The wolf survives: Los Lobos rock in many tongues at the Sellersville

Los Lobos embody the indie life. This former wedding band, this onetime acoustic outfit from East Los Angeles, once traveled around to small venues all over the place in the obligatory beat-up van. For more than 40 years, they've held it together, through small-label albums; major-label contracts and terminations; the long, global road; occasional big hits (their take on "La Bamba"; their trademark tune, "Will the Wolf Survive?"; their roustabout version of the Dead's "Bertha"); critical plaudits; adulation on the margins; and really great live shows.

They gave a couple of those on Saturday night at the friendly confines of Sellersville Theater. César Rojas looked out at the rowdy, white-maned crowd (in which I include myself) and joked, "This one's in Spanish for your dancing pleasure. ... Can you guys dance?" He and cofounder David Hidalgo missed some high notes, but everybody played like angels, mainly acoustic (seven guitars onstage), keeping to their roots, but rocking just the same.

Which brings up the other thing Los Lobos embody: Americana. That genre is defined by its lack of definition, its big, dirty embrace. And Los Lobos has long laid in those arms. Of course they sing a lot of songs in Spanish - Saturday's highlights included "La Pistola y el Corazón" and "Más y Más" - but during the 100-minute show, they drove their dented musical van through cumbia, Motown, tejano, country, mariachi, blues, funk, jam, and roots-rock.

Hidalgo sang the opener, the thoughtful, excellent titler from their album Gates of Gold. He has a singular voice, understated, yet you can't mistake the turn he gives philosophical lines like "Which way do we go/I can't say that I know." Then it was a blast into rockabilly, with Rojas leading on "Don't Worry Baby." Multi-instrumentalist Steve Berlin, crowd favorite, stepped up and blasted with his celebrated bari sax. Cofounder Louie Pérez was a driving force on jarana and guitar all night, his role growing as the night went on. And grinning Conrad Lozano lit up the place on bass.

The night was wild and various, with a rock medley veering from "I Can't Understand" to "Papa Was a Rolling Stone" to "No Way Out." The band gets a wall of sound out of its three excellent guitarists and Berlin, plus skilled drumming from Enrique "Bugs" Gonzalez (who earned a standing ovation with a smiling solo). The second half started with four straight "songs in Spanish," then a diesel-and-dust jam-band barrel through "Not Fade Away," "Bertha," and much else.

As the band laughed at the dancing crowd "singing along" with "La Bamba" ("BADADADA LA BAMBA!!!" and "ARRIBA, ARRIBA!" were about it), it was clear they have kept growing, kept moving, kept rooted. They did not do "Will the Wolf Survive?" - but this set made clear the answer. The Wolves of the East endure.