In the middle of Wednesday night’s Café Tacuba concert at the Gibson Amphitheatre, Lori turns to me and asks, “What is this, like your fourth or fifth time seeing them?”

“Ugh, no. 12th, I think.”

The show was part of Café Tacuba’s 20:20 tour, or 20 cities to celebrate their 20th anniversary.

The tickets said 8:15 and we arrived at 8:20. The lights were already off and the audience was screaming in excitement. Lori and I rushed to the pit and took our place on the right side.

For the next three hours Rubén, Meme, Quique and Joselo (plus Luis, their drummer) played songs from all of their albums.

Lori and I danced and jumped and sang along (me more than her, given that she doesn’t know their music too well). We got excited when we spotted our cousin, Rene, and his friend Edgar in the seats just behind the pit. Our legs and backs were hurting at the end of the show. Lori had never seen their dances to “Déjate Caer,” “El Baile y el Salón” and “El Puñal” — I’d never seen that one either — and was pretty amused.

By the end of the show, we were tired. From all the dancing and jumping. Still, I was satisfied. I got my Café Tacuba concert fix for the summer.

Highlight: The climax of the show definitely came when Alejandro Flores, “el quinto tacubo,” stepped out to join the band on violin for “Ojalá Que Llueva Café.” Before that he played a son jarocho song (name escapes me) and after “Ojalá” he stuck around and played equinto and violin on a few songs from Re. The addition of Flores really emphasized how good Café Tacuba is at crossing genres.

I also loved the fact that they played so many songs they rarely play live. I’m pretty sure I’d never heard “El Espacio” live. I’ve complained that they can be a little predictable in their live shows, but not this time around. They went from playing a good chunk of Cafe Tacuba to skipping to some songs from Sino.

Finally, I liked that Rubén was quite talkative. I would talk more if I was him, that guy jumps around the stage a lot. I also thought it was cool that he handed the mic to a guy after “El Puñal” at the “end” of the show. The guy proceeded to ask his girlfriend to marry him. I think he should have said “y yo te di mi amor en un concierto de Café Tacuba” before popping the question. That would’ve been cool.

Lowlight: None, really. I mean, I would have liked to have a seat once in a while.

As usual, I wrote down the setlist and took lots of photos.

El 11 and El 9 (I think, it was something from Reves/Yo Soy)
El Borrego (Meme on vocals)
Pinche Juan (short version)
No Controles
Alármala de Tos
Labios Jaguar
Rarotonga
Que Pasará
Recuerdo Prestado
Puntos Cardinales
Bicicleta
El Baile y el Salón (plus Meme solo at beginning)
Metamorfosis
Tengo Todo
Amor Violento
Déjate Caer
Volver a Comenzar
Las Flores
Ojalá Que Llueva Café (with Alejandro Flores, violin)
El Aparato (with Flores)
Esa Noche (with Flores)
María (with Flores)
Como Te Extraño Mi Corazón
El Puñal

Break (5-10 minutes)

Encantamiento Inútil (in the bubble)
El Espacio (in the bubble)
Agua
Quiero Ver
Eres
Fin de la Infancia
Eo
Las Batallas
Las Persianas
Chilanga Banda
La Ingrata
La Chica Banda
El Ciclón
Pinche Juan (just music)