August, 2000 - San Antonio

When I found out that the Watcha Tour would return to San Antonio, I felt two things. The first feeling was of enormous happiness in knowing of the possibility of seeing a special event like last year's first edition. The second thought was one of insecurity and doubt. The thought of what could happen if lack of promotion would affect the result of the show.

Fortunately, people did go and arrived early at around 5 PM. It looked that the venue would sell out within a matter of hours and that lifted the spirits of the whole event.

Fulano started the show in the afternoon with a much heavier sound than what can hear on their albums. In fact, we had to approach the stage because we couldn't tell if it was Fulano who was performing. In my opinion, they sound like a much stronger band live then on their recordings.

While the stage was being arranged for the following band we could observe Tavo from Resorte (Spring), sitting next to one of the amplifiers and we went to greet him. He told us that due to internal problems they were forced to change their drummer. In fact, when they had their U.S. release party for their album, XL, the departure of Charal was already planned, but due to the fact the replacement drummer didn't have his visa, he wasn't able to join the group for that show.

After our talk, Resorte went on stage and laid their fury on the crowd that was already in the mosh pit at the Observatory. They played tracks from their previous album, República de Ciegos (Republic of the Blind), like "America" and "J.T.R.B." as well as songs from the new album, XL. One of the most requested songs by fans was "Puro Rock (Pure Rock)" due to the fact that during their previous visit to the Lone Star State at the South By Southwest Conference in Austin, the didn't have time to play the hit song. It was approximately 13 decibels and 40 minutes of music that Resorte gave the fans of San Antonio.

Another of the hardcore bands that were on this tour and were a true surprise was Argentine band A.N.I.M.A.L. I say surprise because they were on the Warped Tour, being the only Latin rock band on that tour.

After the Argentineans finished their set there was another long delay as the stage was changed once again. It would be time for Aterciopelados (The Velvet Ones) from Colombia to perform. While we waited we heard more of the same music that club DJs see as current Latin Alternative music. It was the nostalgic rock of their infant years. It was the classic songs by groups like Caifanes and Soda Stereo, among others, that people were forced to hear.

Aterciopelados came on "despacito" not to calm down the public but the bouncers who like always do the favor of beating on people who get close to the stage to jump and scream for their favorite bands. Andrea Echeverri, lead singer of Aterciopelados, tried to get the bouncers to relax a little and let people have fun.

The noise level dropped significantly, but not because the performance was bad, but it was due to the nice and soft folkloric-alterno pop sounds of Aterciopelados. They performed classic hits like "Baracunatana", "Florecíta Rockera", and "El Estuche (The Jewel Box)" along with songs from their forthcoming album. We had the chance of seeing these Colombians back in '97 on the Rockinvasión Tour and their eternal leaders, Andrea Echeverri and Hector Buitrago, still have their feet on the ground and that is shown with their affection towards their audience. Andrea always brings gifts on stage for the audience. She throws confetti, whistles, and other knick-knacks. This helps her connect with her public at unimaginable levels. One can feel the sensation of humbleness that this rocker projects.

For those who wanted to enter a melancholic and philosophical state of mind with Aterciopelados weren't able to because it was time for Molotov to take the stage and destroy the calmness. Something that caught my eye was when San Antonio police officers accumulated and lined up in front and on the sides of the stage as if a riot was going to break out.

People jumped until they could no more when hit songs such as "Puto", "Gimme Tha Power", and "Rasta Man-Dita" were played but it wasn't so exaggerated that police officers had to take CONTROL of the place. The explosive band began the night with their cover of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" and then they continued with their popular songs. Just like Resorte, Molotov made the noise levels go past 14 decibels and made the crowd explode with fun.

Definitely, one of the night's biggest surprises, in my opinion, was that of Enanitos Verdes (Little Green Elves) which made them seem like a band made of 15 year-olds in the middle of puberty. "Lamento Boliviano (Bolivian Lament)" sounded like it would have been played in a heavy metal concert in the early '90s. This is not to say that it made the song worse, it actually made it sound a lot better. Felipe Staiti, lead guitarist, could have easily been a member of Motley Crüe or something similar with his style that made songs take a whole new dimension.

Café Tacuba ended the night in a way I had never witnessed. It was an extremely mystical opening that they did. The venue was in complete darkness, completely sold out. All of a sudden, a cloud of white smoke appeared and there was white lights shining through this smoke that it filled up the place. Behind that white and opaque smoke one could see the figure of a man that was around 5'4'' who began to recite: "sale sola de noche María…(María goes out at night alone…)." That was a moment that left me breathless. The Tacubos gave an incredible performance. They satisfied everyone present except myself who begged to listen to one of their tracks from the soundtrack for the Mexican film, Amores Perros (Dog Loves), but no matter, my request wasn't as loud as it should have been. One of the most requested songs was, guess?…"Ingrata (Ungrateful Girl) " and the fans were pleased to listen to them perform it. Café Tacuba, and especially their vocalist Nrü is one of the personalities that I most respect because of his integrity, humbleness and informal attitude. That is something that you can notice when you see his expressions; one can see that he and the band really enjoy putting on a show and that their fans have fun.

The night could have not been better. There weren't any surprises after the show or anything of the like. What was surprising to many of the press members present was that there weren't any pressrooms at the Observatory in order to do interviews or interact with the bands. There also wasn't a photography pit in front of the stage. One couldn't really take pictures without being bumped by everyone. That was something negative, but in the end the night was truly special and this edition of the Watcha Tour rocked San Antonio! .

We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who helped us do our job here in Texas as well in places like Florida and California. You know who you are.