Ricardo Arjona

Friday, August 11, at the Reliant Arena, 8400 Kirby, 713-667-1400

Comments (0) By Yessica Montoya Thursday, Aug 10 2006

Who could have imagined that a Guatemalan taxi driver, who used to spend hours fighting traffic and smog in Mexico City, would years later become one of the most outstanding artists in the pop en español field? But that's exactly what Ricardo Arjona did. Arjona is romantic (his females fans say, "He's singing to me, he's singing about my life!"), political ("Up with Mexican power!") and not afraid to pick a fight with the religious leadership ("Jesus is a verb, not a noun"). After more than two years away from the stage, singer-songwriter Arjona is on the road again.

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And the best thing is that he's come to sing to us wetbacks. Yes, you read right. That's one of the themes that make up his most recent CD, Adentro, championing immigrant issues and criticizing the U.S. government's treatment of Hispanics. He touches on other themes as well. One of the songs that has gotten a lot of attention is "De Vez en Mes" ("Once a Month"), which talks about the menstrual process and describes, step by step, the sensations that women have during the 28 days before we get our period. He even insinuates that unpregnant women are somehow stork slayers, saying "That time of month / a stork commits suicide / and there you are, so depressed / looking for an explanation."

The last time Arjona was here, the arena was half-empty; hopefully it will be a little fuller this time. There's no doubt that Arjona has appeal and a radio audience, but does he have a "Here's my $40 for a ticket" audience? Or could it be that people are staying home, depressed about all those dead storks?