Some Lobos

Review: Los Lobos at The Egg ; Friday, Oct. 23. 2026

When Los Lobos brought out opener Jamie McLean to fill in for the absent Cesar Rosas Friday at The Egg, the veteran east LA band got their mojo back.

Stuck in Atlanta, guitarist-singer Rosas left a considerable gap that David Hidalgo mostly filled efficiently enough. Both sound and spirit felt thin early, though, but not the groove. Bassist Conrad Lozano and drummer Alfredo Ortiz had that going strong, start to finish.

Above, Los Lobos, from left: guest guitarist and opener Jamie McLean, bassist Conrad Lozano, drummer Alfredo Ortiz, guitarist singers Louie Perez and David Hidalgo, saxophonist, keyboard and flute player Steve Berlin. Below: Conrad Lozano and Alfredo Ortiz

Since playing Saratoga’s Universal Preservation Hall in February, Los Lobos revamped their setlist but wandered off script Friday, especially late in their 95-minute set when everything was cooking.

Unannounced in advance, McLean also faced an uphill fight, but won over The Egg’s Hart Theatre crowd (two-thirds full) with a well-paced extended opener. His original songs muscled up from thoughtful romantic musings into a punchy stripped-down rock sound that got more and more bluesy; then he landed in New Orleans. The guitarist-singer is entitled, having played with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Aaron Neville, Dr. John and other Crescent City giants. His closer “Spirits” bounced with Mardi Gras party energy, his lyrics leading a tour of streets and clubs.

Jamie McLean above at left, guitar and lead vocals, with bassist-harmony singer Chris Anderson and drummer Henry Schaub. Below, McLean

Cued from the wings to stretch their planned 30-minute set, McLean, busy bassist Chris Anderson and straight-ahead drummer Henry Schaub made the most of their bonus time; while Los Lobos maybe hoped Rosas would arrive, as Lozano joked when Los Lobos came on.

Filling Rosas’s absence fell mainly to Hidalgo: expanded vocal and guitar solo duties. After the spunky “Flat Top Boogie,” “Misery” and “Rebel Kind” (borrowed from the Modernettes, then Alejandro Escovedo) had a vintage rock feel their own anthemic “Will the Wolf Survive” fit well. Steve Berlin underlined Little Walter’s blues shuffle “I’m About to Lose My Mind” with baritone sax soul, thereafter sometimes playing sax plus keyboard. Jazzed up now, Hidaldo confidently wrapped “Dream in Blue” from their (best-ever?) “Kiko” album around Traffic’s 60s anthem “40,000 Headmen,” spiced with an out-in-the-open Ortiz funky-drums break.

Above, Los Lobos, from left: Conrad Lozano, bass; Louie Perez, guitar, vocals and jarana; David Hidalgo, vocals and guitar; Alfredo Ortiz, drums; Steve Berlin, saxophones, keyboard and flute. Below: David Hidalgo

Louie Perez, who’d played rhythm guitar to this point, sang some and played eight-string jarana to start the episodic “Venganza,” Hidalgo crooning in Spanish then swapping guitar solos with Perez before taking over Buddy Holly’s happy melodic classic “Let’s Go.”

When McLean joined for “The Neighborhood,” Hidalgo singing lead and bringing the audience into clapping along, things solidified, revved and soared; an exciting musical high point and poignant lyric. Perez smiled wide at McLeod’s main solo here. Flexible and funky, the fill-in guitarist knew what the song needed and gave it, with fire and personality.

Above, Louie Perez; below, Steve Berlin 2X

Same with the slippery shuffle “Bigfoot” and party-hearty “I Got Loaded” – Steve Berlin’s hot tenor saxophone break giving way to a singalong. He later played a bit of flute but mainly added low sax to the band’s powerful undertow. Seething menace punched up the two-lane rocker “Georgia Slop,” then they stayed high energy with the Grateful Dead’s “Bertha.” McLean glanced over at Hidalgo, Berlin and Perez a few times as if asking “stay or go?”They answered with smiles, encouraging, so he stuck around, adding funky fills.

However, McLean was absent when Los Lobos encored, again with cover songs. Perez noted playing a recent Bridge School benefit to introduce Neil Young’s “Cinnamon Girl,” sharing lead vocals with Hidalgo. As usual, “La Bamba” earned a (tentative) singalong; they wrapped it around the Rascals’ “Good Lovin’” before a reprise/big finish. No need to holler “More COWBELL!” either, Berlin had that covered.

Since I first saw them in an LA rock bar in 1985, then at the first-ever MASSMoCA show in 1999, in 2004 in Mona Golub’s last Second Wind season in Washington Park, at Jazz Fest in New Orleans in 2015 and other spots along the way, Los Lobos has always built energy and force by deliberate, slow steps. They reward fans’ patience by carrying us along on growing emotion. Friday they had to rise from a lower, slower-than-usual start, but caught up with their own long legend by the end.

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