Live review · Toronto · Budweiser Stage

Café Tacvba, Still the Restless Inventors of Rock en Español

Same night, same stage as Caifanes, a completely different energy: fourteen songs from punk to bolero to electronica, a drummer borrowed from the other band, and “La ingrata” to close.

By Axel CalderonJune 28, 2024Photos and video: Axel Calderon / TNR

From María to Futuro

If Caifanes are the dark poets of Mexican rock, Café Tacvba are its restless inventors, and at Budweiser Stage they proved it from the first song. They opened with “María” and never let the pace drop: “Como te extraño mi amor”, “Futuro”, “La bas(e)”, “Mediodía”.

Rubén Albarrán moves like the music is happening to him, and the band switches styles without ever sounding like a different group. That is the Café Tacvba magic: you never know what genre the next song is, but you always know who is playing it.

Shot on my phone

TNR

The songs we grew up with

The second half was a run of anthems: “La locomotora”, “Volver a comenzar”, “Las flores”, “Chilanga banda”, “Déjate caer”. A detail I loved: Caifanes drummer Alfonso André sat in on “La chica banda”, the two halves of the tour blending on stage before the night was over.

“You never know what genre the next song is, but you always know who is playing it.”

Eres, and La ingrata to finish

“Eres” turned the amphitheatre into one big choir, and “El baile y el salón” kept everyone dancing before the closer, “La ingrata”. I was singing every word, like so many of us who grew up with these songs far from home.

Sources: setlist.fm.