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Language isn't a barrier when it comes to the brass players who travel around the world through their music. The Mexican brass quintet Metales M5, entertained the crowd Saturday at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center with costumes and jokes.
Dawning powder-white wigs, ruffled collars and knee-high socks, the quintet stood on the stage as the curtains opened and introduced the show with the "20th Century Fox" theme song. The group is made up of two trumpets, a tuba, French horn and a trombone, with a great sense of humor.
"We are from Mexico, if you can't tell," said Alexander Freund (trumpet), who hosted the show that evening.
While poking fun at the clothes they were wearing, Freundsaid he was actually born in Germany but was living in Mexico when he joined the band. Timothy Dueppen (trombone) is from California but claims he is also Mexican, because before 1848, California used to be Mexico. As for the other three members, they actually are from Mexico. The band itself was founded in Mexico in 2005.
Each member of the group displayed a sense of perfection and accuracy in their music that reflected their professional background. M5 played a variety of music from classical pieces and movie scores to folk songs from other countries.
"You know the difference between an operetta and an opera? The budget," Freund joked during their introduction to the Spanish mariachi "La Boda de Luis Alonso." He also summed up the premise of operettas as two people who end up together, get married but "something happened in between, but no one is ever really sure what."
Some songs were found especially pleasing for children — found sparsely in the crowd — and the nostalgic adults. These songs included "Il Barbiere di Siviglia," which was famously played in the "Bugs Bunny" cartoon, and several "Star Wars" themes that had a little girl in the audience jumping up and down in her seat.
All the while, in between their turns in the song, they would jokingly tease each other or dance around while attaining a healthy dose of laughter from the audience. At one point, they stood at the edge of the stage inhaling as if they were about to blow into their horns but instead started singing "la, la, la" during one of their songs.
Of course, while always making jokes about themselves and the things they do, Freund turned the joke on the audience. In their last song before intermission, an Argentinian tango, Freund asked the audience if anyone was from Argentina. One person cheered.
"What a surprise," Freund said. "People from different countries are found in L.A."
After the intermission, the quintet continually played song after song without much interruption with information or jokes. The comedy was found more in the act during the songs.
Nearing the end of the show, the music had circled the world from different countries and found itself finally playing Mexican-based music.
"Rule number one for live audiences is to yell, whistle and make noise," Freund said.
And the audience interacted perfectly. Listed as the M5's Mexican favorites on the program, songs such as "La Negra" and "Guadalajara" ended the night with plenty of clapping and cheering with a standing ovation. It truly resembled the fiesta that was celebrated the entire evening.
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