Last time Los Lobos came through Salt Lake, it was August. Things have changed since then.
Now, listening again to their most recent release, the critically acclaimed "Gates of Gold," it is impossible not to hear it reframed in a new way in a country where there is now a drive to build a wall, an unfolding roundup of undocumented immigrants and talk of deporting the children of immigrants.
That's because it's children of some of those same immigrants — David Hidalgo, Louis Perez, Conrad Lozano, Cesar Rosas and Steve Berlin are all second-generation Americans — who formed a high-school band to perform traditional Mexican music and went on to become perhaps the most influential Chicano band ever.
That's not to say "Gates of Gold" is an overtly political album. When it was released in 2015, it was more about a spiritual journey than a cultural or political one.
But now America is a different place, and in that new context the immigrant experience and the influences that shaped their lives and this band are even more profound.
When Perez wrote the song's title track, he has said in interviews, he was thinking of his parents, who left Mexico for an uncertain future: "Far away beyond those hills is a mystery untold/ Far off almost out of sight, there's a beauty to behold/ Which way to go, can't say that I know/ Mamma, come gently rock my soul and tell me please, what we'll find behind those gates of gold."
It's a long way from home and a long way from the band's biggest hit, the cover of the Ritchie Valens hit "La Bamba," that made Los Lobos a household name.
Over a more-than-four-decade journey, Los Lobos have consistently produced a layered blend of rock, soul, punk and blues and folk. They have earned four Grammys and in 2015 were nominated for induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They didn't make it, but deserve to be there.
The band's return to The State Room on Sunday night puts Los Lobos in their perfect environment, with the audience so close you can feel the electricity coming from the stage, and promises two hours of searing heat.
Tickets are sold out, but you may get lucky at the various online resellers. The State Room is also offering upgrades — only if you already have a ticket already — that include early access for the band's soundcheck and a meet-and-greet with band members.
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An Evening with Los Lobos
When • Sunday, Feb. 19, 8 p.m., doors at 7
Where • The State Room, 638 S. State St., Salt Lake City
Tickets • Sold out
Steve Griffin / The Salt Lake Tribune Los Lobos performs as they joined Mississippi Allstars and Husband-and-wife blues musicians Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi for the Wheels of Soul 2016 Summer Tour at Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre in Salt Lake City Sunday August 7, 2016.
