La Chapuza is a ska-punk band from El Paso, Texas. They've been around for a while. They've released two things (as far as I can tell on Spotify) and play TONS of live shows. This past Saturday, I saw them at my local venue "Whole Lotta Denim" for a show called "Punch Drunk Love"... a Valentines day show.. a couple days late. The first couple of bands were great, don't get me wrong, but there was no band I was more excited for than La Chapuza. I've seen them before, but not in the past year! I recorded their song "La Bestia" when they played it here.
According to the singer, who was apparently losing his voice, they were missing two trumpeters, so their only horns were two saxophones and a trombone. Despite that, they put on a pretty awesome show! They had the crowd moving the most (despite the low turnout) and the people in the front (including me) were pretty crazy for 'em. I'm not extremely familiar with the lineup of La Chapuza, but even without their full band, they blew through every song without a single mistake, and played my personal favorite song, "Wapachoska". Although their stage presence isn't huge, and they haven't got much dancing or running around going on, they're still a hell of a lot of fun to see. Their songs are unique and fast, and they're one of the few ska bands in the U.S. that sing in Spanish, which is one of my favorite things about them. Me and my concert buddy considered leaving the show early 'cause of the small crowd, but I was too excited to see them... So I'm glad I stayed. As far as I can find, La Chapuza have never been in ANY controversy regarding their band or who they date (Unlike many, many other bands from the El Paso area). They put on an amazing show and even had people who weren't rudies skankin' around the venue! Naturally, at the end of their set... I bought a t-shirt... 'cause they were out of patches.