The cold evening of Sunday, February 1st was warmed up by the Latin influenced rock of Los Lobos. No stranger to touring or to the area, the East L.A. band was formed in 1973 by schoolmates, have toured nationally since 1980 and have appeared numerous times in the area including Washington Park, Cohoes Music Hall, Clearwater Festival, The Egg, and Tarrytown Music Hall among others.
The core group has been constant the whole time with several drummers filling in. The present touring drummer Alfredo Ortiz has been with them since 2021. The opener, “One Time, One NIght” set the tone, declaring land of the free, home of the brave. This signaled all American music of many genres would be played.
The front line of three guitars, keyboard and saxophone commanded the musical soundscape with complexity and musicality. But the tight as a drum rhythm section of Alfredo Ortiz and the grinning Conrad Lonzano propelled the band and kept them on track.
“Volver, Volver” a Tex Mex grinder complete with the button accordion and lead vocals of David Hidalgo, was followed by “Marciela,” sung in Spanish by Cesar Rosas, complete with jarana by Louie Perez, both bari sax and keyboard by Steve Berlin.
The band also played a fair number of covers this evening, including “Papa Was A Rolling Stone,” “Are You Experienced?”, “West L.A. Fadeaway” , “La Bamba” and “What’s Going On.”
As time has passed, the band has continued to play their almost endless repertoire of originals and covers that must draw on hundreds of tunes with muscle memory. The only thing that has changed is their hair has turned grey.
Los Lobos – Universal Preservation Hall, Saratoga Springs, NY – Sunday, February 1, 2026
Setlist: One Time One Night, Maricela, Emily, Love Special Delivery, The Valley, Chuco’s Cumbia, A Matter of Time, Alone in a Crowd, Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone, I Can’t Understand, One Way Out, Are You Experienced?, Kiko and the Lavender Moon, Hot Tamale Baby, Volver, volver, Set Me Free (Rosa Lee), Don’t Worry Baby, La Bamba > Good Lovin’ > La Bamba
Encore: What’s Going On, West L.A. Fadeaway
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