Los Mocochetes on Touring Mexico by Bus

Joshua Randy Abeyta: “We ended up taking a commercial bus tour from Juárez to Acapulco and back. In Acapulco, we went out to a bar called Combat Wings, a LoDo-style bar with a rockin’ classic-rock cover band. After their set, we gave them our stickers, and they asked us to play the next night at El Bicho Bar. We didn’t have a drummer, but we said yes anyway ‘cuz their drummer said he would sit in.

“The night of the set, the drummer bailed, but a random sixty-year-old dude said, ‘Vamos a ver que malos son’ [‘Let’s see how bad you are’]. He claimed he used to play with Santana, and as soon as we hit, I could not deny the possibility. He slayed it, and we followed suit with nothing but a bunch of borrowed instruments, at a tiny packed bar on the main drag in Acapulco. It’s something we’ll never forget.”

Los Mocochetes will play the Westword Music Showcase on Saturday, June 23. Get tickets and information at westwordshowcase.com.

Editor’s Note: The Denver Bootleg is a series chronicling the history of local music venues by longtime Denver cartoonist Karl Christian Krumpholz. Visit Krumpholz’s website to see more of his work.