Michael Doherty's Music Log: Cruzados Headline A Great Night Of Rock At Maui Sugar Mill Saloon, 3-14-26

Cruzados

Cruzados is a band that started in the mid-1980s. Posters for the band's current shows indicate it's the group's fortieth anniversary. That's not exactly true, however. The band is both older and younger than that. Cruzados' first album came out in 1985, more than forty years ago, and the band was obviously around even before that, while the current lineup is only six years old, the common piece being bassist and songwriter Tony Marsico. So, really, it's a different band now. The 1980s Cruzados was really good, no question (you probably remember a few of their songs), but this current incarnation of Cruzados is even better. And last night these guys showed just how great they are, delivering an excellent set at Maui Sugar Mill Saloon, on an outstanding bill that also included Mark Knight & The Unsung Heroes and The Blessings. A night of solid rock music.

Mark Knight & The Unsung Heroes

Mark Knight & The Unsung Heroes were up first. A Los Angeles-based band that's been around since 2013. And Mark Knight and drummer Tigg Ketler have actually been playing together for more than thirty years, both having been founding members of Bang Tango in the late 1980s. So there is a history there that can be drawn on, a solid foundation. Just before nine the band members began gathering on stage so that right at 9 p.m. they were ready to go. They opened with "Rusty Bones," the lead track from the group's 2021 album Days Of Dreamers, a great rock number with something of a reggae flavor to one section. Mark then told the crowd he was glad to be at the Maui Sugar Mill Saloon, "our favorite little bar in the valley." The band then played "Truth Always Rises," a song from the most recent release, last year's Sixth Time's The Charm. It's a good, fun song. Remember fun rock music? Then "Hey Mama" was a delicious bluesy swampy rock number, this one featuring a great bass line from Damian Valentine. That was followed by "11:11," another song from the most recent album, which featured a cool moment near the end when both guitars acted as lead guitars. Mark then introduced guitarist Dan Fitzgerald, who was sitting in with the band, saying he basically learned all the songs the previous night.

"Just Go" featured some nice fills on drums and a totally delicious lead by Mark on guitar. It was his guitar work that made that song stand out. That was followed by "Lies." In introducing that one, Mark said a lot of lying has been going on lately, "especially in this country." Indeed. It seems that a significant chunk of the population enjoys being lied to, for millions of people re-elected a known pathological liar (just one of his many faults - in fact, I challenge the entire population to come up with one characteristic of the man that could not be labeled a fault). Anyway, that song contained some good, solid drumming. Mark introduced "Might Be Lonely" as "a little rocker," and it certainly was a rocker, and a catchy one at that. That song featured a cool sort of spoken word section, and just became more and more enjoyable as it went on, ending up being one of my favorites of the set. The band wrapped up the set with another cool number, "Dinner Time," which featured the two guitarists trading licks during the jam, and also included a bit of The Doors' "Roadhouse Blues."

Cruzados

There was an excitement in the air as Cruzados were setting up and tuning. A good crowd had turned out for the show, which was no surprise. Several musicians were in the audience, including Mini Mendez (of Glimmer Stars) and Pat Todd (of Pat Todd And The Rankoutsiders). Tony Marsico asked the crowd, "Anyone want to introduce us?" Of course, someone took him up on that offer, and did a good job, and the band was immediately off into the first song of the set, "On The Tilt A Whirl," which is the lead track from She's Automatic, the band's 2021 album. There was a terrific energy from the start. That was followed by "Rising Sun," a song that, as Tony said in his introduction, is from all the way back in 1983. They delivered a totally fun rendition, featuring a particularly good section where the bass was the lead, leading us in the audience to places of great fun, great joy. And they rocked out on that song. They followed that with "Queen Of The Quake," a song from the band's 2023 release, Land Of The Endless Sun (which somehow I don't yet own a copy of). So much fun. "Wiggle that body down to the ground." I loved watching Loren Molinare seeming to pull notes from his guitar, like ripping them out of the instrument.

They then announced they were going to do some songs that were featured in various movies, starting with "Don't Throw Stones" from the Patrick Swayze movie Road House. The song is featured in the opening scene of the movie, and the band is visible on the stage. How was that song not included on the movie's soundtrack? It's the opening song, for fuck's sake, the song that sets the tone. Anyway, that was followed by "Back To The House That Love Built," a song that was featured in Desperado, the Antonio Banderas film. On the soundtrack to the album, it is by Tito & Tarantula, but was also included on the 2009 Cruzados compilation, Greatest Hits. The band then returned to She's Automatic for "Long Black Car," a delicious rocking number. Toward the end, a drum stick was tossed into the pool table area. It's good to make sure those folks are paying attention. Tony then introduced the band, and they delivered the title track from She's Automatic, a song with a great beat from Rob Klonel on drums. I was particularly happy to hear that one.

"We wrote this song back in 1982," Tony told the crowd in introducing "After Dark," another song that ended up in a movie, this time From Dusk Till Dawn, where it is also by Tito & Tarantula. The band invited a woman from the audience to come up to play the Salma Hayek role. You might recall that Salma does a dance with a big snake. And once the volunteer from the audience was on the stage last night, Tony retrieved a plastic crate that was labeled, "Beware of Snakes." But that prop was quickly dispensed with, and the band launched into that very cool tune. The woman from the audience remained on, or near, the stage, dancing. That was followed by another tune from a movie. This time the movie was Repo Man, and the song was "Reel Ten," an instrumental piece by The Plugz, the band that led to Cruzados. Vocalist Ron Young left the stage for this one, another seriously cool number. Tony commented afterward that it had been decades since they'd last played it. The band then did a couple of songs from those first two records in the 1980s, "Bed Of Lies" straight into "Motorcycle Girl." Both those songs were hits for the band, and I love how it was Rob's work on drums that connected the two songs. The audience wanted more, and the encore was "Johnny Pay To Play," which had a great rock and roll sound, a song inspired by Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode." It was fantastic. The Cruzados' set ended at 11:02 p.m.

The Blessings

And the show was not over. Twenty minutes later The Blessings were on stage. The shortest of introductions, "Hey, guys, we're The Blessings," and the band got right into the first song, "Steer You Wrong," which featured some great stuff by Mike Gavigan on guitar as well as some cool work by Jeremy White on harmonica. "More Trouble Than Fun" followed, that song being one of my personal favorites. "I'm not your clown/The circus just left town." This one too featured some nice work on harmonica. Then "Hangin' On" contained this line, "Leave this city behind before they drag you to hell," which stood out to me. Jeremy, the band's lead vocalist, strapped on his guitar for "Whole Lotta Soul," but almost immediately broke a string and carried on without the guitar. "I promise it'll be all right," he sang, and it was. There still was a whole lot of excellent guitar work by Mike Gavigan. "You'll need a whole lotta soul/To keep the hard times behind you." That was followed by "Is There Anything You Wouldn't Do" and then "Back Home." On "Back Home," there was some cool stuff on harmonica right from the start. This was another of my favorites, featuring some good drumming. And "Uptown Too Long" included a bit of cowbell. Both Terry on drums and Phil on bass had celebrated their birthdays the day before, and Jeremy wished them a happy birthday. Jeremy was going to play guitar on "Tomahawk Inn" (the string had been replaced by Nick Alexander during "Back Home"), but after some trouble tuning it, decided to make do without the guitar and instead delivered some great work on harmonica. That was a particularly fun song. The set ended with "Drink In Her Hand," with Mike at one point holding a note on his guitar for a delightfully long time. It was a really good set, though fairly short, ending a minute before midnight.

Set Lists

Mark Knight & The Unsung Heroes