Pop : El Puma Works Universal Crowd

“El Puma,”--a.k.a. Jose Luis Rodriguez, the 48-year-old Venezuelan pop veteran--walked onto the Universal Amphitheater stage Friday with some stiff, Las Vegas-like gestures (winking, pointing at the audience). But it took him only the slightest of pelvic thrusts to set the mostly over-30 Latina crowd into an erotic frenzy.

Rodriguez is a giant in the Latin pop world, and though he’s explored ample terrain over his nearly 25-year career (romantic ballads, tropical, disco, gospel), the one constant has been his sex-symbol status. And there was plenty of sexiness in his performance.

Instead of a big band, three glum synthesizer players provided all the strings and brass. This could have translated into a cold evening--and at times, Rodriguez did come off as self-absorbed--but halfway through the set he undid his tie, unbuttoned his shirt, and began working the crowd in earnest. He didn’t let up for more than two hours.

Interestingly, Rodriguez was able to weave elements from his old gospel days into the show (especially in a reverential song about a mother’s death). Placing these elements of spirituality alongside soft-porn numbers created a kind of pagan-Christian feel that exploded during the encores, which included a disco-ized version of Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” and a bilingual party tune. For “El Puma,” religion doesn’t necessarily translate into repressed sexuality.