Cinco de Mayo, Socorro Style

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Although I'm sure growing up in Tucson we celebrated the real meaning of this holiday, the last few years I have found myself in bars with names like Dos Gringos and Macayos and Chuys, drinking Corona and watching very gringo bands perform.

This year we headed down to Socorro's historic plaza for the Cinco de Mayo Celebration, mostly to see Mariachi Bueno Ventura and also to get some tasty food. This mariachi group is all-female and we had previously seen them play at my company's Christmas Party in Albuquerque. They are quite good, but unfortunately it was so windy that the microphones didn't work very well. And being in Socorro, there seemed to be no one in charge who could help them out with technical difficulties. We also enjoyed roasted corn, funnel cake, and bean, chili, and cheese burritos.

It turned out to be quite cold, so we didn't stay very long. We did run into most of Matt's Spanish-speaking classmates and one Professor, who all seemed very surprised that gringos such as us were enjoying mariachi music. They were even more shocked when we told them we'd seen them before. Ah, being a gringa is so much fun.

Anyway, it was good entertainment for a Saturday in Socorro. I will miss a few things about this town.

The Arlo Guthrie Family Legacy Tour

This show actually came to Socorro last night. Matt got in for free, being a student, and because it was sold out, we conned another student into getting me a ticket so I could go too. I am so glad we didn't miss this!

Arlo Guthrie, his son Abe, his daughter Sarah Lee, her husband Johnny Irion, and some random guy were all there. It was fantastic. Arlo told some funny stories and of course included the usual songs and and commentary against war and the current state of the world. I had heard of Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion before, but never really paid much attention. Her voice is beautiful and they have written some great songs. Johnny also plays a mean harmonica. The group played some of Woody's, Arlo's, and Sarah Lee/Johnny Irion's songs. It was pretty neat. I am considering picking up Exploration so I can listen to them some more.

Matt and I were definitely some of the youngest people in the audience, as all the New Mexico hippies came out of the woodwork for this one. But as Arlo said, unfortunately most of this music is still relevant today, some 50-70 years after it was written. Ya'll should check this out.