The basic gist of my conversation with el mero mero of Los Enmascarados is that he could tell me his real name — but then he'd have to kill me. Let's just say that the "Nacho Libre" masked man goes by J.D. He plays the accordion. And he claims he's the son of a conjunto great who died a quarter-century ago. Together with bassist J.C. (don't go there), bajo sexto player M.J. (no jeweled glove in sight) and drummer O.J. (he doesn't drive a white Ford Bronco), they are Los Enmascarados. Yes, they look like the sons of the legendary Mexican wrestler Mil Máscaras. No, they didn't rip off the instrumental group Los Straightjackets. "Never heard of 'em," says J.D. Los Enmascarados bring their fun, alegre conjunto sound to Blue Mustang on Saturday. Cover is $7. Show time is 9:30. The masks never come off in public. We're talking 15 years. "I've got to keep 'em guessing," J.D. said. "Hopefully, later on we can just unveil the masks and people will go, ‘I knew it was you' or maybe ‘Put the mask back on. You're ugly.' " There was never any doubt that J.D. had struck on something, tapping into lucha libre mythology. "I thought, ‘This is my ticket.' " The colorful wrestling masks come from Reynosa. J.D. bought them after a nightclub owner told him he "Wouldn't give me the time of day unless I could make him look twice." Double takes aren't the only thing that came with the conjunto group's novelty look. Some people in the audience wanted to kick their asses. "At the very beginning, people gave us the thumbs down," J.D. admitted. "They wanted to beat us up. Yeah, guys would tell me, ‘Hey, man, I can kick your ass.' I told him we're not wrestlers." It got so crazy that Los Enmascarados recorded "No Somos Luchadores (We're Not Wrestlers)." "Now, we don't get that anymore," J.D. said. "And all those people that were criticizing us are buying our stuff." Fans inevitably ask the same questions: Can we take your masks off? Are you really wrestlers? Are you really Mil Máscaras' nephew? "It's always stuff like that," said J.D, especially from kids. "They all sing our songs." J.D. says that he's not playing a character. "No, actually I tried that at the beginning. I'm the same person. I tried being different, but we're all just happy guys," he explained. "We're just trying to entertain the folks. Were they ever inspired by anybody else that wore masks? "Yes, the rock group Kiss," J.D. said. "I've thought about doing one song of theirs with accordion, ‘I Wanna Rock and Roll All Nite' (sic)."
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If you can't sing -- dance. or Play the accordion... | 
