With Singer Carlos Vives, Music of Colombia Rocks

There’s a certain naturalness about the way Colombian singer Carlos Vives fuses rock ‘n’ roll with the traditional sounds of his land that makes his music an irresistible affair. The combination, as Vives demonstrated Saturday, the second of the three nights he was scheduled to perform at the House of Blues, is so well balanced that his material never stops surprising you, even within the same song.

A furious electric guitar solo could at any moment give way to a sweetly hot accordion line. The latter instrument is ever present in Vives’ material, since it is also the basis for all vallenato music, the singer’s genre of choice.

Vives, who’s also a soap opera star in Colombia, appeared relaxed and ready to party, dressed in shorts and a flannel shirt, looking as if he had spent the whole day on a Malibu beach.

A charismatic performer, he was bold enough to open the show with his biggest hit, 1993’s superb “La Gota Fria.” From then on, the feeling of a traditional Latin American fiesta was in the air, complete with people of all ages dancing on any little spot they could find.

Opening act Huayucaltia offered a rootsier, gentler approach to South American music, which included samples of Colombian cumbia and Uruguayan candombe, boosted by a marvelous string section. Although the group was on stage a little too long, its devotion to its music was apparent from beginning to end.