Sydney Reviews

Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero – ‘the Dublin based Mexican metal heads’, (Mojo Magazine) - stunned audiences last Sunday evening at Sydney’s Enmore Theatre with their energetic and passionate guitar playing; unfortunately it was for one night only.

This vibrant guitar duo that play pulsating, life-affirming covers and original works, cite as influences Metallica, Megadeth and Slayer. Their style may be described as rock combined with the sounds of Latin America and the result is something quite original, making you want to jump out of your chair (although it was standing room only!) and move to the crazy rhythm of the music.

Mr. Sanchez provided the melodic half of the music while Miss Quintero provided the rhythmic and harmonic background. The latter struck me as the dominant member of the duo both physically and musically and her often aggressive slapping on the guitar’s body made the instrument as much percussion as stringed. It was quite fascinating to watch the right hand as it jumped up and down seemingly out of control and yet producing a very solid rhythmic bass to the music. Her physicality was also fascinating as she often changed between hugging the guitar for dear life and jumping up and down with the instrument – I couldn’t help wondering where all that energy came from!! The former was more restrained in his movement – perhaps his need to pluck out the melody demanded this – and his playing was clean, musical and utterly cantabile. The effect of the two together was astonishingly full-bodied and I kept looking for other musicians lurking behind the curtains to help explain where all that sound was coming from. Some pieces were no doubt supplemented by effect devices but this was very subtle and tastefully implemented into the musical structure.

The musicians played to a soft-grained black and white video backdrop of themselves on stage. This was very effective and gave the impression that the video belonged to some other past place and time and helped link the long tradition of guitar playing to current day practice – a very nice touch I thought. One song was dedicated to deceased Argentinean composer Astor Piazzolla who was described as being ‘really cool’ for mixing different styles of music together, something that this guitar duo are clearly keen to continue.

The evening offered a wide range of musical styles and was well balanced with upbeat, pulsating rock numbers and gentler more reflective ones. On the down side, the volume level was way too high for my liking and I often found myself blocking my ears to reduce the number of decibels. The amplification was so extreme that you could feel the sound waves reverberating through your body and whilst this was a rock concert, I do wonder why so little respect is shown for our hearing. Another down side was the frequent use of four letter expletives peppered throughout the conversation between pieces. Whilst the odd ‘f’ word can be funny or even charming, when it appears half a dozen times in two sentences the humour quickly disappears.

Criticisms aside, this guitar duo is fabulous and their music is so full of life that you’ll want to jump up and down like Gabriela herself. The playing is brilliant, the musical style fresh, and the enthusiasm and love of music abundantly clear. I would gladly listen to an evening of ‘Rodrigo y Gabriela’ again and if you missed it this time don’t worry because they promised to be back again next year.


Rodrigo y Gabriela

MARION BAY TAS
Falls Festival – Wed 30 Dec
www.fallsfestival.com

LORNE VIC
Falls Festival – Thu 31 Dec
www.fallsfestival.com

SYDNEY
Enmore Theatre – Sun 3 Jan
www.ticketek.com.au 132 849

MELBOURNE
Palais Theatre – Tue 5 Jan
www.ticketmaster.com.au 136 100

BRISBANE
Sunset Sounds – Wed 6 Jan
www.sunsetsounds.com.au

BUSSELTON WA
Southbound Music & Arts Festival – Fri 8 Jan
www.sunsetevents.com.au