This was an intriguing evening of wildly different experimental styles from Europe and America, involving two sets of musicians making use of Latin-American themes and sharing a delight in mixing guitars and trumpets and in each other's work. The opening band, from Spain, were lively exponents of the new, globally influenced Euro-pop. The far better-known headliners were from Arizona and mixed classic American rock with influences from south of the border. Playing together at the end of the show, they managed a remarkable collision of influences.
This was the first UK appearance by Amparanoia, who will surely prove to be one of the discoveries of the year and a hit at the summer festivals. Led by the charismatic and versatile Amparo Sanchez (the band's title is apparently a pun on her name), they played "mestizo" - a blend of salsa, reggae, hip-hop and Cuban influences, with a dash of soul and rock balladry thrown in and sung in Spanish, French and English.
Sporting a red headscarf, and clutching the hems of her skirt as she danced, Sanchez flitted between thoughtful, violin-backed ballads and Latin dance songs showing off the brass, percussion, guitars and keyboards of her enthusiastic young band. She had all the makings of a female Manu Chao.
Calexico presented a curious contrast - their brooding guitar ballads dressed up with pedal-steel guitar, accordion, fiddle and rousing trumpet work. Their atmospheric songs of the American-Mexican border dealt with anything from suburban sprawl to immigrants and border patrols, and were pitched against upbeat bursts of country-rock and an exquisite revival of the Love classic, Alone Again Or, with its mixture of sturdy rock and mariachi-style trumpet.
Guitarist Joey Burns sang immaculately, and his multi-instrumental band never played a wrong note. They did, however, lack stage personality, and the constant use of stills and film clips (mostly concerned with death) did little to help.
It was a brave and generous move for Burns to invite Sanchez and her band to join Calexico for the finale.
