Qiensave, Tropa Magica - 10/8/25 - fresno, ca- strummer's

Qiensave, a quintet from Salinas, got the night off to a high energy start. Their energy was infectious with choreographed dance moves and big smiles. I'm not exactly sure how to categorize their music. Latin, caribbean rhythms with guitar that was Santana-esque at times and lyrics almost (entirely?) exclusively in Spanish. Some of their songs had nice, long jams. Their website describes them as a 'Cumbia Urbana group... with roots stretching back to Michoacan', which is an apt description for the group who kept everyone in the crowd moving throughout their set.

Tropa Magica finished the night, and I can't say enough good things about them. They describe themselves as psychedelic cumbia punk from East L.A, but that doesn't fully encompass the incredible performance they put on at Strummer's. There were only three of them, guitar, bass, and drums, but they made enough noise to sound twice as big. The danceable cumbia beats, the driving punk energy, the psychedelic guitar soaring over everything else, they were completely in the moment and engrossed in a search to find the combination of sound that was going to take them and us to a higher place, a search for transcendental notes and chords and harmonies. They were, simply put, incredible.