With their much–anticipated new album Mettavolution out now and following a sold out European tour, Mexican acoustic rock guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriella will be embarking on a major UK tour this autumn culminating at London’s Eventim Apollo.
Sun 22 Sep 2019 Liverpool O2 Academy
Tue 24 Sep 2019 Bath Forum
Wed 25 Sep 2019 Gateshead Sage
Thu 26 Sep 2019 Glasgow O2 Academy
Sat 28 Sep 2019 Leeds O2 Academy
Sun 29 Sep 2019 Manchester Albert Hall
Mon 30 Sep 2019 Birmingham O2 Institute
Fri 04 Oct 2019 London Eventim Apollo
Tickets are onsale now below.
Through relentless touring and terrific word-of-mouth support, Rodrigo y Gabriela have established themselves as a hugely in-demand live act, particularly in America, where they sold out the Hollywood Bowl (two nights) and the Red Rocks Amphitheatre as recently as summer 2018. They have also sold out multiple nights at the Royal Albert Hall in London, Le Zenith in Paris and Radio City Music Hall in New York, not to mention venues in Australia, Japan and Europe. They are recognised by their fans and critics alike as being one of the top live touring acts in the work.
Five years since their last album, Rodrigo y Gabriela’s Mettavolution (released via Rubyworks / BMG) is a collection that marks the most ambitious music of their twenty year career together.
Three years in the making, Mettavolution brings together Rod and Gab’s passionate interest in Buddhism, the history of human evolution and the liberation of the potential we have as a species; all expressed through the medium of two acoustic guitars. Conceived and composed in their studio in Ixtapa on the Mexican Pacific Coast, then road-tested in South America and the USA in 2017, before more fine tuning and further tweaks on their Australian tour of 2018, a long list of new material has been distilled down to six new Rodrigo y Gabriela compositions and one audacious, jaw-dropping cover version.
Rodrigo y Gabriela recently shared a b/w performance video for the track “Terracentric” which can be viewed HERE. Of the track Rod & Gab say: “Sometimes we need to be self centered in order to be the best version of ourselves for us and for others. Meditation is a good example of an individual practice that in fact is the most compassionate action we can do for everyone. Clearing the mind is not only for your own benefit but for the benefit of all living beings. Terracentric is an invitation to look inward, to be a little bit “selfish” for a minute and do what you can for your own sake. If we all did the same this world would be a very different one. Terracentric is the connection with this earth. Reconnecting with the so called reality of our human existence.”
Deep-rooted fans who discovered Rod and Gab through their 2006 self-titled breakout album have long recognized the Mexicans’ mastery of their instruments. And Rodrigo’s shimmering, hummingbird flourishes hovering over Gabriela’s extraordinary engine room rhythm section are present and correct on ‘Mettavolution’; but what sets this new record apart is the laser-guided focus on melody, energy and beat. There is not an ounce of excess baggage on the fresh, dynamic tunes that Rod and Gab present here.
A white-hot side one that acknowledges the duo’s thrash-metal roots back in Mexico City gives way to an incredible new arrangement of Pink Floyd’s ‘Echoes’, inspiringly reimagined for two acoustic guitars.
Rodrigo and Gabriela: “We are big Pink Floyd fans. That track, specially the live in Pompeii version means a lot to us, we even made a huge visual reference in our video for ‘Hanuman’. Besides that, the lyrics are even more relevant now than they were 45 years ago, the search for knowledge about ourselves, it’s becoming a key element for survival these days, that’s what evolution is all about at the end of the day.”
On working with noted producer Dave Sardy, the guitarists add: “Everything was ready for it, all the circumstances around the idea of agreeing to work with a producer came together right at the time we talked to Sardy. And our intuition was right. We talked to a lot of great producers before him but the conditions just weren’t there. When we talked to Dave it just felt we had arrived.” Recorded in Los Angeles, Sardy, - best-known for his work with Oasis, LCD Soundsystem, A Perfect Circle and Fall Out Boy - has helped Rod and Gab to a new recording career pinnacle.
With career album sales well in excess of 1.5 million worldwide, Rodrigo y Gabriela have established themselves as globally successful artists who are eager to write new chapters in their already illustrious story.
Mettavolution is out now via Rubyworks / BMG. Album artwork and tracklisting below:
Mettavolution tracklist:
1. Mettavolution
2. Terracentric
3. Cumbé
4. Electric Soul
5. Krotona Day
6. Witness Tree
7. Echoes
