Ivan FernandezMexican Dubwiser (with live band)
05-10-2013
Better Than…his DJ sets
Mexican Dubwiser, the stage name of producer Marcelo Tijerina, celebrated the release of his debut album Revolution Radio in the U.S. with a live set at the Viper Room Friday.
Tijerina, who's lived in L.A. since 2000, takes his name not after the beer but from elements of his life: He was raised in Monterrey, one of Mexico's hotbeds for new music and the pointy boots craze, and has devoted the past few years of his life to mixing Mexican cumbia with dub reggae. (His handle sounds better in Spanish: el Mexicano sabio del dub.)
Dubwiser and his band of special guests; Credit: Ivan Fernandez
The crowd was a small one, which may have been due to the early start time: 9 pm. Also, Dubwiser shared the bill with a pair of hair metal bands, which made for an odd pairing of hairstyles.
He hopped onstage in his trademark outfit: red button-up, long sleeve shirt with a black tie and black gloves. “I don't need to worry about what to wear the next day,” he explained during an interview a few days before the concert. “It's like in the cartoons. The character opens the closet and has all the same clothes.”
His band included bassist Moises Baqueiro, famous for his work with Los Abandoned and as a touring member with Ceci Bastida and Ximena Sariñana, and Ulysses “El Licenciado” Lozano, accordionist for Kinky. Lozano also arrived in his trademark outfit: large, black sunglasses, which one images he probably also wears in the shower, and military hat.
There were explosive renditions of bass-heavy, accordion-centric tracks “Ahi Les Va,” “Musical Minds” and “Mexican Dubwiser,” Tijerina's theme song. He pumped the crowd up from behind his laptop, emblazoned with a California license plate that said “Mex Dub.”
Dubwiser next called up producer/musician Money Mark, a special guest who hopped on keys for the rest of the night, beginning with Dubwiser's remix of La Cherga's track “What A Wonderful Life.”
L.A.-based reggae artist Rocky Dawuni joined the group for “Revolution Radio,” the album's second single and title track. It was the first time the two were together on stage since the days when Dubwiser would DJ at Afro Funke, the funk/soul/reggae/world music night founded by Dawuni at Zanzibar.
“I want to hear it everywhere I go,” sang Dawuni, “the revolution radio.”
He departed and Dubwiser announced the last two guests of the night: former Faith No More bass player Billy Gould and blues singer Artwork Jamal. The two capped off the night with “Trouble In My Soul,” the first single off the album, and the closing track “No One Cares.”
Gould is a longtime collaborator and friend of Dubwiser who recorded the guitar/bass parts for “Trouble In My Soul,” a song that originally began as a remake of Faith No More's “Stripsearch.” Dubwiser kept the keyboard line and built a new song around it.
The live version was the hit of the night, rewritten once again thanks to an extended dubstep-ish sequence that got the crowd jumping. It was a short set but a tight performance.
Personal Bias: I've been waiting for the stateside release of Revolution Radio for nearly two years
The Crowd: An interesting mix of alt-Latino fanatics and Faith No More fans
Set List:
Ahi Les Va
Musical Minds
Mexican Dubwiser
La Cherga
Revolution Radio
Trouble In My Soul
No One Cares
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