REVIEW: Enjambre with Surely Tempo: Live at The Masquerade (Hell) - ATL
- Olivia Smith
- 19 hours ago
- 3 min read
The band kicks off their tour with a sold-out ATL show
Last October, I had a wonderful conversation with Rafael Navejas, bassist for the Mexican rock band Enjambre (read here). It was the first official interview I had conducted for Art Seen ATL, and we spent some time talking about the group’s experience with touring. Rafael said that their primary goal when hitting the road is to bring their “joyful spirit” to each audience. Based on these heartwarming sentiments, I knew I had to catch them the next time they were in Atlanta.
After delaying their usual touring schedule to prep brand-new music for their dedicated fanbase, Enjambre finally made their long-awaited return to ATL. The band kicked off the U.S. leg of their Daños Luz tour with a sold-out show at The Masquerade on Sunday, garnering hype for their upcoming album of the same name. Though you can instantly get a sense of Enjambre’s electricity by just listening to their music, seeing them live is an elevated experience that gives the truest taste of their larger-than-life sound.
Straight out of California, openers Surely Tempo set the tone for the evening with their high-energy tunes. Like Enjambre, Surely Tempo manages to capture the nostalgia of their indie rock predecessors while also curating their own fresh sound. The band has previously cited acts like Arctic Monkeys and The Smiths as inspirations, and you can certainly hear the resemblance through songs like “Lies” and “Señorita”. Of particular note were the bass and synth performances from Raymond Pardo and Kameron Salek—these two elements fused to perfectly capture their space-age meets surf rock sound, offering audiences “Something 2 Dance 2” as promised on their track of the same name.
The room was abuzz as fans waited for Enjambre to take the stage. “Palpable” wouldn’t even begin to capture the eager energy radiating from fans. As soon as the lights went down, the crowd went nuts. The Navejas crew launched into “Desfases,” which made its live debut at the Atlanta show. The crowd got progressively more and more excited with each track, cheering for both tunes they recognized and unreleased new favorites. From “Dulce Soledad” to “Angustias,” the band delivered a superb set that covered their 25-year career. Enjambre is an incredibly talented collective, and their musical skill and range was on full display Sunday night.
As I watched from the balcony, I basked in that “joyful spirit” Rafael mentioned during our interview. The love that the band put into each song on their setlist echoed out into the audience, creating a space alive and humming with hope. I saw fans hold onto friends and strangers as they sang their hearts out and danced their way through Enjambre’s discography, and it made me feel deeply connected to this world, even though I’ve only been privy to it for a short time. This show, in all its groovy glory, served as the perfect tide-over as we count down to Daños Luz’s official release next month.
Article by Olivia Smith. Photos by Mikey Smith. Please credit @mts2.photo or @art.seen.atl if reposting on social media.
