For 27 years running, Marin County roadhouse Rancho Nicasio has hosted a summertime “BBQs on the Lawn” concert series. Los Lobos, the venerable SoCal rock band, has been around nearly twice as long. Put the two together, and ¡ya está! – the perfect marriage of tasty music and pastoral backyard vibes to kick off Memorial Day weekend.

Lines were long but worth the wait for Rancho Nicasio’s baby back pork ribs and smoked brisket (plus all the fixin’s, of course). The weather cooperated too, with a breeze offsetting the warm sunshine throughout the afternoon show.

But make no mistake, the main course on the menu was Los Lobos. For two sets, the sextet delivered a menu that included rock and roll (“Will the Wolf Survive”; a cover of the Blasters’ “Flat Top Joint”), Mexican polkas (“Ay te dejo en San Antonio,” a Santiago Jiménez song), and a highly anticipated version of the Grateful Dead’s “Bertha.”

The core of Los Lobos goes all the way back to 1973. At Rancho Nicasio, founders David Hidalgo (guitar, accordion, vocals), Cesar Rosas (guitar, vocals), and Louie Pérez (guitar, jarana, drums) were accompanied by Steve Berlin ((keyboards, saxophone) – who has “only” been with the band since 1982 – and drummer Alfredo Ortiz, now in his fourth year on the skins.

Another founding member, bass player Conrad Lorenzo, was notably absent, despite having played the evening before in Tulare. (Rumor has it he had a family celebration he needed to attend over the weekend.) David Hidalgo’s son Vinnie filled in admirably on bass.

For the first half of the show (a short first set, and for the first few songs of the second), much of the audience remained seated in plastic lawn chairs set up in front of the stage. People walked by the band carrying plates of BBQ. Rosas said, These people walking around with food are making me hungry.” But after filling themselves with cornbread, baked beans, and watermelon, the crowd remained hungry for music.

Rosas then implored the audience to shake their well-fed booties. “We’d like to invite all our dancers up here!” At first, there were no takers. But by the end of the next song, the lawn area in front of the arranged seats had morphed into a crowded ballroom dance floor.

The second set ended with “Going Down the Road Feeling Bad” (often covered by the Grateful Dead) segueing into “Bertha.” For an encore, Los Lobos rewarded a crowd eager for classic rock with Neil Young’s “Cinnamon Girl.”

Then the little ol’ band from East L.A. brought it all back home with their mega-hit “La Bamba.” But before throwing down their familiar, raucous version of the Mexican traditional folk song, Los Lobos paid homage to Bob Dylan’s birthday by singing the first verse of “La Bamba” to the tune of “Like a Rolling Stone.”

With the sun still high above the western horizon, Los Lobos ended the show with yet another song familiar to Grateful Dead fans, The Olympics’ “Good Lovin’.” And what’s not to love about a band that still kicks butt and takes names after more than fifty years?!

SET LIST:

Set One:
Will the Wolf Survive?
Set Me Free (Rosa Lee)
One Time One Night
Wicked Rain
Georgia Slop (Jimmy McCracklin cover)
Dream in Blue
Maricela

Set Two:
Is This All There Is?
Chuco's Cumbia
Shoot Out the Lights (Richard & Linda Thompson cover)
Kiko and the Lavender Moon
I'm Gonna Be a Wheel Someday (Bobby Mitchell cover)
Ay te dejo en San Antonio (Santiago Jiménez cover)
Cumbia Raza
Flat Top Joint (The Blasters cover)
Don't Worry Baby
I Got Loaded (Little Bob & the Lollipops cover)
Going Down the Road Feeling Bad ([traditional] cover) >
Bertha (Grateful Dead cover)

Encore:
Cinnamon Girl (Neil Young & Crazy Horse cover)
La Bamba (traditional) (In the style of “Like a Rolling Stone by Bob Dylan”) >
La Bamba (traditional) >
Good Lovin' (The Olympics cover) >
La Bamba (reprise)