Fresh off a five award win at the Latin Billboard Awards, Maná brought their "Drama Y Luz" tour to the Oakland Arena. A sold-out crowd enjoyed the concert which lasted a little over than two hours.
I am one of those music lovers who have enjoyed Maná’s music for years now. I have never seen them live, so I was beyond excited to be able to attend their show and check out what the tour would be all about.
Photo: Claudia Guzman
Maná has had a long-lasting career, which many bands only dream of. The guys have been together for over twenty years now and show no sign of slowing down – with 11 albums under their belt (and an additional 2 under their former name of Sombreros Verdes), Maná are currently touring with the latest addition to their discography "Drama Y Luz".
Fher, Alex, Juan and Sergio brought down the Oakland Arena, the people in attendance waited outside to catch a glimpse of the band when their tour bus arrived and once the concert started, everyone and I mean everyone was brought to their feet to sing along every single song. The crowd was so diverse, from the older fans who have followed Maná’s career from early on, to young kids wearing the band’s shirts.
Photo: Claudia Guzman
The setlist for the night did not disappoint, the band sang some of their classics (they opened the show with the song Oye Mi Amor), while also performing a few of the songs from their latest release Drama Y Luz like Lluvia Al Corazon & El Dragon. There was a memorable moment during the show, like when Fher addressed the audience and told them about the passing of his mom and how he wrote a song for her called Vuela Libre Paloma.
Another highlight from the show was when Alex did a drum solo, it was out of this world (the only other two times I have been “wow” by drummers were with Travis Barker from Blink-182 and Mike Dirnt from Green Day.) Alex has the nickname of El Animal, and it could not be more appropriate, he was terrific on the drums.
Photo: Claudia Guzman
After Alex’s solo, the band appeared in the middle of the arena to perform some of the songs in a more intimate ambiance- they even serenaded a lucky fan who was brought up on stage with them. At the end, the lucky fan walked away not before a mini make-out session with Fher.
During the concert, the guys also advocated for all of those in attendance to please register to vote. Voto Latino has been traveling to every tour stop and have set up registration tables to make sure that those who have not, take advantage and do it while at the concert. Fher talked about how the band is against the racist laws that have passed in recent months in several states. Fher emphasized the urgency to make sure everyone votes when it comes to election time in November.
Photo: Claudia Guzman
The final song to close out the show was a favorite of mine, Labios Compartidos, some of the other songs that were part of the setlist were: De Pies A Cabeza, Mariposa Traicionera, El Muelle De San Blas, Bendita Tu Luz, Clavado En Un Rio, Latinoamerica, among many more.
Photo: Claudia Guzman
If you missed the concert at the Oakland Arena, do not fret! Maná is scheduled to come back to the Bay in September, tickets will go on sale soon – check out the band’s website for more info.
A couple of weeks ago, my friend and social media junkie, Claudia Guzman, invited me to the up-coming OV7 concert at the Fillmore in San Francisco. You see, most bilingual-two-cultures-Mexican-peeps like Claudia and I grew up listening to both Backstreet Boys/NSync’ and Mexican pop bands like OV7 and Kabah.
This tour marked OV7’s return to the stage after being apart for seven years. Between 1989 and 2003, OV7 was one of the most successful pop bands in Mexico; they have 12 albums, have toured all over the world and have sold over 5 million albums.
The band made their triumphant return at the Fillmore in San Francisco- did fans know what to expect? Would there be lots of costume changes and choreography? Well, yes and yes! And I, being a fan, was very pleased!
Lidia Ávila, Ari Borovoy, Erika Zaba, Oscar Schwebel, and Mariana Ochoa came on stage with so much energy and ready to put on one amazing show. They performed songs from their early hits like “Susanita Tiene Un Ratón”, “Quiero Salir De Vacaciones” , “Que Triste es el Primer Adiós” among others. They also performed such hits as: “El Calendario”, “Mirame A Los Ojos” “No Me Voy” and during the song “Te Quiero Tanto Tanto”, the band brought fans on stage to sing along the song.
All throughout the concert, the band kept signing autographs, shirts, bags, you name it, and it was signed. They randomly grabbed fans' cameras and took pictures and recorded videos. The show at the Fillmore was a little less than an hour and a half, it went by so quick and the fans were left wanting more.
I have seen Ximena Sariñana what seems to be about a million times (her song "Un Error", was my go-to-break-up-song. I would cry while singing along to all the tracks on the album Mediocre.) I was lucky enough to have interviewed her once before when she performed at the Red Devil Lounge a few years back. Ever since that performance, Ximena has been busy touring all over the United States.
Fresh off her performance at Coachella (Weekend One), she made her way up to the Bay to perform at The New Parish in Oakland, CA. Although the show took place on a Sunday night, that did not stop her loyal fans from coming to see her perform.
She had an opening act, Diana Gameros, a soulful-Spanish-flare singer from Juarez, Mexico. She was on stage with her guitar and a trumpet player. I could not help but to compare her voice to that of Julieta Venegas. Diana addressed the crowd and one of the songs from her set was one called "SB1070" – a song that she wrote in protest of the tough immigration law that was implemented in Arizona.
When Ximena came on stage, the fans were ready to sing along, not only to her emotional break-up songs, but also songs from her English debut album Ximena Sariñana. She was wearing the cutest outfit- a flowy floral-print dress, accessorized with tights and combat boots. She addressed the crowd in both English and Spanish, she has slowly opened up more to her fans and is less shy than the first time I saw her perform - towards the end of her performance, she even gave a fan a copy of her set-list.
Ximena performed a lot of the songs from her English album such as "Different", "Shine Down", "Echo Park", "The Bid"and of course she also performed fan favorites like "Mediocre", "Las Huellas" "Normal" and "La Tina".
Ximena is paving her way to becoming a phenomenal artist, her sweet voice, relatable lyrics and humbleness while addressing the audience is quite refreshing. She is heading back to Coachella for (Weekend Two), so if you are heading out to the festival, take the time to check out her set.
Earlier this year, I found out that the band Train would play six back to back shows in San Francisco, to promote the release of their latest album California 37.
I have been a fan of the band since the late '90s when I heard the song "Meet Virginia" for the first time. I jumped at the opportunity to buy tickets and check out their show at Slim’s in San Francisco (if you have never been to Slim’s, you are missing out. It is one of my favorite music venues in San Francisco.) All six shows sold out within minutes and for obvious reasons. I mean, how often do you get the chance to see one of your favorite bands at a small venue? (the biggest of the six shows was at the Fillmore.)
April 12th could not come soon enough! And so, on that Friday night, at exactly 10:29PM, Train came on stage at Slim’s to the delight of the audience. And of course, I was one rowdy groupie singing along to each song, from their '90s hits to songs from their new album- one of my absolute favorites is the song "Drive By". There was so much excitement at the venue, the love from the fans was undeniable – the band was also joined on stage by Patrick Jr. and Charlie, Train’s original bass player. At one point during the show, Patrick, the lead singer, brought fans on stage to belt out their best rendition of Journey’s classic "Don’t Stop Believin'". At the end, a lucky fan received a guitar gifted by the band. The lucky fan had been standing outside the venue hours before the doors even opened.
The band performed classics like "Meet Virginia", "Calling All Angels" and of course, a lot of songs from the new album. Train’s final encore was "Drops Of Jupiter". I was in music heaven, to have seen Train’s live performance at such an intimate venue and been able to listen to Patrick recount anecdotes about the band’s experiences was simply priceless. Their new album, California 37 is available now via iTunes, Amazon and your local stores, the entire album is phenomenal, so I definitely recommend it.
Every time that Hollywood combines tons of action and a sexy cast, the end result is a movie worth watching.
And that is the case with Lockout, starring the sexy and extremely good looking, Guy Pearce and Maggie Grace. Lockout takes place in the year 2079 and although, there are no flying cars, there are plane flights to space and a maximum security prison also in space.
Guy Pearce’s character “Snow” has to take the trip to the security prison, to fulfill a very specific duty – save the President’s daughter, Emilie Warnock (Maggie Grace) who is trapped inside after a riot freed all of the psychotic and dangerous prisoners.
Lockout comes out this Friday 4/13, and this movie is the PERFECT movie date! The girlfriend will be extremely happy to see “Snow” (Guy Pearce) in all of his rescue mission glory and the boyfriend will enjoy all of the action, psycho criminals with knives and guns and of course, the President’s daughter (Maggie Grace.)
RELEASE DATE: April 13, 2012 GENRE: Sci-Fi Action RUNNING TIME: 95 minutes MPAA Rating: PG-13 DISTRIBUTOR: Open Road Films PRINCIPAL CAST: Guy Pearce Maggie Grace Peter Stormare DIRECTOR: James Mather & Stephen St. Leger WRITER: James Mather, Stephen St. Leger & Luc Besson
Ozomatli have been together for almost two decades now, and in their 17-year career, they were yet to visit Oakland. But all that changed, when the band played at The New Parish this past March 28th.
This show was more than being the first show that Ozo would play in Oakland. It was also a show with a truly special cause. The night of the show, a raffle took place, and the donations were all going to Noah Stout. Noah is a cute toddler, son of former Ozo MC – Kanetic. Little Noah was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2010.
We all know how loving & compassionate the guys from Ozo are, not only do they support the arts, are pro-immigration, but they also have love and respect for former members. The show at The New Parish turned out to be beyond remarkable.
Photo: Claudia Guzman
The opening set was in charge of a little firecracker MC who goes by the name of Raw-G. I had never seen her live but have heard terrific things about her set. And boy, was I in awe! Raw-G has swag, flow and unbelievable stage presence. She was spitting lyrics in English and Spanish like no one’s business. I was actually shocked to find out that she was born and raised in Guadalajara, Mexico – let me tell you, she represents Oakland big time!
Photo: Claudia Guzman
By the time Ozo hit the stage, The New Parish was to capacity, everywhere you looked, there were people standing, sitting, hanging by the stage, by the bar. All the fans were ready to see Ozo in action. Their set was by far one of the absolute best that I have witnessed in the past few years. There is something about Ozo and their dynamics on stage that just makes you want to sing and dance – the guys made sure to give the Oakland fans a performance that they would talk about for months to come!
If you missed this phenomenal show, Ozo will be playing at The Catalyst in Santa Cruz on April 19th. Also, the guys continue to take donations for little Noah- if you would like to donate, check out: www.iheartnoah.org.
Rescue mission – CHECKED! Hot Guy – CHECKED! Ton of action – CHECKED!
On April 13th, head over to the movies to check out the movie Lockout, starring Guy Pearce & Maggie Grace.
I will be at the press screening of the film, this up-coming Tuesday, want to come with me? Send an email to: contests@thechroniclesofazu.com. I will be choosing 5 winners to get double passes to attend the screening on Tuesday April 10th at 7PM at AMC Van Ness in San Francisco.
