The Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra is currently on tour in Asia and, as the expression goes, “while the cat’s away… ” because on Saturday night the genre-defying Argentinian rock band Los Fabulosos Cadillacs turned the usually calm and dignified Walt Disney Concert Hall into a celebratory dance party!
Presented by the LA Phil as part of its 2025 Latin Music Concert Series and the KCRW Series, Los Angeles is the first stop in the United States of the historic LFC Tour 2025. And what more perfect place to launch their current tour than in LA!
The concert was supposed to begin at 8 p.m., but by 8:15 when the band had not yet appeared on stage, some audience members began clapping. Shortly thereafter, the lights dimmed, and the already jazzed up crowd (with a lot of Argentinians, some with flags and soccer jerseys) erupted into screams.
For the next hour and 45 minutes, which flew by, the band delivered what everyone in the hall was hoping for: a nonstop run of the band’s greatest hits with an energy that this reviewer has rarely seen. There were long stretches during which no audience members were in their seats. They were up dancing with arms waving and singing along with the band. YouTube videos of their concerts show the same thing wherever they play.
Founded in 1985, five of the original members, now in their 60s, are still with the band: lead singer Gabriel Fernandez Capello (known as Vincentico), bass player and backing vocalist Flavio Cianciarulo (known as Sr. Flavio), saxophonist Sergio Rotman, drummer Fernando Ricciardi (known as Nando) and keyboard player Mario Siperman. Trumpeter Dany Lozano has been with the band since 1986. Drummer Astor Cianciarulo, son of Flavio, and guitarist Florian, son of Vicentico, round out the group. Percussionist Gerardo Rotblat, who joined the band in 1991, died suddenly in 2009. On Saturday night, the band had a large photograph of him displayed in front of the drums.
This was the first rock concert I’ve heard in WDCH. What a great, intimate setting. However, the hall, celebrated for its exquisite acoustics for classical music, wasn’t the best for rock music, at least for this concert. The features of the hall which allow a single violin or oboe to resonate and be heard clearly anywhere worked against a loud electrified band. But, no matter, because the infectious beat of every song and the seemingly inexhaustible energy of the band members was enough to carry everyone away.
Of course, the band waited to be called out for an encore to play their biggest hit, Matador, followed by two other songs. At the end of the final song, Sr. Flavio kept the audience singing in unison as the band members left the stage, and the audience continued their singing as they left the hall and poured out into the warm October night.
Los Fabulosos Cadillacs performs again at Walt Disney Concert Hall tonight at 7:30 p.m. If you want to be swept away by great Latin-infused rock music that is impossible not to get up and move to, don’t miss this concert tonight!
—Henry Schlinger, Culture Spot LA
For information about tonight’s concert, visit www.laphil.com.
Photo of Los Fabulosos Cadillacs courtesy of LA Phil.