In a pairing that re-created a generational spark of Los Angeles music history, Los Lobos [ tickets ] and The Blasters [ tickets ] took the stage Friday (12/12) at the House of Blues in West Hollywood, ending a mini-tour by the two bands.

While both bands can still spit musical fire when needed, the punk edges of their earliest recordings have largely been replaced by a well-worn catalog steeped in recognizable musical moments, and the crowd at HOB clearly came to hear what they already knew.

The Blasters hit the ground running with about an hour of high-octane jump-boogie and roots rock. Highlights included an incendiary reading of "Dark Night" featuring touring guitarist Keith Wyatt building an extended guitar lead into a showstopper of a crescendo.

Singer Phil Alvin noted the Christmas-day passing of James Brown two years ago and worked up a heart-tugging rendition of "Please Please Please" in tribute, and original Blaster and current Los Lobos saxman Steve Berlin joined the band on "So Long Baby Goodbye," a tune from his era with the band.

For their part, Los Lobos have perfected the art of working through their set as easily as pulling on a comfortable jacket while delivering a wall of sound that packs the wallop of a ton of bricks, perhaps best evidenced by their opening song choice, "Will the Wolf Survive?"

Having not released any new material since 2006's "The Town and The City," the band picked through their catalog without any pressure to push a current album, and that freed them to dip into lesser-played deep cuts like "The Giving Tree" from 1990's "The Neighorhood" and Pancho Villa-era corrido (story telling song) "Carabina .30-.30." On this night, "Maricela" felt slinkier than most and "Kiko" took on a swampy vibe, adding to its general otherworldly lyrical narrative.

With a frontline populated by Cesar Rosas, David Hidalgo and under-appreciated guitarist Louie Perez (who spent most of the band's first 25 years behind the drum kit) and a backline driven by the formidable Conrad Lozano on bass and Cougar Estrada on drums, Los Lobos on stage is a stew of precision and virtuosic meanderings.

Sax and keyboard player Berlin peppers the proceedings, but ultimately, the pace and direction of any show comes down to Hidalgo, Rosas, Lozano, Perez and Estrada reading each other like seasoned jazzmen.

The fragility of that dynamic was put under the spotlight at the end of the set, when Blasters vocalist Phil Alvin and drummer Bill Bateman took the stage to cap the bands' three-show run with a joint mini-set of The Blasters' "Buzz Buzz Buzz" and "I Wish You Would," Los Lobos favorite "I Got Loaded" and finally The Blasters' "Marie Marie."

Things got rocky at several points with guitar solos running too long (particularly where Blasters guest Carlos Guitarlos was involved), song endings and transitions relegated to frantic finger-pointing as the two camps tried to figure out who was in charge of the jam.

Then again, this part of the show was probably as close to an historic re-creation of the two bands jamming together at Madame Wong's in the early '80s as anyone's likely to see again. The good old days weren't polished, and to their credit, neither The Blasters nor Los Lobos can be called "polished" 35 years down the road.

See a photo gallery from the show.

Los Lobos Setlist:

Will The Wolf Survive?
Evangeline
Shakin' Shakin' Shakes
Chuco's Cumbia
The Giving Tree
I Want To Be Like You (The Monkey Song)
Teresa
Maricela
The Neighborhood
Kiko
Carabina .30-.30 (Louie on drums)
Yo Soy Mexico Americano (Louie on drums)
Volver, Volver (Louie on drums)
Buzz Buzz Buzz (Bill Bateman on drums, Phil Alvin on vocals, Carlos Guitarlos on guitar)
I Wish You Would (Bill Bateman on drums, Phil Alvin on vocals, Carlos Guitarlos on guitar)
I Got Loaded (Bill Bateman on drums, Phil Alvin on vocals, Carlos Guitarlos on guitar)
Marie Marie (sung in Spanish with Bill Bateman on drums, Phil Alvin on vocals)
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Cumbia Raza
Run Run Rudolph
Mas Y Mas