SlipLive

Metropolitan University, Leeds

Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero are two Mexican metal fans who wound up in Dublin with no money, no English and nothing but a pair of classical guitars with which they busked their way to a record contract. Their live show features furious strumming and no small amount of motor-mouth swearing in strange, Mexican-Irish accents. But whatever you do, you must not mention the "f" word.
A liner note on their album states: "A lot of people say we play flamenco. We don't. We blend a lot of styles into our playing, but this area of music is not one of them." The fact that Metallica numbers, when played at warp speed on nylon-strung guitars, take on a distinctly flamenco feel is beside the point. But it doesn't clarify the issue of who Rodrigo y Gabriela are supposed to appeal to.
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The answer seems to be that they've stumbled on a unique formula that shows signs of appealing to everybody. There are plenty of blood-stirring Latin rhythms to please the world music crowd; a stunning version of Dave Brubek's Take Five - which actually takes somewhat closer to 15 minutes - to thrill the jazzers; plus the fabled Metallica and Led Zeppelin covers that have the audience making metal horn gestures in the air.
There's no denying Rodrigo y Gabriela can rock - insofar as it's possible to rock while employing those little footstools classical guitarists use to maintain correct playing posture. Rodrigo picks intricate runs while staring intensely ahead, while his partner spends as much time thumping her instrument as strumming it - it sounds like a controlled explosion each time the heel of her hand slams into the guitar.
They climax with a number dedicated to a Mexican friend who lives among a colony of crocodiles: a stomping workout in which their strumming hands disappear into a blur. Not even remotely like flamenco, of course.