Los Bitchos – Talkie Talkie

I live near Philly, and Philly has an amazing music scene, both local and touring – but because I live near yet not in Philly, I don’t get to shows as much as I would like. Typical suburban problem: I don’t have easy access to the trains, and parking near venues in the city can be very difficult. Also, for a bunch of reasons, I don’t like to commit much more than a week or two in advance. But last spring we heard Los Bitchos were coming to Underground Arts in September – months and months off – and immediately bought tickets. Not only that, but, to my surprise, when I told my younger kid about it, they also committed to going to the show with their partner and even some friends. (For the record: the number of rock concerts, or concerts of any kind, that I attended with my parents stands at zero.)

So it was months of anticipation, along with some of the usual concern about where the heck we would park – something that was enough to keep me from going to see The Courettes when we had the chance – but when the time came, we ended up driving in and finding a spot within view of the venue’s front door. The kids showed up by train, and we all had an amazing time – the energy of the show was just wonderful, exactly what I thought and hoped it would be. The band came out to Belinda Carlisle’s “Heaven Is A Place On Earth” – apparently their normal welcome-to-the-stage music – and they immediately brought the party with their infectious rhythmic songs.

This new album had just come out at the end of August (2024) – I hadn’t even played it when we went to see them because I wanted to hear the songs live first and then experience the record, but in the case of Los Bitchos, there’s not a huge difference. It wouldn’t have spoiled anything, it was just how I felt at the time. I had no concerns about a sophomore slump at all – somehow I knew they’d be bringing more wonderful, joyous tunes, and I was right.