"Coming into the night, this Latin rock combo was definitely the biggest question mark. None of the other artists I spoke with knew anything about them — yet they won tbt*’s Ultimate Local Band contest, and brought a big crowd with them to Skipper’s. Brothers Gabriel and Alejandro Valdivia and drummer James Ferrellseemed genuinely humbled and happy to be part of the show, but they didn’t just pop in to claim their prizes. Bassist Gabe absolutely killed it on his six-string, providing a crazy-funky backdrop to Triptico’s jammy, jazzy rock. And guitarist Alex, who as part of the contest received a brand-new Dean Hardtail guitar, broke that bad boy out in the middle of the set, then played it the rest of the night, with the tags still dangling from the tuning keys.Triptico laughed as they ripped their way through a deep set tunes in both Spanish and English. They tossed free CDs to the crowd of dozens on the dance floor. And in what was maybe my favorite moment of the night, they did a wicked double guitar solo. And by that, I don't mean a solo on a double guitar — I mean, Gabe literally reached over Alex’s shoulder during one solo so they could both wail on the same guitar at the same time. Trippy.
Triptico closed the set, and the night, with an encore cover of Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb. That’s about how I’m feeling now, at 4 a.m.
Time to sleep. And start thinking about next year’s tbt* Local Music Showcase."
-- Jay Cridlin, tbt*. Photo by Yaima Zamora.
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