Photos and review by NOTES FROM VIVACE
LOS ANGELES – Chicano Batman formed in 2008. In those early years, they played local festivals such as BloomfestLA and venues such as The Satellite. (The BloomfestLA festival of 2011 is rather unique for those steeped in the history of the LA indie music scene as the 8-band line-up also included Grouplove and Eastern Conference Champions which eventually morphed into Mondo Cozmo.) Fast forward a sweet 16 years later and the band was celebrating the end of their United States tour in support of their 5th album, Notebook Fantasy, at the Kia Forum.
The band entered the Kia Forum stage with a wave of the hand and an adoring cheer from the crowd. To get the blood of the audience pumping, the band started off the set with “Beautiful Daughter” that has an opening stanza of 70s rock ‘n roll. Lead vocalist Bardo Martinez had the largest smile as he spent time cheering on the Los Angeles home crowd that returned the favor by lighting up the venue with their phone flashlights. Meanwhile, fellow bandmates Eduardo Arenas and Carlos Arévalo played it cool while wearing sunglasses.
The band’s 19 song setlist had 8 songs from Notebook Fantasy, which included the dreamy “Era Primavera” and fantasy romantic “Fairytale Love” that must have had people swooning. Though the emphasis was obviously on their recent album, the band also played a selection of songs from their other 4 albums. The band had the audience wait until the end of the night before breaking out a couple of their larger hits “Cycles of Existential Rhyme” and “Black Lipstick.”
The band’s press release has the following about Notebook Fantasy: Chicano Batman has carved out a unique space in the music world with their soulful blend of psychedelia, rock, and Latin influences . . . Stripping everything back to the beginning, the album reflects the band’s artistic evolution, whether it’s revisiting relationships or channeling the feeling of childhood wonder. The band says creating it was a therapeutic process, with tracks like “Live Today exploring their quest for positivity amidst life’s chaos,” inspired by Buddhist teachings.
Setlist: Beautiful Daughter, Itotiani, Freedom Is Free, Live Today, Era Primavera, Magma, La Jura, La Manzanita, Requiem, Fly, Losing My Mind, Passed You By, Lei Lá, Color my life, The Way You Say It, Run, Cycles of Existential Rhyme, Fairytale Love, Black Lipstick
