Of course it’s unfair that the Blazers have to stand in the shadow of Los Lobos; unfair because the world is certainly big enough for both of them, and unfair because they’re too good to be dismissed as also-rans. The good news for us is that, while the Wolves can usually only be glimpsed at festivals like last month’s Austin City Limits extravaganza, the Blazers can still be found rocking joints like Casbeers.
| THE BLAZERS Playing four shows on Oct. 2-5 The Alamo Rosario’s Casbeers Low Rider Street Festival |
After four albums on Rounder, the band recently moved to Little Dog Records, home of renowned Dwight Yoakam producer Pete Anderson. Their first work for the label, Seventeen Jewels, is a rollicking hybrid of Doug Sahm-style multiculturalism and beautiful ’80s jangle-rock. Fresh off the band’s recent benefit show at Casbeers for singer-guitarist Manny Gonzales after he was temporarily sidelined with a leg infection, San Antonio is getting ample chances to hear the songs in person this week: They’re playing Thursday, October 2 in front of the Alamo, serenading the American Planning Association; Friday finds them at Rosario’s (910 S. Alamo, 223-1806); they hit Casbeers (1719 Blanco, 732-3511) on Saturday, taking the stage at 9:30pm; finally, they catch the Low Rider Street Festival on Sunday. •
This article appears in Oct 1-7, 2003.