Los Lobos will unplug for Friday acoustic show in Poway

San Diego Union-Tribune

March 15, 2018 12:25 PM PT

For several decades, a regular highlight of Los Lobos’ concerts has come when its members put down their electric guitars to play an acoustic mini-set.

Then again, this Grammy Award-winning Los Angeles quintet began as an entirely unplugged band back in the 1970s.

Moreover, two of its standout albums, 2005’s “Acoustic En Vivo” and 1989’s “La Pistola y El Corazón,” showcase exactly how vibrant their music sounds, sans amplification.

The band’s most recent album, 2015’s aptly titled “Gates of Gold,” came 28 years after its ebullient version of the 1958 Ritchie Valens’ hit, “La Bamba,” gave Los Lobos its first — and, so far, only — international chart-topper.

For discerning fans, all the band’s records qualify as hits, with or without an official No. 1 designation. And, whether amplified or unplugged — as Los Lobos will be Friday night in Poway — their songs are a testament to the enduring appeal of one of America’s finest musical ensembles.

Poway OnStage presents Los Lobos Acoustic: 8 p.m. Friday. Poway Center for the Performing Arts, 15498 Espola Road Poway. $28-$75. (858) 748-0505. powaycenter.com

george.varga@sduniontribune.com

Twitter @georgevarga

Music

George Varga

San Diego Union-Tribune music critic George Varga began drumming in rock bands at 12 and writing professionally about music at 15. A Louisiana native who grew up mostly in Germany, Varga has earned three Pulitzer Prize nominations for his writing at the U-T and is a voting member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In addition to providing live coverage of the Grammy Awards and festivals from Coachella and KAABOO to the 1994 edition of Woodstock, he has interviewed everyone from Miles Davis, Britney Spears and (over a game of chess) Ray Charles to Willie Nelson, Kanye West and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Anthony Davis. A triple first prize-winner for criticism and arts writing at the 2022 San Diego Press Club awards and a double first prize-winner at the 2022 San Diego Society of Professional Journalists awards, Varga is also a contributing writer for Jazz Times magazine and has written for Billboard, Spin and other publications. After attending San Diego City College and San Diego State University, he created and taught the 2002 UC San Diego Extension course, “Jazz in a Post-Ken-Burns World.” Varga has written liner notes for more than a dozen albums, including by jazz sax greats James Moody and Michael Brecker, and contributed two chapters to the book, “Dylan: Disc By Disc.”