La Murga Report (Travel Edition) – 4/30/22 at Houston

If you are unfamiliar with the concept of The False 9’s La Murga Report, click here.

Regular readers know that we here at La Murga Report have been forced to ponder some difficult questions. Questions such as “does premeditated silence count as a song on the setlist?” and “what the hell was that tuneless racket?” are but two we have tackled in this nascent season. However, this week’s match in Houston offered perhaps our greatest philosophical quandary yet: what is La Murga? Or more specifically, what counts as a La Murga performance?

It was our belief, upon launching the Murga report, that these articles would only be published after home games. The draconian (and perhaps even vindictive) policies of the away stadiums around MLS meant that La Murga would rarely be afforded the opportunity to bring instruments on the road. Even in an environment as electric as Audi Field, where we brought 300-odd fans of the verde and black, the fun-haters of the DC United front office put the kibosh on anything but a capella songs and chants. We then tried to get creative in San Antonio, but our attempt to bombard their stadium with a phalanx of kazoos was quickly snuffed out by security. It seemed all but certain that La Murga (and its accompanying Report) would be confined to McKalla for 2022.

And so when word came down from The Dynamo that Austin FC fans were allowed to bring a smattering of instruments into PNC Stadium, the question then became whether it would count as an actual performance, historically speaking. Is it still La Murga if their ranks are artificially diminished by the whims of our opponents’ visitors policies?

With this in mind, we want to make The False 9‘s editorial position on the matter known: if you have at least two horns, two drums, and one capo in the stands, then you have La Murga. We cleared that threshold this weekend in Houston, and so we are proud to present the first road edition of La Murga Report. Now let’s get to the numbers!

What Songs Were Played, and How Many Times

Note: at home games, “McKalla” is usually played at least once per half. On the road, however, it made sense to substitute it with other standards. Thus, both “512” and “Matador” were played an additional time each.

What Songs Were Playing When Austin Scored

What Songs Were Playing When Houston Scored

Season Totals

Final Thoughts

It was a big day for “Let’s Go ATX,” which was playing during both of Austin FC’s goals. This stellar performance means that it has overtaken “Bella Ciao” for the moment as the second-most successful song (non-Moment of Silence division). In contrast, it was a day to forget for “Dale ATX,” which not only saw a goal conceded but was playing when Brad Stuver suffered a scary injury. While Stuver’s initial prognosis seems good, if he is out for any extended period of time, then it is the position of the Murga Report that “Dale ATX” be banished to The Phantom Zone.