The Mavericks cured whatever ailed the audience at The Wilbur Theatre last week! Most of you know how the Boston area is suffering this winter; seeing live music is helping to keep me – and many others – sane and The Mavericks helped immeasurably!

The Mavericks

Those of you who have been reading my posts regularly know how much I love this band; I have seen them ‘only’ four times and I think this was the best of them! The Mavericks were on fire Thursday night!

The band is touring to celebrate the release of their new album, Mono. They chose Boston to start the tour and the crowd roared when Raul Malo, the lead singer with the caramel voice, told us!

Raul Malo

They started the set with four songs off the new album, which was released only two days before this show. I saw some people in the audience singing along with them, but it seemed that most people did not know these songs. It did not matter in the least; by the end of each song, we were singing the chorus right along with them!

Eddie Perez

The Mavericks formed in 1989 by current members Raul Malo on lead vocals and guitar and Paul Deakin on drums and backing vocals. Along the way, they were joined by Jerry Dale McFadden on keyboards and vocals and Eddie Perez on guitar and vocals, as well as more recent additions James Intveld on bass and backing vocals, Michael Guerra on accordion and percussion, Max Abrams on saxophones, and Paul Armstrong on trumpet.

Jerry Dale McFadden

Michael Guerra

Raul Malo

Eddie Perez

Paul Armstrong and Max Abrams

Paul Deakin

James Intveld

This is Jimmy Intveld’s first tour with The Mavericks; he replaced founding member Robert Reynolds quite recently. I love that he plays the double bass; it melds with the band’s sound better than the electric bass (in my opinion). I hope he stays with the band.

Jerry Dale McFadden with Jimmy Intveld and Michael Guerra

Jerry Dale McFadden is one of my favorite musicians to watch and photograph. He is extraordinarily animated and colorful; he sports outfits that are color-coordinated from head to toe that differ from show to show. On this night as you can see, he was dressed in bright orange.

Jerry Dale McFadden airborne!

Jerry Dale McFadden (with the ‘Mono’ megaphone)

One of the things that has impressed me most about The Mavericks is how attuned they are to their fans. This was the second show at which I was standing with eight-year-old superfan Vivian who was seeing the band for the fifth time; when Eddie saw her at the stage, this was his reaction:

Eddie Perez, noticing Vivian

They played almost all the songs from Mono and added many of their best-loved songs as well. ‘Back in Your Arms Again’, ‘Dance the Night Away’, and ‘All You Ever Do is Bring Me Down’ made it onto the set list. For the first song of the first encore, Raul came to the stage alone and played an incredibly soulful version of ‘Mona Lisa’! Wow!

Raul Malo and Eddie Perez

I think caramel is the perfect word to describe Raul’s voice, which is one of the best in the business. It is sweet, rich, and smooth. He can add an edge to it (think sea-salted caramel). I could listen to him sing the phone book (I may have used this phrase in my last review, but it still fits).

Raul Malo

The band had as much fun on stage as we in the audience did. I noticed smiles on all faces throughout the show. How can you not have a great time with one of the most wonderful bands making music today?

Jerry Dale McFadden, one foot in the air!

They are off to Europe after the first part of the North American tour, a fact Raul mentioned when he said they needed to practice ‘Amsterdam Moon’ before they showed up for their concert in Amsterdam. They will be back in the US and already have at least one date in Massachusetts in June (Indian Ranch).

The Mavericks

Go see them if you have the chance – they are worth traveling to see!

Photo pass courtesy of The Mavericks; all opinions are my own.