You’ll find Tio Manuel performing at blues, rock, and roots festivals, a Gretsch slung over his shoulder and a weathered smile on his face.
His set moves from tex-mex to folk ballads, from urban blues to Latin choruses. Music that tastes of warm beer, dusty roads, and colorful barrios. There’s no need to look for a concept: it’s raw, festive, and generous. As if Calexico had taken a detour through Champigny-sur-Marne. We first encountered him in the 1980s, guitar slung over his shoulder and wearing a threadbare jacket, as a member of Wunderbach, a French punk-rock band that unleashed as much energy as the Clash on amphetamines. Manu Castillo—later to become Tio Manuel—honed his style there: direct, electric, and uncompromising. Then came the parallel paths: Outsiders, Catch 22 with Joe Hell (formerly of Oberkampf), and guest stints with La Souris Déglinguée. In short, a youth spent “toughening up his playing” in the style of Joe Strummer, Val-de-Marne edition. Now based in Bretagne, he nurtures his love of American sounds and desert landscapes, sprinkled with Spanish-language vocals that reflect his roots. In 2002, under the alias Tio Manuel, he recorded Rumba Urbana. The tone was set: rumbas evoking both the suburbs and the Barrio, rock looking toward Austin and Mexico, and Spanish choruses that hit like slogans. Neil Young makes an appearance in the turn of a solo (with Cortez the Killer as a nod), while Strummer’s ghost haunts the choruses of ¡Asi es la vida! (2004). Later, 3 Cosas (2008) emerged as a musical road movie: borders, barrios in flames, American illusions, and furious guitars.
Admission: At the door: 14 EUR Advance: 12 EUR
Source: paris.fr — photo: Ville de Paris