Kick Out The Jams: Ozomatli at the House of Blues, Sept. 4

The unfortunate thing about a melting pot is that almost always, one of the flavors gets lost in the mix, having blended away into bland oblivion. With 10 talented musicians all on stage dancing, drumming, playing and singing, Los Angeles band Ozomatli strives to make sure each of its genres is well-represented.

At the recent Latin Grammy Awards, comic/host George Lopez cracked that Ozomatli is a band "so multicultural they get pulled over no matter who's driving." While the group's tour-closing show Saturday didn't draw enough of a Labor Day weekend turnout to necessitate upstairs seating at the House of Blues, its every-ethnicity makeup was reflected in the diversity of those who did show up to groove: hip-hop heads, lovely Latinas, fat little frat guys, salsa-ing stoners and even a few ass-shaking Asians. Really. This is a band that has a Japanese-American tablas player, so don't doubt it.

Opening the show were electronic rockers Plastilina Mosh and alt-Latin band Kinky, a Mexican quintet that played a less energetic but far more cohesive set than Ozomatli to an adoring audience. Of course, Kinky has five fewer members to keep track of.

Ozomatli took things over and opened strong behind the Afro-Cuban beats that lie at the foundation of its music, but lost a little momentum when attempting some fractured hip-hop numbers. MCs Justin Poree and Jabu Smith-Freeman proved to be adequate rhymesmiths, but the spicy simmer of the music lulled when either of them took the mic and the spotlight.

In strong contrast, when singer Asdrubal Sierra was allowed to let loose on the salsa-flavored songs, complemented by some serious funk from bassist Wil-Dog Abers and guitarist Raul Pacheco, all was well on stage and in the crowd. Multiculturalism seems to make people dance.

Although Ozomatli has been known to get political--some "Bush is bad" and war images were flashed during a few songs--it was mostly about the party; that is, if you don't mind grinding up against some kid with a clipboard trying to register you to vote.--Brock Radke