PAUL YOUNG AND LOS PACAMINOS
CROSBY CIVIC HALL
SATURDAY AUGUST 29
9/10
Paul Young and his Tex-Mex band Los Pacaminos wowed them in the aisles when he laid his hat – in Crosby, though this time it was a sombrero.
The hit musician, who found fame in the 80s with hits including Wherever I Lay My Hat, and Every Time I Go Away, loves playing with his Mexican combo, with whom he’s been touring for the last 17 years.
The evening was more like a party than a gig with the audience at the end up on their feet clapping and dancing. Paul, playing with a set of truly accomplished musicians, still has a strong voice, and the band, as well as the punters, had a ball.
They played Mexican music, country and western-style upbeat numbers and rocked the night away. There was the odd slow number, but the fans, old and new, enjoyed the jamming of Paul and his tex-mex amigos, some of the best musicians in the business including Jamie Moses, guitar and vocals (has backed Paul McCartney, Keith Richards, The Pretenders and Brian May), Melvin Duffy one of the UK’s premier pedal steel players (backed stars like Robbie Williams and Leo Sayer), Mark Pinder, drums (a well known backing player with Paul as well as supporting Alison Moyet), and Steve Greetham, bass and vocals, who has played with Joan Armatrading and Drew Barfield.
Wearing jeans, cowboy boots and white cowboy hats, the combo licked into a rock version of Little Sister to start an evening of bar-room magic, then slowed it down for Manana. But the boys soon got rocking again with Tequila and brought on a ‘Tequila babe’, from the audience, who served them the potent drink before downing one herself. Another ‘victim’ was selected for the second half, making this a fun evening rather than just another concert.
Most of the songs had a story based on booze, cigarettes, gringos and girls, instilling the evening with true Mexican flavour. Many of the songs were adaptations of Mexican tunes but others were written by the talented band.
The audience really got into the vibe when the band jammed with the bluesy upbeat Gangster of Love that had the audience whooping and whistling in delight. There was also much humour with chatty asides to the audience and also encapsulated in Poor Boys – a song about a bank raid that went wrong.
But whether or not you had experienced tex-mex music before, audience members, of all ages, were exposed to a brilliant set of happy, foot-tapping, celebration of music south of the border.
A brilliant evening ended with a rousing rendition of Wooly Bully and La Bamba whilst the boys danced off in a happy mood whilst the fans sang Los Pacaminos, a play on Let’s Pack ‘em in – which they certainly did. I bet newcomers to tex-mex music will be back for more!
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