Los Lonely Boys pump Buskirk crowd with jokes, acoustic stylings

The Grammy Award-winning band Los Lonely Boys entertained a crowd of more 300 people at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater Thursday as part of the Brotherhood Acoustic Tour. The band is most well known for their Billboard Top 40 hit, “Heaven,” but on this tour they decided on a different approach. They to unplugged their amplifiers and play some of the acoustic songs that inspired their musical journey.

The group’s renditions of classical rock songs can be found on their latest album, “1969.” The album reminisces the days when bands such as The Beatles, The Doors and Carlos Santana lit the stage and influenced generations of musicians to come.

Starting off the night was a four person group called Hacienda. Hacienda delighted the audience with a 30 minute set that was blend of folk, Rockabilly and country music. The band played mostly original songs with one song being from Sonny and Cher.

Between songs the band acknowledged Bloomington as being a “basketball town” and mentioned that they themselves played.

“We’re not all-state, but we’re at least all-neighborhood,” they said.

A man from the audience then yelled “Hoosiers” in appreciation.

After Hacienda finished their set, Alejandro Escovedo. singer-songwriter and former guitarist of The Nuns, took the stage. His alternative country style seemed to resemble a roller-coaster ride with Escovedo’s music at some points being extremely soft and at others being so intense the crowd screamed with excitement.

During the show Escovedo made a dedication to Tom Donohue of TD’s CDs and LPs, thanking him for helping distribute his music across Bloomington. Donohue died of cancer in 2006.

“Being a former record store employee I really appreciate his hard work, and his great taste in music,” Escovedo said.

Not only did Escovedo show off his musical talent, he also showed a sense of humor.

“I would like to thank everyone for coming to the Victoria Secret Concert,” he said, acknowledging the competing event.

Escovedo ended his set to a standing ovation and much praise from the crowd.

The Los Lonely Boys took the stage to a roar of applause. Throughout the hour-long show, the audience shouted in appreciation, clapped and danced in the isles.

The performance was full of good music and bad beer, or at least the band thought so.
Between songs the band was brought exceedingly dark beer by one of the workers. They commented heavily on its taste throughout the show.

“Is this beer or coffee?” drummer Ringo said. “This tastes like someone burnt it.”
The audience responded with laughter.

“The beer taste like a leather boot,” bassist Jojo added.

The show started out off with several of their original songs before they played Carlos Santana’s “Evil Ways,” which they cover on their new album. The band also covered “She Came in Through the Bathroom Window” by The Beatles.

The show ended with an encore performance of their hit songs “More than Love” and “Heaven.”