Out In Town

Vicente Fernandez visited the city with the largest Mexican population outside Mexico, the beautiful city of Los Angeles, CA. He performed at the Gibson Amphitheater at Universal Studios City Walk in Hollywood. I had wanted to see this man perform for some years now, but his tickets always sell out very quickly and the resell price goes to the roof! This year however, a friend wanted no birthday party, no gifts, but for some of his best buddies to go with him to see “Chente” perform. So, we did. Beer along with Margaritas and shots of Tequilas set the mood to listen and sing along with Vicente’s Mariachi. The amphitheater was packed. It was very difficult to imagine that we were in one of the most important cities in the United States, where English is the official language. The impact of the Hispanic, in this case the Mexican, community was felt hours before the concert in the restaurants and bars of Universal Studios City Walk. There were Mexicans, the vast majority, eating and drinking before enjoying the music that reminds us of the place we used to call home. It is hard to not get goose bumps at the sound of the trumpet and guitars playing Viva Mexico or Guadalajara. The crowd sang most of the songs and danced to the most rhythmic notes. Vicente kept his initial promise that he would not stop singing until people stopped applauding. Thus the two hour concert turned into an almost four hour performance that everyone enjoyed. The deep Mexican roots inside everyone in the audience came out and succumbed to the songs of one of the greatest exponents of Mexican Mariachi music.

For one night I felt so close and yet so far from a remote Mexico of old. It was like traveling back in time to ages ago when my parents, uncles and their friends would sit down at the table after the party was over to socialize. It was as if time had stopped and I was a kid again and would hear them sing these songs. But, time had not stopped. I was not in Mexico. I was not a kid anymore and my extended family is at some level separated by more than a border. Yet, the music made more sense than ever. The tequila and the song’s lyrics resonated against the pain and hurt of past loves. This seems to be, as one of his songs says… “quise hallar el olvido, al estilo Jalisco,” - (I wanted to find consolation, Jalisco style) – the way Mexican men deal with its pain. So, I sang and dedicated songs to so many people … some with pain and some with love. It felt good to cry out “por tu maldito amor”- for your damned love. As much as it felt good to acknowledge and sing the following verse: “Hermoso cariño, que Dios ha mandado no’mas para mi. Precioso regalo del cielo ha llegado y que me ha colmado de dicha y de amor.” – Wonderful love that God has sent exclusively for me. Precious gift that has come down from heaven to fill up my life with plenitude and love…



The entire amphitheater stood up to sing from the heart “Mexico lindo y querido si muero lejos de ti que digan que estoy dormido y que me traigan a ti. Mexico lindo y querido, si muero lejos de ti,” – (Mexico beautiful and loved if I die far away from you, tell them that I am asleep and let them take me to you. Mexico beautiful and loved if I die far away from you). Despite loving and being grateful for living in the United States, there is still a never ending longing for the land that watched us come to life and grow up. Those of us who live on this side of the border have our hearts equally divided between these two lands. Lastly, tears flowed unrestrained, including Vicente himself, when he sang and dedicated to his father Viejo, Mi Querido Viejo. “Es un buen tipo mi Viejo … tiene la tristeza larga de tanto venir andando. Viejo, mi querido Viejo, ahora ya caminas lento como perdonando el viento. Yo soy tu sangre mi Viejo. Soy tu silencio y tu tiempo.” - (He’s a good man, my old man … he’s got a stretched melancholy because of his long stroll. Old man, my dear old man, now you walk slowly as if forbearing the wind. I am your blood my old man. I am your silence and your time). We applauded until midnight and despite our throats being sore, the pain those songs scrapped from our soul was only matched by the joy of letting these emotions come out and deal with them … Mexican style!