Los Lobos Dig Into Their Musical Past for UCI Farm Workers’ Rally

When Los Lobos showed up Tuesday to kick things off for Cesar Chavez at a UC Irvine rally--making their first public appearance in nearly a year--it wasn’t the first time they had lined up with the United Farm Workers union founder. They had collaborated on “Si Se Puede!” (“It Can Be Done!”), an album of folk tunes recorded for the union back in 1976, long before they found fame as rockers.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve been able to do something for Cesar Chavez. We believe in him very much,” Cesar Rosas, the bearded guitarist with the signature black sunglasses and slicked-back hair, told the cheering crowd.

“It’s kind of like a reunion,” drummer Louie Perez said later. “It rekindles the old flame and our solidarity with the farm workers.”

Los Lobos played an all-acoustic set, using traditional Mexican stringed instruments more often seen in mariachi bands. David Hidalgo, who delighted the heavily Latino audience with his artistry on the requinto jarocho (similar to a tenor guitar), said afterward that pesticide spraying, over which the union launched its 4-year-old table grape boycott, is an issue that hits home for each of the band members.

“We all have children, and the food that makes it to the table affects our lives,” Hidalgo said. “Besides, there are a lot of families, a lot of people out there putting their lives on the line in the fields.”

Still, the musicians conceded that when a UCI student organizer first asked them to play at the rally, the thought struck fear in their hearts. Fresh from recording a new album--”The Neighborhood,” which Rosas described as “total rock”--they hadn’t rehearsed folkloric songs in a very long time. Rosas even warned the audience: “We figured if we got up and it sounded terrible, we could say, ‘What the heck, we tried.’ ”

Los Lobos, whose new album is due for release July 10, will play the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles May 25 before opening a limited U.S. tour in Chicago July 4. An Orange County date may be added, band members said. Also in the works, Perez added, is a possible fall tour of Eastern Europe countries on a bill that may include Bob Dylan.