wiredfool

Friday I saw the Omar Torrez Band at the Tractor Tavern.

This has to be my favorite local band – a wild combination of funk, flamenco, and cuban rhythm. There was a new lineup with Darrius Willrich on keyboard and Jesse Stern on electric bass for this show; previously they were without keyboard and had Julian on the bass.

Omar has significantly reworked his set list since the last time I saw the band. There were 4 new songs, and the old favorities had a completely new feel. There were times that I heard echos of of the old riffs floating through the new songs; almost teasing my mind to recall the previous incarnation.

From a musical standpoint, it rocked. From a “I’m comfortable with the music and I want to lose myself for the night” point of view, it was a little less satisfying. I gotta say I really liked Julian (their previous bassist), it seemed that he had more authority and a cleaner sound. That may just be familiarity though, since I did see him 3 or 4 times. Jesse had a little less control of the sound and quite a bit less of the spotlight.