Los Lobos: Singing, Selling, Surviving With Spirited Style

Can Los Lobos do a bad show?

Surely, the members of the East Los Angeles-spawned rock group can point to some night in some venue in some remote corner of the country where they were absolutely horrible, but it’s hard to imagine.

What other band so consistently surprises you with its excellence? Even longtime admirers invariably walk away from their shows with a new appreciation.

Such was the case Thursday night in a sold-out performance at the Belly Up Tavern, where the group once again enthralled the audience with colorful but thoughtful music that moved both your feet and spirit. The group was also scheduled to headline the Greek Theatre on Friday night.

Whenever great bands from the ‘60s and early ‘70s are used as reference points in discussing premier groups of today, the names Beatles, Rolling Stones and Who are usually employed.

But Los Lobos, more than ever with its new “Kiko” album and its live show, reflects the equally prized and enduring qualities associated with two other groups from that era: the Band and Creedence Clearwater Revival.

In Thursday’s almost two-hour set, Los Lobos played with the individuality and character that made both of those groups such cornerstones in rock.

Like Creedence, Los Lobos is a master of roots rock, able to move with equal authority and zest from wee-hour blues to roadhouse rock. Yet, again like Creedence, the group rarely lets its deftness at genre turn songs into mere generic pieces.

Reminiscent of the Band, Los Lobos’ music combines a rich sense of culture and tradition, while its lyrics tell of individual stories in ways that address the larger struggles of the human spirit.

Though the Belly Up set was built around songs from “Kiko,” the group also reprised some of its most prized early material. They included “One Time, One Night”--from 1987’s acclaimed “By the Light of the Moon” album, which addressed urban disillusionment in eloquent and heartfelt terms--and “Will the Wolf Survive,” the band’s unofficial theme song.

The latter was especially poignant Thursday because there were questions concerning Los Lobos’ own creative survival after its commercial breakthrough in 1987 with “La Bamba.”

Despite its continued sparkle live, Los Lobos seemed a bit thrown in the recording studio by the success of its remake of the ‘50s Ritchie Valens hit--a pleasing record, but far from the originality and purpose of the band’s own tunes, which are graced by a subtle but essential Latino perspective.

Unfortunately, the fans that suddenly flocked to Los Lobos shows around the country were more into “La Bamba” than “By the Light of the Moon,” which can be a disorienting experience.

The band’s next mainstream album, 1990’s “The Neighborhood,” had moments as strong as “Light,” but there was also an edge of hesitancy--as if the band was unsure of its place in rock.

With “Kiko,” however, Los Lobos regains its confidence--and Thursday’s show reflected that vitality and optimism.

Like the Band, Los Lobos is blessed with more than one lead singer, allowing more tailored vocals--guitarist Cesar Rosas generally on the bluesy or robust numbers, guitarist-accordionist David Hidalgo usually on the softer and more socially conscious tunes.

For this tour, the regular lineup--which also includes drummer Louis Perez, bassist Conrad Lozano and saxophonist-keyboardist Steve Berlin--has been augmented with a percussionist.

Adding to the sense of community that is present whenever Los Lobos takes the stage, especially in Southern California, the opening act, the Blazers, is another Southland band with a warm, inviting Latino-accented roots rock design.