El Tri: 39 and 'Rockeando'
 Erasmo Guerra - NYDailyNews.com
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| | El Tri's Alex Lora. |
Alex Lora, the raw, “rocanrol” voice of Mexico, recently celebrated the 39th anniversary of his band El Tri.
What’s kept them going all these years?
“Playing my guitar and shouting,” he said, speaking on the phone while on the road in Mexico.
The shaggy-haired singer admitted that he would keep making music and performing “as long as the fans sing along.”
This Saturday, fans will get that chance when El Tri performs at the Nokia Theater in Times Square.
They will play cuts from their new album, “A Talonear,” slang for “get to work,” which features 10 new blues-rock inspired tunes about love, cultural ties and, as with the title track, a hoarse-voiced anthem about what it means to be a part of the working class.
Lora will also sing “El Muro,” a bluesy, travel song about crossing la frontera. He recorded the song in protest of the proposed 700-mile wall that some politicians want to build along the U.S. and Mexico border.
“Both governments, Mexican and American, are incapable of fixing the immigration problem,” said Lora, adding that putting up a wall was an admission of defeat. “Human history has shown that walls don’t work.”
With their music, El Tri has been crossing other borders and walls, influencing generations of musicians with their enduring rock sounds.
The group started nearly four decades ago. They jammed together, rehearsing music, but it wasn’t until October 1968, 10 days after the student massacre in the plaza of Tlatelolco, and the same day as the opening games of the Olympics in Mexico City, that they performed at their first official gig, a party celebrating the championship win of a university soccer team.
Last winter, El Tri entertained New Yorkers at the Manhattan Center, as part of Chido Fest, an annual event that showcases new groups alongside more established acts.
In past years, they’ve also taken part in the running of the Antorcha Guadalupana, a torch race that starts at the Basilica in Mexico City and ends in New York on the feast day of the Virgen de Guadalupe, which is celebrated tomorrow.
For Saturday’s show, Lora wants to bring a message of hope to immigrants that might find themselves caught in the rough currents of national politics.
“We have to keep working,” he said.
Or, as the saying goes, ¡A Talonear!
delriogrande(at)hotmail.com |
Vallarta Weddings
Entertainment | December 2007 
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