By Joel Francis
The Daily Record
Los Lobos had already played longer than most of their recent Kansas City concerts when the veteran L.A. quintet invited guitarist Enrique Chi and percussionist Juan-Carlos Chuarand onstage for what turned out to be a 25-minute encore.
Chi grew up listening to Los Lobos, and was already excited that his band, Making Movies, would share the bill, let alone the stage.
“I was at the merch(andise) table when I saw Juan-Carlos start to go on and set up his timbales,” Chi said. “I pulled out my phone to film it and on it you can see the tour manager motion for me to come up too. I don’t know if he thought of it beforehand or just saw me and decided I should go too.”
Either way, it doesn’t matter. Chi and Chuarand held their own with their heroes and added another stamp of legitimacy to Kansas City’s local music scene. Without announcing the song or even a key, Los Lobos singer and guitarist David Hidalgo drove the band into “Cumbia Raza.”
“I didn’t know what they were going to play, I just grabbed my guitar and went for it,” Chi said.
Hidalgo and his compatriots were extremely generous, coaxing both Chi and Chuarand into multiple solos, and insisting they stick around for the full encore set. I’ve seen Los Lobos five times in the past decade but had never seen them have as much fun as they were in that moment.
“The whole time I was up there, the adrenaline never wore off,” Chi said. “I though our opening set was good, but I never got that magic moment where your brain turns off and the music just goes through you.”
The moment he started playing with his heroes, though, Chi fell into the zone.
“I was thinking about it later,” Chi said. “You know these guys have been playing together for so long they’re probably able to get to that place without much effort. We were just able to slide into it with them for a while.”
There was little contact between Making Movies and Los Lobos before that magical moment, but the camps have since been in steady communication.
“There have definitely been conversations going back and forth about working together in the future,” Chi said. “I can’t say much beyond that right now.”
Before leaving town, Los Lobos ate at La Fonda el Taquito, the restaurant owned by Chuarand’s family. Making Movies were in Chicago for a show, but Los Lobos stuck around posing for pictures with everyone.
“Since we’re both bilingual bands, I thought it made sense for Making Movies to be there that night,” Chi said. “I never expected this. I was blown away by their generosity. They were very complimentary of us.”
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