Alejandra Guzman may be Mexico’s Madonna, but she was in lackluster form on Saturday night at the Denver Coliseum. Photos by Julio Enriquez.
There’s something to be said about amateur concert promoters. You can be guaranteed plenty of glitches and a late-starting show. Saturday’s concert started 90 minutes late with little regard for the incredibly small, patient crowd. The monster bill of Rock en Español talent would have been guaranteed a decent turnout with a veteran crew of promoters. Instead, ushers allowed for the audience to fill in as much as possible to create a less awkward feeling of abandonment for the talent on stage. Epic fail.
warmed up the stage for the veterans, shedding his youth-band image from his days with La Onda Vaselina to a legitimate solo performer. The Mexico City native resembles Lenny Kravitz, and at times, he was terrorizing his guitar like Kravitz. In his abbreviated set, Kalimba played hits from all three of his albums — from his hit single “Tocando Fondo” to “Mi Otro Yo,” Kalimba’s most recent album that has been hanging around the scene with no plans of leaving anytime soon.
The fad of incorporating music and comedy is one that I hope sticks around, because there isn’t anything like a couple of laughs that makes the time fly by instead of waiting for what seems like an eternity between acts. served as the night’s emcee/master of ceremonies, delivering his sarcastic deadpan humor. Ramones was a late-night staple on Saturday nights for twelve years on Univision with his wildly popular show, Otro Rollo. Adal steered clear of his usual sketches and monologue bits by making great use of the audience between sets where his comedic talent shined.
Multi-instrumentalist created an unpredictable stir of musical chairs on stage. He is responsible for my Spanish rock listening habit at this current moment, and he proved to be the shining light in a night where there were few bright spots. Syntek appeared on stage with a velvet cowboy hat and a poncho adorned with pieces of mirror.
Bizzare? Perhaps. His eccentricity is what makes Aleks Syntek one of a kind in the Mexican music scene. He played a snare drum on his ‘90s hit “El Camino (the Path)” and switched up quickly with a standing bass, only to run to his piano later in his set. The crowd sangalong to “Intocable (Untouchable),” and many couples enjoyed long embraces whilst “Mis Impulso Sobre Ti (My Impulses Over You)” had me fighting back tears of happiness.
It’s common for electronic acts to emulate Depeche Mode, but rarely do they go the route of emulating Yaz. takes it to another level of dueling Moogs. The nerdy synth sounds compliment a shoulder-strapped keyboard and obvious Smiths-like titles such as “Color Melanocolia (Melancholy Color)” and “Ya Me Acostumbre (I’m Use to It).”
The group hasn’t had a relevant album in 10 years, but the group is hard at work on new material to surface this year or next, he said on Saturday. The group delivered on a high level of professionalism and enthusiastic energy throughout their entire set, despite the visibly small crowd. Moenia delivered an amped version of “Aqui Estoy” that had the crowd forgetting their anger on the tardiness of the concert and “Solo Tù” bringing me back to my high school days of living on the border town of Juarez, where their music was played at every bar/club on any given night.
And now for the nightap headliner. is the Madonna of Mexico. She has pushed the borders of eroticism in a country where Catholics run rampant, and the older she gets, the more revealing her clothes become. Her short, 45-minute set was a slap in the face to a crowd that stuck around till one in the morning to see her parade on stage. I was dozing off by this time, and her lackluster performance left a sour taste in my mouth by the “Reina de Corazones (Queen of Hearts).”
Alejandra’s husky voice (very Kathleen Turneresque) sounded extra raspy Saturday night as she played a small sample of hits from “Hacer el Amor Con Otro (Make Love With Someone Else)” to the apt Soft Cell cover of “Tainted Love (Rancio Amor),” which is exactly what I felt for her after the disrespectful set she delivered.
Not even new bands with only one album under their belts play 45 minutes as headliners, let alone a veteran of the music scene with multiple albums on her discography. Perhaps it was the embarrassment of a minuscule crowd that prompted her to close up shop early. Regardless, it was a disappointment.
Julio Enriquez is a Denver writer and photographer, editor of the blog and a regular contributor to Reverb.
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