By NOTES FROM VIVACE
LOS ANGELES – I came across Meth Math at Viva! Pomona music festival in 2021. It was a freezing December night, but Meth Math warmed up the outdoor stage and the crowd rushed over to them when hearing the first few reggaeton beats. How lead singer Ángelica Ballesteros was able to deal with the freezing temperatures while wearing a short-sleeve dress is a bit of a mystery to me. I was still freezing, but it didn’t matter because Meth Math just stole the show with a blended mix of electronic beats and artistic flair.
Flash forward a little over two years into the future and Meth Math was back in Southern California, headlining their first City of Los Angeles show at the Zebulon. It was a packed house for the Mexico City (also known as CDMX) -based band. Fans were pressed up to the front of the stage. Ballesteros came on stage dressed in a skin tight shirt painted to look like a tuxedo. A dance move while coming up on stage and a “Halo” had the crowd cheering ecstatically.
The band is on a 7-stop tour in the United States in support of their February album release, Chupetones. The band’s management team Semaphore has the following about the band members, “. . . . grew up in the manufacturing city of Hermosillo, Sonora, 1200 miles northwest of Mexico City. Despite the challenge of distance, they became figureheads of CDMX’s Neo-Perrero scene . . . Additionally Angel runs her own clothing label in CDMX, Baby Angel, and does various art projects, pop ups and site specific installations and ceramics.” This helps explain the blend of visuals, fashion, dance, and music that is combined together for a Meth Math performance.
The performance of the song “Mantis” perhaps combines all those elements best. Cartoon video of a Japanese artist painting near Mount Fuji scrolled across the curtains of Zebulon. Ballesteros sang with vocals of a mystical Middle Earth creature and danced across the stage as one just enjoying life versus trying to entertain. That, against the lyrics of a random romantic encounter, “Hoy solo comeré (Today I will only eat). Dulces frambuesas (Sweet raspberries). Flores y fresas (Flowers and strawberries).”
The song “Catastral” was perhaps the fan favorite as screams started up as soon as the first synth beat hit. The crowd screamed every dance move and Ballesteros took the opportunity to grab the hands that were reaching out towards the stage. As the set was heading towards a conclusion, four women were brought up on stage and they all had fun dancing on stage. A few others in the audience rushed up to the front of the stage, hoping they’d get the opportunity to come up, as well. Unfortunately, it was limited to just the four. At the end of the song, Ballesteros said one word, “Sexy.” When it was announced that there was just one more song left in the set, the crowd yelled back, “Por qué.” When the song ended, they chanted for an encore and they got it as the band performed two additional songs. A curtsy was made before exiting stage left.
It has to be mentioned that there was a long line at the merch table prior to the performance. Noticing the long line, Ballesteros walked over and took over the sale duties from the merch assistant. She started to hold up the merchandise, do the sales, and take a few selfies with fans.
Opening up the night was LST. The sound is a mix of Basia and Julee Cruise. Her friends were out in the audience with the “I love you’s.” After singing one song where the word “running” was quite prominent in the lyrics, she gave a deadpan joke, “That one was called Running.” For the last song, LST danced away while the audience moved up to the front of the stage to enjoy the music.
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