Sunset over Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, from UTEP parking lot, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.
July 2017.
One of the things I love about El Paso is its abundance of scenic views. Of mountains, plains, the two cities, the moon, stacking afternoon clouds ....
Sunset over Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, from UTEP parking lot, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.
A UTEP parking lots serves up a delicious sunset over Juárez.
Sunset over Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, from UTEP parking lot, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.
Look at that fingernail moon hanging there so daintily.
Sunset over Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, from UTEP parking lot, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.
I like to think about driving up that wide road in Juárez.
Sunset over Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, from UTEP parking lot, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.
Sunset over Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, from UTEP parking lot, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.
What's on the other side of that pass?
Sunset over Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, from UTEP parking lot, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.
Sunset over Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, from UTEP parking lot, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.
And, look, you can even see Cristo Rey:
Sunset over Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, from UTEP parking lot, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.
Viva las Vegas! Music on the Lawn at The Fountains, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.
July 2017
El Paso has several outdoor music venues during the summer - Music Under the Stars, Alfresco Fridays, Cool Canyon Nights - and Music on the Lawn at The Fountains.
The El Paso Live Music Meetup has met at all of them at least once. On this particular night, we gathered for Music on the Lawn at The Fountains.
On tonight's menu was a gumbo of reggae, rockabilly, punk, and ska.
Viva las Vegas
Oooh, Viva Las Vegas, out of Juarez, put its rockabilly mojo on me.
Viva las Vegas! Music on the Lawn at The Fountains, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.
Damn. It. I do love the double bass. Below is the group doing its take on the classic Besame Mucho (Kiss Me Lots):
Dulce Mal (Sweet Evil)
Some reggae!
The guitar player's smile makes me smile, too.
Dulce Mal, Music on the Lawn at The Fountains, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.
One of the things I like about all three of these bands - they are "border bands."
What a gift. For one's artistry to flow in and out and in and out between the United States and Mexico, between Texas and Chihuahua, between El Paso and Juarez. Between Spanish and English. In Chuco English, Chuco Spanish. No Iron Curtain contains the fluidity.
On Paisano en route to the Chamizal, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.
July 2017
Get in the car! Come for a drive with me. It won't take long; we're just going to the Chamizal from UTEP, near my place in Sunset Heights. Forget the highway. We'll take Paisano Drive.
From UTEP, take a left onto Paisano to get to the Chamizal. El Paso, Texas. July 2017.
Got your seat belt on? Good! Oh, forgot to tell you, Beau Jocque is coming, too, so just open a virtual arm vein and wait for his IV push directly into your bloodstream. Let's go:
That tall, metal fence on your right? Yes, that's our Iron Curtain Wall. Yeah, I know, you can almost touch it from your passenger seat. But keep your hands inside, please.
And don't worry: The Wall is there to keep people from coming in. It's not there to keep us from going out. Not today, anyway.
The silence enhances the visual experience. The rainbow and clouds stand out. As does the man walking on the sidewalk - the slo-mo. Drama. Well done, camera!
We're here.
Arrival at the Chamizal via Paisano, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.
And here they are at their July 2017 Music Under the Stars performance:
A smoooooth sway for a summer evening.
Chuco Soul Project, Chamizal National Memorial, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.
Sometimes when I listen to music, I think about the special cruelty of cultures that forbid music, song, dance. Such strictures have nothing to do with any deity. In fact, these rules of oppression defy the laws of nature, in which virtually every living creature engages in some form of song and rhythmic movement. Even the wind sings.
Chuco Soul Project, Chamizal National Memorial, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.
And then I feel gladness to be in a place and a culture that celebrates music and how it unifies souls.
Chuco Soul Project, Chamizal National Memorial, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.
Chuco Soul Project, Chamizal National Memorial, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.
Chuco Soul Project, Chamizal National Memorial, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.
The night was beautiful.
Chuco Soul Project, Chamizal National Memorial, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.
Seeing El Paso's star on the mountainside was a special treat.
Chuco Soul Project, Chamizal National Memorial, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.
Sayverse, Alfresco Friday, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.
El Paso has several music series that take place outdoors. One is Alfresco Friday, which runs May through August.
Sayverse, Alfresco Friday, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.
The venue is the shared patio outside Abraham Chavez Theater and the Convention Center.
El Paso, Texas. July 2017.
For Alfresco Fridays, I have the privilege to be able to walk down from my apartment in Sunset Heights, passing through my candy-box of architectural sweets, over Interstate 10, past the sphinxes of the Scottish Rite Temple, past the History Museum, and past the Chihuahua ballpark.
Sayverse, Alfresco Friday, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.
On this night, clouds brooded theatrically over our heads.
I was in excellent company with fellow members of El Paso's Live Music Meetup group, hosted by Yadira (a musician herself), who does all of the heavy lifting in deciding which venues we visit and what we might do afterward. All we have to do is say, "yeah!" and show up.
Sayverse, Alfresco Friday, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.
Sayverse, Alfresco Friday, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.
Independence Day at the Chamizal, El Paso. July 2017.
Independence Day 2017.
My go-to Meetup group, El Paso Live Music, hostessed by the gracious Yadira, got together at the Chamizal National Memorial for the combo Music Under the Stars and Independence Day celebrations.
Although I arrived fairly early, it wasn't early enough to avoid the need to park many, many, many blocks away. Fortunately, this enabled me to discover a tidy, interesting neighborhood.
Two other members of our group, Sara and Duane - constant early arrivers like me - found each other and we set up our homestead in readiness for later arrivals. Sara knows I love jicama and she thoughtfully brought fresh, juicy, cold, crispy, crunchy slices with her. Plus Tajin, of course. Mmmmmm.
The band for the night was Neon Circus, a Brooks and Dunn tribute band.
And here is a good place to suggest that El Paso might be the center of the tribute-band universe. Which stands to reason, I guess, because El Paso is kinda off in a corner geographically (and US-centristically, it goes without saying), so we're more likely to attract tribute bands than the real thing.
Our Meetup group was in a shady spot faaaaaaar away from the stage, so our own conversation among the cool grass and leafy trees, along with the ambient energy of thousands of chuckling, amiable families around us, stole the show, so to speak.
And then when I swam upstream to the stage for some snaps, I was more taken with the genius body language of one of Neon Circus' lead singers than the music. Damn photogenic.
Neon Circus, Independence Day at the Chamizal, El Paso. July 2017.
The swollen, close-to-full moon added drama.
Neon Circus, Independence Day at the Chamizal, El Paso. July 2017.
I couldn't choose just one photo to post here.
Neon Circus, Independence Day at the Chamizal, El Paso. July 2017.
Preach!
Neon Circus, Independence Day at the Chamizal, El Paso. July 2017.
Oh. Yeah, there were fireworks, too.
Independence Day at the Chamizal, El Paso. July 2017.
Independence Day at the Chamizal, El Paso. July 2017.
Independence Day at the Chamizal, El Paso. July 2017.
Independence Day at the Chamizal, El Paso. July 2017.
