For most music acts, there were some signs ahead of time that the COVID-19 pandemic might interrupt their touring plans. For Metalachi, the new reality hit in a most untimely manner, literally, as the group began its year of touring.
“When the quarantine happened, the very first night was our first show of our first big tour of the year,” violinist Queen Kyla Vera recalled in a recent phone interview. “We actually had a pretty decent crowd. They said it (the crowds) had been dying off, and when we went, I think they said it was two-thirds of the capacity it normally would (be). So it was still pretty good, but the venue said they wouldn’t be able to stay open after us for awhile. We ended up having to go home because almost every venue had to close.”
That was eight months ago, and Metalachi has been out of action as a band pretty much since then. But in September, the band, which gives metal and hard rock songs a mariachi makeover, got back on stage, but in a setting nobody would have predicted for a concert at the start of 2020.
The group performed a drive-in show in September at the Ventura County Fairgrounds, and now will do a drive-in show Nov. 15 at The Diamond, the minor league baseball stadium in Lake Elsinore as part of its concert series.
Vera is relishing the creativity that is being shown as the touring industry figures out ways to present live music while most conventional venues remain shuttered.
“I think it’s really in a way really cool to see everything evolving,” she said. “We’re learning new ways to do things and to be able to give people performances and bring joy into their lives. But it’s just a different setting. It’s innovative and it’s fresh.”
For a band that does a lively, very visual and interactive show, complete with elaborate outfits, some band members wearing face paint and some wearing huge sombreros that have blinking lights, playing a drive-in show will require some adjustment, but based on what she’s seen, Vera thinks the band’s show will translate fine.
“I think audience participation will be a little bit different, for sure, because they’ll be obviously sequestered in their cars or next to their cars,” she said. “But I think overall it might be easier in some ways because, for example, they have the radio station they tune into while we play, so they’ll probably be able to hear and understand better.”
Perhaps it’s fitting that a band that defies typical rock music conventions would be willing to try the unusual setting of a drive-in show or a socially distanced concert at a more traditional venue.
The actual details about Metalachi have remained sketchy, as the band members don’t divulge their real names and have created a colorful tale to explain the origins of both the band and its unique musical hybrid.
Now, a decade or so since forming, Metalachi has released three albums – “Uno,” “Dos” and “Tres” – filled with their reinventions of songs by a who’s who of metal and hard rock, including Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Alice In Chains, Led Zeppelin, Guns ‘N Roses and even Queen, which got a Mexican makeover of their epic hit, “Bohemian Rhapsody,” on “Tres.”
The band has gone through some personnel changes over the years, with the current lineup featuring Coco Caliente on vocals, Vera on violin, Johnnie Sucio on guitarron, Paco Halen on guitar and Diablo Huero on trumpet.
While being sidelined from touring was obviously difficult, Vera said she was able to gain some benefits from the unplanned free time.
“It kind of gave me some time to really look at a lot of things, like being an adult, finances and all of that stuff, you kind of realize you get a better perspective of what your responsibilities should be, maybe how you could change the stuff you’re doing to make sure if something like this happens again you’re prepared,” she said. “And then also I started learning new things that I normally couldn’t learn, like different styles of music, playing a little bit, playing guitar and learning how to play and sing. I hadn’t really ever sung mariachi music. I played for a long time, but I wasn’t really a singer. So I was interested in trying to learn that as well.”
If you go
When: 8 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 15
Where: 500 Diamond Drive, Lake Elsinore.
Tickets: $49-$499 per vehicle, depending on ticket option chosen
Information: 951-457-2469, https://stormmeals.myshopify.com
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November 12, 2020 at 02:03AM
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Heavy metal mariachi mashup Metalachi turns to the drive-in to play during pandemic - Press-Enterprise
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