Alex Cuba at the Dakota Jazz Club, Minneapolis (6/9/10)

Tour Dates

Alex Cuba is having a lot of fun on stage at the Dakota Jazz Club in Minneapolis on June 9^th.

 

 

There was no opening band, instead the show is broken into two parts: a solo acoustic performance by Cuba, which lasted like a full set of nearly an hour. Mi espanol es muy malo, but I could clearly pick up and understood his Spanish songs. Something about the light (la luz), something about money (dinero) – rhyming with first (primero), etc. So basically, what I’m telling you is that the sound is so clear that you can definitely hear vocals.

While the acoustic setting is nice and intimate, I felt that Alex Cuba is at his best with his backing band. With percussion and bass, his songs really sounded much fuller (and not to mention possibly the loudest I’ve ever seen the Dakota get).

Most of his songs are from his latest self-titled album, which was released in the US last Tuesday, but there’s a few gems from his earlier Juno-awarded albums, like “Vampiro” from Agua Del Pozo.

Highlight from his show includes his only English song (from the new album) called “If You Give Me Love”. While he claims he’s still learning English, having living in Canada for a few years now, his English is actually not that bad. I’ve heard worst, and I sometime think he’s playing that no hablo card.

Cuba’s show also requires a lot of interaction. He’s asking the audience to sing along, particularly on the easy-to-follow “Si, Pero No” (yes, but no) and “Las Mujeres”, which I think the later is a new song. Although the chorus of “She’s not so usual” may be lifted from “Dramatica Mujer”, his song with Jason Mraz.

Towards the end of “Que Pasa Lola?”, two ladies from the club came on stage to dance with Alex Cuba, who welcome such stage invasion. He’s laughing and smiling and having such a good time, it’s infectious.

You can tell that Alex Cuba is just happy to be doing what he loves. And in a rare opportunity, he offers to sign whatever you bring to him after the show, and believe me, there was an immediate lineup.