Artist: Izcalli

       The Aggie Theatre, a relatively small, yet cozy venue located in downtown Fort Collins, was packed with energetic fans and FocoMx attendees having the time of their lives last weekend. When I first arrived at their show, the “Rock en Español” band from Denver, Izcalli, had already begun their public jam sesh on stage. I took a spot towards the front, leaning on the rails that separated the dancing crowd from the ones who observed the show from the elevated floor near the wall. The entire set was in Spanish, and I thanked my lucky stars that I had taken the language for three years in high school. Roughly five minutes into the set, a guest trumpet player threw in an insane solo, captivating the entire crowd towards the music. He performed a number of alluring pieces throughout the night, adding a jazzy feel to the band’s music. He was the fitting piece to the band’s puzzle, and I truly hope that he was an active member because I would love to see him on stage again.

     The lead guitarist, Miguel Avina, had an eccentric set, and maintained his high-leveled energy at all points in the show. At one point, he toasted the crowd with a “salud” and a shot of whatever was in his cup. Miguel demonstrated overall passion and strength within his music, and I fell in love with his art immediately. Not only did he put a great bit of emotion into every song, he was able to rock out…hard. So hard in fact that the small audience formulated the first mosh pit I have ever witnessed at the Aggie.

       To the left of Miguel was his sister Brenda Avina on her bass guitar. Avina maintained a fantastic rhythm throughout the entire show. She even began to do some light salsa dancing throughout the entire set. I admired the confidence she carried, and her overall style was A+. She was also the only woman in the band, which made her even cooler.

      There were two drummers, one located at the front of the stage and the other center staged in the back. I am not aware of their names, but I am well aware of the fact that I have an enormous middle school girl crush on the cute drummer in the back. He portrayed so much energy onto the crowd, and kept it going with his solid beats. At one point he even jumped on the top of his drum set, and it basically set the crowd a flame with how hot it was. The other drummer also maintained a wonderful amount of energy, and he busted out a number of sick solos that kept the audience entranced in the music.

       For being a local, up and coming band, Izcalli maintained such a specific professional image that stood out immensely on stage. They put in an intense amount of energy and passion into their music. Each artist in the band demonstrated an incredible amount of talent, and portrayed highly unique personas. I have never been to a show where every single artist made such a phenomenal and unique contribution to the music as well as to the overall performance. Izcalli’s stunning show has officially made it into my top ten favorite performances. This is coming from someone whose seen-it list includes popular bands like the Arctic Monkeys. They were good, but performance wise, Izcalli was better.