Ozomatli uniquely explosive in free Alumni Hall show

Chances are, you missed an amazing show Saturday night. Ozomatli rolled through the Indiana Memorial Union's Alumni Hall crowd of a few hundred with horns flailing and explosive percussion to deliver the most awesome performance I have ever seen. And it was free.\nUnion Board sponsored the posse of 10 crazy and energetic musicians who are as friendly as they are talented. Hailing from Los Angeles, the group puts out a unique Latin-rock-hip-hop sound with style and ferocious energy. What's even better is the band cares about something more than just getting famous. \nThese musicians were at the Democratic National Convention, playing in the crowd after the police threw them and the 10,000 audience members out. They do benefit shows and care about justice. At the performance, bass player and vocalist Wil-Dog Abers condemned bombing retaliation toward Afghanistan on behalf of the group. He also cut his hand towards the beginning of the set, lashed some tape on it and kept playing. The show was almost two hours of non-stop energy.\nAfter waiting through two mediocre hip-hop opening acts, the lights dimmed on the audience for the last time and everyone turned towards the stage. They were spun around just as quickly towards the burst of percussion in the back of the room from where Ozo marched through the crowd with cowbells, drums and horns to take the stage to screaming fans. \nOzo mixes Latin rock with hip-hop and some unknown vault of funky spirit. Spanish flowed to hip-hop and horns to percussion with ease, as if Ozo developed some kind of unknown formula no one else has discovered. At this show, it was almost the rule to dance. \nGuitarist Raul Pacheo drove the melody, spending time with both a Fender Telecaster and acoustic guitar, also adding vocals. Horns blasted bright Latin grooves and necessary soul for the group. Trumpet player and lead vocalist Asdru Sierra gave his strong, sweet voice to the Spanish lyrics, adding determination and heart to the music. And Ulises Bella (tenor saxophone, guitar, vocals, clarinet) is the only person who could pull off a clarinet solo in the middle of a rock show and keep the crowd cheering.\nAll of the energy and talented musicianship built off Ozo and the crowd throughout the show to climax in the musicians jumping offstage, hopping the barricade and circling up in the center of the crowd to pummel ears with rhythm yet again. Mixing beats into dancing and chanting, Ozo rounded the enthusiastic audience up for an amazing show-stopper. \nOzomatli took the crowd higher than it had ever been, spun around through beats, activist intelligence and melody, then dropped everyone back down into the chaos of the world with a wide-eyed expression.