add their wild adult sense of humor while on stage, it makes for a very fun time.

Then they had something called “SuperSexyLoveMakingTime” and they gathered one woman from the audience and sat her down on a lawn chair and the band performed “More Than Words” by Extreme while ingratiating themselves all over her. It was a silly bid at a romance serenade. But you could really tell that the woman was totally enjoying herself while on stage. 

I think that party would have gone on all night long, but The Belmont is an outdoors venue and since the show was during the middle of the week, there was a 10:30 PM curfew.

It was sad that Metalachi couldn’t even perform an encore.

And yet I am so glad that I finally made it to one of their shows.

The band was very kind and was allowing plenty of time for photographs and autographs signed and everything in between.

Usually it seems as if when a band gets that big with fame and notoriety, that they come in… perform… and then leave.

I was glad to see that Metalachi was willing and able to get in with their fans. I’ll be making sure that whenever I hear that they are coming back to town that I get my tickets early on and make sure to wipe out the calendar because I just really enjoyed myself and cannot wait to have that much fun again.

6 August 2014: La Musica with Vitera/Metalachi- The Belmont

 

“Singing is like a celebration of oxygen.”~ Bjork 

At last, another night out for me. And vindication from the SNAFU that happened with a show a few months ago.

All I can really say about the history leading up to last night’s performance is thank you to POC NATION for bringing Metalachi to my attention, and thankfully Metalachi would come back to town after I missed the first time.

Even though it would be the band Vitera instead of POC NATION, I was totally stoked to finally see Metalachi.

Yet Vitera was something of a surprise as I did not know a single thing about them before they got on stage. I must say that I was blown away from their sound, their energy, and their stage presence. I felt like I was literally at giant fiesta. Even though the crowds were kind of small. The Belmont had this all set up outside so it was my first outdoors show in I don’t know how long, if not the first time ever.

Vitera came over everyone like a hurricane. To watch these guys and see the expression on their faces being so passionate and serious about the music they were playing, it was a bit of a relief.

By the third song they performed, they brought out a FEMALE Mariachi band by the name of Mariachi Las Coronelas.

Talented and gorgeous!! Four beautiful latin women. Two violins, a guitar, and a trumpet. And they rocked just as hard as Vitera!!!!!

It took quite some time to realize that Vitera had been singing in Spanish all this time.

Just because the lead vocalist was shouting in both English and Spanish didn’t mean the songs were in both languages. 

But that was never really a big factor in excitement and fun that Vitera brought to the crowds.

I kept making eye contact with the guitarist and I threw the horns at him and he acknowledged me by pointing at me or sticking out his tongue or raising the neck of his guitar and getting into it while front and center on stage. One time he pointed right at me and screamed. I thought that was cool.

But the beautiful, beautiful, beautiful Mariachi band remained on stage for the forty minutes that Vitera had played.

I found myself drawing closer and closer and closer to the edge of the stage before they finished their set. By that time, everyone was dancing, having a great time…… some of them were singing, and a few other women (who had been drinking) had hung on to me for dear life before kissing and nipping at my cheek, chin, or forehead.

So I think that it was good that Vitera did have their own following there. There were sooooooooo many good looking women there though. I hadn’t been in that situation since probably the 1990’s.

And as the night progressed and the skies began to get darker and the moon was coming overhead and I kept getting closer to the stage, I found myself surrounded by very beautiful and attractive women. It was nearly intimidating but after the ice was broken, everything was fine… just fine.

All of that aside as I begin to get off track, Vitera just really captured my attention. I wished I would have been able to buy some of their merchandise. I would have really loved to have their CD’s…. that’s for sure!!

Towards the end of the set, I was totally blown away as both Vitera and Mariachi Las Coronelas jumped in together and began to play the intro part to “Kashmir” by Led Zeppelin. 

Haydn Vitera and his dazzling electric violin.

By the time they finished, I felt like I was in some kind of fantasy land that was just floating along. And oddly enough had made some “new friends” before the headlining band even stepped outside. Kind of like a high, but without the drugs. Sometimes I think its a great feeling.

I’m going to attempt to see them again since Vitera is a local band. Mariachi Las Coronelas is a group from San Antonio and from what I understand has ten absolutely gorgeous band members in total.

Mariachi Las Coronelas does not have much in the way of social media, which is a complete bummer, but I can definitely follow Vitera and see when they will be playing again in the area. I cannot wait. I simply cannot wait. Spanish, English– doesn’t matter. Music comes from places far deeper than the layers of our skin. It comes from the core of our very soul. And that’s what should matter!!!