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SXSW review: Raul Malo
There isn’t a whole lot of dancing at SXSW showcases, and it may well be that there’s some kind of ordinance against it. Raul Malo, however, definitely didn’t get that memo, and his 12:30 a.m. Wednesday (aka Thursday morning) set at the Continental Club had people two-stepping, swing dancing, shimmying, polkaing and indulging in all sorts of similarly outrageous behavior, including smiling ear-to-ear, another thing that’s fairly rare at shows where the wearers of badges congregate. Actually, the badge contingent at the Continental seemed greatly outnumbered by civilians, including a lot of the same folks you’d see there on any Saturday night with a great act on the bill.
Malo’s supple, radiant voice has brought him frequent comparisons to Roy Orbison, but while Orbison is best known for ballads, Malo is equally comfortable with uptempo material. His band Wednesday featured two trumpets as well as accordion, but no matter how rambunctious the group got, Malo’s bright voice rang out effortlessly, and his strong sense of rhythm gave tunes a natural propulsive quality.
Early in the set, it was hard for fans in the crowded front rows to move, but those off to the side were already gyrating during “Lucky One,” the title track from Malo’s last album, and some near-collisions occurred during “Dance the Night Away,” from his old band, the Mavericks. The traditional Mexican number “La Mucura,” with an effervescent accordion solo, had an even more noticeable effect; Malo slowed down the pace to croon the traditional “Sombras Nada Mas” and a lovely Rodney Crowell ballad, which he said will be on his next album, coming out in August. But the giddy “Moonlight Kiss,” a recent original that sounds like a jazz number from a speakeasy in the Casbah, set everyone in motion, and the last number, an extended “All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down,” with two clever false endings, had the place going nuts.
Although he’d already played more than an hour, Malo came back for two more songs, prefaced by his shout-out to owner Steve Wertheimer for having “the coolest club in the world.” A long, stirring “Volver, Volver” and ebullient, even longer “La Bamba” kept the crowd rapt until almost closing time.
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