Thee Commons :: The Echoplex -

East Los Angelenos Thee Commons took the stage to a fully warmed-up audience Sunday night at the Echoplex. Fusing their love of psych rock and cumbia music into a rhythmic energy, Thee Commons have music that you can both dance and mosh to. Fans were eager to do both as they began their set with “Salvatica/Su Sonrisa.” Founded by brothers David (lead vocals and guitar) and Rene Pacheco (drums), Thee Commons have proved that the musical ground underneath East LA is still fertile. Boasting some surf rock, some rockabilly, and some psychedelia inspired by the brothers’ love of The Doors and Pink Floyd, the music feels fresh and experimental while still honing in on the best parts of cumbia that serve to keep people on their feet.

Saxophonist Jesus Salas hopped into the crowd and laid on the floor while a sea of cell-phones filmed him holding his sax into their air with his feet. With a painted clown joining them on stage to juggle and blow up balloons, the band eventually put on their wolf masks, giving the dance party a bit more bite. Along with some well-loved and creatively augmented covers, the band also performed a brand new untitled track showing that they are never wasting time.

By the end of the set, fans on the floor were hopping up on stage to dance with the band as Thee Commons create a fun community feel to their shows suggesting they are better suited being on the ground with their fans. Their show is never without antics – performing while on a skateboard, rolling on the floor, clowns, masks and a stage full of people during their three-song encore of “Demolicion”, Selena’s “La Carcancha”, and “Avispa Del Amor”. After having toured their new album ‘Loteria Tribal’ out on Burger Records in April, Thee Commons could not have had a better welcome home.

The night was opened by California soul-rockers The Altons, San Fernando retro trio Cutty Flam and San Diego’s colombian cumbia beat-makers the dangerous looking La Diabla. They performed what seemed like two incredibly long songs with bandanas on their faces and eventually put the audience into a moving trance with their alternative accordion-driven latin rhythms.

Shot by me for Spaceland.