‘Revolucion ‘96’: So Many Bands, So Little Time

Play fast and get off the stage.

At least for the lesser-known bands, that seemed to be the philosophy behind “Revolucion ‘96,” the third edition of the annual rock en espan~ol festival, held Friday at the Universal Amphitheatre.

There were so many bands and so little time that the first part of the event ended up as a series of four-song--and sometimes three-song--showcases rather than a true concert.

Especially in the cases of the Chicano band Psychotic Aztecs and Mexico’s Hechos Raros, it was evident that the sets were cut short and that they’d been planning to play at least one more song each.

The festival--which celebrated the fourth anniversary of the rock en espan~ol magazine La Banda Elastica, based in Long Beach--drew an impressive turnout considering that only three of the 12 acts were firmly established and that none came from Argentina, the music’s strongest market.

Still, when one considers that the show had been heralded as the most important rocanrol event of the year, the 2,000 empty seats in the 6,000-capacity hall raised questions about the real size of Los Angeles’ rock en espan~ol audience.

On top of that, speeches on the merits of the music, given by some rock en espan~ol writers, made the event seem closer to a political convention than to Woodstock. That was too bad, because “Revolucion ‘96,” at least musically, can be remembered as a truly international rock en espan~ol festival in which the up-and-coming bands--the first batch of rockers to come from places outside the established markets--were strong.

Mexican favorites Maldita Vecindad and Fobia played their usual strong sets, and La Lupita’s stirring appearance confirmed its status as the best live act south of the border. The rest of the bands--from Puerto Rico, Panama, Venezuela, Colombia and Los Angeles--proved that one now can have a strong Latin rock concert without relying on Mexico, Argentina or Spain for talent.

The night really belonged to two bands: Colombia’s Aterciopelados and Panama’s Rabanes. After four cancellations in the last couple of years, Aterciopelados showed why it is considered among the best of today’s rocanrol bands. Its mix of punk, pop, ranchera and cumbia, and the disarming charisma of singer-guitarist Andrea Echeverry, personify the new generation of Latin rock.

Rabanes are the other major representatives of that new wave. Appearing at first to be a simple neo-punk trio, the Ruben Blades proteges are really an unusual mix of furious, fast energy and Caribbean sensibility. Rabanes’ unpredictable chord changes and onstage charm--Emilio Regueira Perez may remind you of a salsa singer who got tired of trumpets--were highlights of a night with plenty of pleasant surprises.

Pastilla, a Green Day/Soda Stereo hybrid from L.A. with songwriting talent and the best vocal harmonies in local rocanrol, symbolized a new era in the host city’s rock en espan~ol, when the bands finally are challenging international acts for popularity here.

“Revolucion ‘96” was far from perfect, but the music was good enough that rock en espan~ol closed the year on a good note.