
“I’m not gettin’ old. I’m gettin’ dead.” Sixto Díaz Rodríguez, at age 70, standing before an enthusiastic, sold out crowd at The Warfield in San Francisco last night. He took time away from his set of late 60s folk protest rock and some surprising covers to engage the audience, often with humor (and some of it lighthearted and self deprecating) and incredible charm. I don’t know about the rest of the crowd, but if I could have one wish granted at the show, it would probably be to go up and give him a hug. He seems to be quite a sweet character, and beaming with happiness, which was not quite what I expected having his work on rotation for the 2.5 hour drive into the city. With boots, leather pants, black shirt and coat, and his trademark hat and glasses, he stood before us like some kind of elder statesman rock star… long lost and forgotten, that he was there at all playing on stage was as much unlikely as it seemed to be a part of his destiny. Truly an incredible opportunity to experience his music live and in person, I can’t imagine anyone in the room went away anything less that ecstatic with the show.
Who: Sixto Díaz Rodríguez
Who or Supporting: Giant Giant Sand
Venue: The Warfield
Where: San Francisco, California
Promoter: Goldenvoice
When: April 23, 2013
Seating: General Admission Standing (front row center)
There was quite a crowd lined up outside The Warfield even more than an hour before doors, and a lot of excitement in the air about the evening before us.
For me, it was an even more, well, for lack of a better word, unbelievable night, in that I had two concerts planned… completely unrelated at two different venues in San Francisco. First up was Rodríguez… kind of a legend as well as would be legend (as showcased in the Academy Award-winning film, Searching for Sugar Man)… this show ran from 7:00 doors until 10:30. About a mile and a half away, I then caught the “late” Prince show at the DNA Lounge, with the music icon taking the stage there at 11:30 and running until after 2:00 AM… so it was quite a surreal night, and I couldn’t help but to draw some contrasts and comparisons to the two artists.
Fantastic review, thank you for posting it.
I was looking for tickets to see Rodriguez with out exit, it is sold out everywhere but I found a weeks ago for October in Brooklyn – NY, can’t wait for this day.
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