Paul Young and the Los Pacaminos on stage at The Apex later this month
The Apex, in Bury St Edmunds, is to become the setting for a great night’s rocking, when the Stetson-wearing Los Pacaminos ride into town.
Eighties singer Paul Young teams up with some of the best musicians in the business to play Tex-Mex classics, Americana and original material that falls somewhere between Mexican Mariachi, Americana and Country/Blues.
The Tequila-fuelled, magnificent seven, Los Pacaminos (pictured above) play songs like “Wooly Bully”, “La Bamba” and “Raised on Margaritas”.
Their brand of happy party music has proved popular with audiences and the band has built up a great following.
Paul Young’s solo hits in the 1980s include “Every Time You Go Away”, “Wherever I Lay My Hat” and “Love Of The Common People”, but what started out as an entertaining side-project for Paul in the early 1990s is still going strong over 30 years later.
Paul says: “Los Pacaminos started out just for fun, playing simply for the pleasure of it, and it just took off from there.
“It’s real bar room stuff, foot stompers, not too many slow songs – a real party atmosphere.”
It sounds like he’s enjoying the whole experience: “I do like being back in a band again; the pressure is off me, I can kick back and enjoy other members of the band singing and playing.
“And even taking me out of the equation, the standard of musicianship is fantastic, there’s seven of us altogether and we make a great sound.”
Tex Mex music is a jaunty fusion of Mexican and Southwestern American styles, rock and roll, blues, country, and various strains of Latin music.
It emerged in the ’60s, when garage rock bands began pounding out rock and roll that was spiced with south-of-the-border flourishes and by the ’80s, Tex-Mex was established as a unique genre of its own that fell between the cracks of rock, country, and Latin music, championed by the likes of Texas Tornados, Los Lonely Boys, The Mavericks, Ry Cooder and Los Lobos.
Alongside playing with The Pretenders, Tom Jones, Joan Armatrading, Ray Davies, The Waterboys and Alison Moyet, the band members have all played in Paul Young’s previous bands, so their friendships stretch back 20 to 30 years.
It’s these long term connections that underpin the very special atmosphere generated at a Los Pacaminos show.
Los Pacaminos are at The Apex on Saturday, April 18, at 7.30pm.
Seewww.theapex.co.uk or ring 01284 758000 for more information, or to book tickets.