
“We don’t have a fucking set list tonight.”
Rodrigo of Rodrigo y Gabriela said this over the audience’s cheers and yells at Thursday’s show at ACL Live.
The Mexico City duo kept their performance intimate and passionate…exactly like their latest album 9 Dead Alive.
The fourth studio album is stripped down to the duo’s furious guitar playing…and that’s exactly what you got at their show.
“If you want to hear a song, say it,” Rodrigo says. The crowd starts shouting and both oblige, playing snippets here and there before finally settling into a song.
Rodrigo, Gabriela and two guitars made this the most accessible show of theirs in recent years.
In their last tour visit to Stubbs in 2012, you got the full light show, big stage set up. This time around, fans were treated to new songs, old favorites. One special moment was their amazing cover of Metallica’s “Master of Puppets,” followed by an endearing story of how a young Gabriela discovered Metallica.
“My sister was dating this metal guy…and you never see his face, and he gave her this tape…”
She the then met Rodrigo and they’ve been playing together ever since.
Their history shows on stage, the whole performance felt like you were watching two master guitarists have an intense jam session.
If you want to experience the duo distilled, see them during this tour or check the new album.