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Lila Downs is the daughter of a Mixtec Indian woman, Anastasia Sanchez, who ran away from her village at 19 to sing in Mexico City cantinas and a Minnesota-born, Scottish-American film & photography professor, Allen Downs, who saw her singing and fell in love. Lila Downs was born in the Oaxacan mountain town of Tlaxiaco, 7,000 feet up in the heavens. The first songs she remembers are her mother singing Lola Beltrán's heartfelt rancheras, and her father singing Woody Guthrie's ''This Land Is Your Land.'' Her border-blurring, multicultural upbringing infused Downs with a firm world view in support of the disenfranchised working classes and an aesthetic vision that embraces cross-cultural pollinations.
As a result Downs has become one of the most innovative exponents of Mesoamerican music on both sides of the border. Her lyrics are high-minded and sentient and her sound is all encompassing. By drawing on a pan-Latin palette of music as well as American folk, jazz, blues and rock, Downs and her worldly band of kindred spirits, La Misteriosa, have won accolades and a devoted following of world music fans. Known for her smoky voice and magnetic performances, Downs has created a unique body of work that defies categorization in any single genre.
With eight studio albums and one live album released since 1999, Lila Downs has long been recognized by the music industry. She received a Latin Grammy for the 2004 release “Una Sangre,” and a Grammy nomination for 2008’s “Shake Away,” as well as various performance awards from around the world. Her 2011 release, "Pecados y Milagros" garnered both a Latin Grammy for Best Folk Album, and a Grammy for Best Regional Mexican Music Album. It also hit #1 on the Mexican music charts immediately after its initial release, and reached Double Platinum status there.
In addition to headlining venues all over the world, Lila Downs has performed at major festivals and events including WOMAD; Live Earth; Montreal Jazz Festival, San Francisco Jazz Festival, the World Sacred Music Festival - appearing with such luminaries as the Dalai Lama; the Latino Inaugural Ball for President Barack Obama, the Bicentenario de Mexico, the opening ceremonies for the 2011 Pan American Games, and the 2012 Latin Grammys on Univision.
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Lila and her band was amazing. The renovated Balboa Theater was the perfect intimate venue for this performance. Made my friends and I feel like we were in a small and select group to enjoy her performance.
Great Voice, great performer and great musicians. However, show is too short.
I saw Lila about 6 or 7 years ago and loved her great voice and dynamic style. She is just as good now if not better. Don't pass up the opportunity to see/hear her perform.
I waited a long tome for the opportunity to see her live and I was amazed at the honest display of talent. No need for extravagant lights, customs, technological embellishments.... her voice and great musicians will make you "feel" the music. When she sings indigenous songs (in dialect) ... wow!! I get so emotional. She has her own material and her interpretation of great folk music that "transport" me to the times I watched the reruns of classical Mexican movies in the TV and my aunts and mom would sing the songs and talk about the great singers ans composers. My Grandfather would call me "La llorona" and whistle that song, I was hoping to hear her sing my favorite song, may be next time. .. P.S. I dislike any event where there are NO pictures allowed :(( understandable but still dislike
Was so happy to see Lila here in San Diego last Sunday evening. She is pure, passionate and sweet and embodies everything that a true artist possesses when performing their music. WOW! What a range, what a voice!
Wonderful, soulful and captivating. Just wish the concert would have lasted longer, surely the entire audience would agree, as everyone was completely tuned into the music and performance. Incredible show, such a unique blending of musical and cultural genres. Lila's voice is amazing - as is the band. Lovely theatre. Wished there were some concert memorabilia available for purchase (even something small), in addition to the latest CD.
Her register of voice is awesome...She sings with that latin passion...really worth to see Lila live!
Amazing voice! Great show! Too short! She should have sung at least another 3 or 4 songs!
She's absolutely awesome. She needed to sing more though, also songs in other languages.
Wiltern Theater was packed, concert was supposed to start at 8:00PM. but it started at 9:15PM. was worth it the wait. she sang for 1 1/2 hrs. mostly new stuff from her new album, yes will go again. and will recommend a friend.
Lila gave an amazing performance. The acoustics were great. It was nice to hear so much music from the new album. The Wiltern security staff had a difficult time managing the crowd on the right side of the theater. It was unfortunate that so many incredibly rude and inconsiderate people attended the concert. People kept standing in the aisle or in the stairs at the front to video, take pictures, or try to make up for their seats. They did this with no regards for the people whose view they blocked. Their behavior and the efforts by security to rangle the crowd distracted from Lila's performance. Sadly, for half of the concert, a security staff person stood at the top of the stairs and blocked the view. Overall the performance was excellent but some members of the auience ruined the experience.
Lila is one of the best performers I've seen and I've attend more than 300 concerts. She has one of the best voices I've heard and is extremely talented. The only issue I had with show was that the Disney Concert Hall did not allow her to come back out for an encore which would have been great since her perfromance was only about an hour. When I see her next time I'll make sure it's a different venue.
Amazing! Great venue! Great opening act (Buika)! Great performer Lila inspires!
There two women were inspiring and unforgettable! Buika's passion and unique vocal style was a perfect compliment to the eclectic, creative and spiritual experience of Lila Downs!
I loved the venue and the concert best time ever seats were perfect and will definately go back to Disney!
Every thing was amazing! i would go see her sign her awesome songs again.I would do anything to meet her in person!
i love lila. i have seen her many times and would see her again. unfortunately house of blues had some early clientele from another party that went too long- the result was that when lila was singing there were huge amounts of loud drunk people in the back by the bar screaming over each other. it made it really hard to hear her and very hard to concentrate. if these were actually fans of lilas then that did not show and they have been absent at every other show of hers.
Great concert but we were really surprised how short it was! For the money we paid, we expected more concert. Thank you.
It was a good performance; she has a good stage presence; the sound was adequate. I gave her an average rate because I thought she would perform traditional music, even singing with south Mexican dialect. Basically, I was with the assumption of hearing something like in the closing titles of the movie "MEN WITH GUNS".
Lila Downs has an amazing voice and undeniable talent. Her concert was full of energy, tradition and meaning. Lila’s songs bring about a panoramic range of tradition fused with modern style and experiences. Simply astonishing!
