Sur Sizzles

Closing out iFest: What it's like to rock when everybody wants to go home

Sur rocked the stage even as many in the crowd was ready to call it a day.
Photo by Karen Labuca
Espinos
Photo by Karen Labuca
Quisbert
Photo by Karen Labuca
Medrano and Espinos — the original members of Sur — are still a force.
Photo by Karen Labuca
The choir added a special touch to one of the last acts of iFest.
Photo by Karen Labuca

By the time the last time slots at iFest approached Sunday night, the crowd was winding down and thinning out.

It's a somewhat strange location for the H-E-B Cultural Stage to be situated right by a main entrance that's often ignored by passersby who hunt for the main acts performing on the Bud Light Stage only a couple of steps ahead. Sur, the South American Folkloric quartet which consists of Alfredo Espinosa, Julio Medrano, Gonzalo Quisbert and Alfredo Leon, still managed to make a decent amount of festival goers stop, listen and dance.

"Our sound is traditional music from the Andes," Medrano told CultureMap. The members themselves are eclectic with Espinosa from Argentina, Medrano from Mexico, Quisbert from Bolivia and Leon from Peru — so there's a clear mix and understanding of Latin culture infused into their music.

Medrano's Spanish guitar solos were transformative enough to make you want to be in South America at that moment.

Just as traditional and experienced as these musicians are separately, the stage production is no less so, with decorated, unfamiliar instruments laid out in front. Medrano gave a quick lesson on the origins of the instruments as he pointed out each one. "We have the zampona, quena and charango all originally from the Andes, the bombos, a South American staple and flutes, Spanish guitar and a violin."

While Sur played an earlier set in the day, their evening performance was a special treat not to be missed as they were accompanied by the First Unitarian Universalist Sanctuary Choir to close out the night.

Before anything had started, front man and bombos player Espinosa showing some Argentinian pride with his blue and white polo, walked on and off stage, delaying the set time for repeated sound checks. Even though he was a bit of a perfectionist, he at least had the audience's best interest in mind.

Every song was fun, accompanied with seamless production. All the instruments came in at perfect points as each band member knew exactly what to do, staying focused throughout and playing off one another. The sound of Leon's dramatic violin to upbeat Spanish sing-alongs had loyal fans mouthing every lyric and all ages participating. Espinosa's bombos kept the crowd going with repetitive hand-clapping and sudden Latin dancing as people walked by the stage or popped up from their seats to join in.

After each song, Medrano would show his appreciation and say "Si, senor, gracias!" The entire group though was carried by the dynamic duo of Espinosa and Medrano. The two founding members of the original group from 1985, are still unbelievable vocalists. Medrano's Spanish guitar solos were transformative enough to make you want to be in South America at that moment.

Just as the set was about to end, a light drizzle of raindrops fell. But that didn't stop Sur's chants building up to the last piece, "Misa Criolla" with the First UU Sanctuary Choir. "It's a spiritual, Catholic missal, usually sung by priests," Medrano said. As the finale started, each member put on traditional ponchos and started the solemn song as the choir tried to keep up.

Sur showed a lot of pride in what they do. They actively interacted with the festival crowd throughout the night. Their longevity is a real tribute to traditional South American music.

When asked about their iFest experience and the Houston music scene Espinosa and Medrano agreed, "Houston's been a great place for us to play the type of music we make. We haven't been back to iFest since 2002 and it's a great honor.

"It's really nice and we love it!"

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Movie Review

Dakota Fanning-led The Sun Never Sets needs more direction

Photo courtesy of Independent Film Company

Dakota Fanning in The Sun Never Sets.

The movies of writer/director Joe Swanberg have always been an acquired taste, as he prefers to give his actors a loose framework of a story and let them improvise most of their lines to give the films a more natural feel. Sometimes that approach can yield great results, and sometimes — as in The Sun Never Sets — it can result in addled and maddening storytelling.

Wendy (Dakota Fanning) is in her early 30s and at a crossroads in her life. When a friend announces she’s pregnant, she starts to re-evaluate what she wants, including her two-year relationship with the older Jack (Jake Johnson). Although they love each other, their disagreements on having more children and extracurricular activities call their long-term viability into question.

Jack, not wanting Wendy to settle, encourages her to explore her options where they live — Anchorage, Alaska — telling her he’ll be waiting should she strike out. What he doesn’t expect is that Wendy’s ex-boyfriend, Chuck (Cory Michael Smith), has returned to the city, giving her an attractive alternative. The three engage in a love triangle that proves frustrating and confusing for both the participants and the viewers.

What works best about the film is its location in Alaska, which rarely gets showcased in movies, and even more rarely in the way it is here. The story takes place in warmer months, and Swanberg gives his characters multiple opportunities to be outside, showing off Anchorage’s harbor, surrounding mountains, and seemingly vibrant city life. The subtle but effective way Swanberg frames various scenes makes the landscape enormously appealing.

It’s too bad, then, that the story never measures up to its surroundings. Too often Fanning, Johnson, Smith, and others seem to be grasping for their next line, unsure of what they want their character to do or say next. That lets their scenes mimic real conversations, but you might not realize how much you want scripted dialogue until you see actors trying to come up with their own in the moment.

The larger issue is that there’s no consistency from scene to scene about where the plot is heading. The characters of Wendy, Jack, and Chuck are extremely wishy-washy about their desires, with each of them vacillating back-and-forth in just how much they want to be with each other. Depending on your experience, this may or may not be true to life, but watching it is excruciating and not enjoyable or romantic in the slightest.

As actors, Fanning, Johnson, and Smith are talented and interesting, with each capable of connecting with viewers in different ways. But working in improvisation is a different beast, and only Johnson — who has worked with Swanberg multiple times — seems truly at home. A few others, like Debby Ryan and Anna Konkle, do well in the format and maybe deserved bigger parts.

Swanberg has proven in the past that his method of filmmaking can be insightful and entertaining, but that is not the case here. In The Sun Never Sets, his hands-off approach is a detriment to the flow of the film and the story as a whole, resulting in an experience that is far from what most viewers will want to go through.

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The Sun Never Sets is now playing in select theaters.

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