Pop Music Reviews : Miguel Mateos: Rock as a Universal Language

Argentine rock singer Miguel Mateos proved Sunday night at the Celebrity Theatre in Anaheim that “Rock en Espanol” is rousing rock ‘n’ roll in any language.

As part of his first U.S. tour, the charismatic Mateos gave a visual performance worthy of any U.S. or British hard-rock stylist, strutting around the stage a la Mick Jagger and flipping his long golden mane like David Lee Roth.

Mateos’ backup band--which played with an intensity that verged on heavy-metal at times--was a polished collection of mostly U.S. musicians.

Mateos, spearheading a movement of Spanish-speaking rockers from Latin America and Spain, was headlining an 18-city tour, dubbed “Rock en Espanol.”

Though he sings only in Spanish--the lone drawback in what appears to be an otherwise strong crossover potential--his songs are universal, hard-driving works that cover the full spectrum of rock themes, from rebellion and romance to occasional social comment.

The mostly Spanish-speaking crowd of 1,600 cheered loudly and danced through most of the lively, two-hour set. The reaction was strongest when Mateos, 35, rocked the hardest.

Duncan Dhu, one of Spain’s most popular rock groups, opened the concert with catchy, new wave-like, guitar-dominated songs reminiscent of Peter Case’s old band the Plimsouls. With a Spanish album out on Sire Records and an English single getting some KROQ-FM airplay, Dhu may be the first of the “Rock en Espanol” bands to break into the U.S. mainstream.