we went down to amoeba music on sunset to see aterciopelados play for free. ever since they opened an amoeba in LA i have been dying to go there. only i was saving my money for new zealand and now i'm broke from new zealand so this was finally a good excuse to go down there. we didn't know if there would be a signing as well. we just hoped for the best. and we got it.

why shopping at amoeba will drain your bank account

we were able to find a parking spot immediately. we went inside and got up right in front of the stage and waited. it wasn't too long before hector and andrea arrived, bringing beers or something for the members to drink. then we saw them record shopping. hell, if i was from south america and playing at amoeba, i'd go crazy record shopping too. i noticed in their basket was "cuatro caminos" by cafe tacuba. cool. then they did a sound check, playing "a eme o" and "maligno", more record shopping, plus perhaps a snack in the back. when alejandro came over for the sound check, i got him to sign the setlist from yesterday.

it was a very intimate setting, wonderful. hector had more trouble with his bass today than yesterday. urian played a stripped down drum set. i wonder if it's amoeba's. i've always thought that alejandro was a great guitarist in the relaxing, melodious beatles tradition. i've never watched their concert from his side of the stage and it was great to be right in front of him and watch him play with such ease. they stuck to the setlist but at the end they skipped "candela" and went straight into "a eme o". they were starting to leave (quick, grab the setlist now!) when andrea realized her mistake and they closed with "candela".

amoeba advertized this as an andrea echeverri show

when the show was over, the other members walked off the stage but andrea stayed behind to sign things and take pictures with fans. meanwhile the amoeba staff were trying to get everyone in a neat and orderly line for the proper signing at a table. we got to take a picture with andrea while she was still on the stage. then we realized we were part of the line and up near the front so that was cool. nopalita pulled out her entire bedroom for andrea to sign but she didn't mind and took her time to make each autograph unique with drawings and such. i was giving twiddle thumbs ideas for small talk with andrea. i just didn't feel comfortable talking to her in english and thought it'd be better for twiddle thumbs to speak in spanish with her. we learned that andrea tries to be a vegetarian but hector is one completely. when the girls later got to talk to him, they learned that he has been a vegetarian for 10 years but drinks milk. almost every band that twiddle thumbs named, hector likes as well which is very cool, including bjork, sigur ros, system, siouxsie, etc. back to andrea. twiddle thumbs asked if we could buy her a cd. she was embarrassed but said ok. we had 3 ideas. serart. the creatures "hai". lisa gerrard "duality".

immediately we went on a mad dash for record shopping. they didn't have serart and i didn't bother looking for lisa gerrard because i found "hai". along the way we ran into alejandro and urian who were record shopping. then i paid for "hai" as the girls went upstairs to chat with hector. i went back to the table and andrea was still signing away. the girls came back, twiddle thumbs gave the cd, andrea hugged twiddle thumbs in thanks. if the next aterciopelados album sounds a little budgie influenced, you know why. if she doesn't like it, hector probably will. then we went upstairs so i could say hello to hector. then we left and at ate california vegan on sunset. a good day.

twiddle thumbs, me, and andrea

hector and me

setlist:
amortiguador
ya yo no
luz azul
menos mal
el album
quedate
a eme o
candela