Los Tigres Del Norte
RodeoHouston
NRG Stadium
March 10, 2024
Damn it felt good to be Latino Sunday afternoon at the Houston Rodeo’s always well attended Go Tejano Day. In the fourth most diverse city of the nation, it’s not uncommon to see high numbers of native Spanish speakers from all over the world regularly but this felt different.
As the NRG stadium transitioned from the always endearing mutton bustin’ competition to the main event, Mexican legends Los Tigres Del Norte, fans were treated to a mariachi competition to help get everyone in the mood, not that they really needed the extra push.
After the Mariachi Jalisceinse from Seguin took first place in the competition with their take on the Vicente Fernandez classic “Volver,” the large Hernández family band took the stage like their namesakes, comfortably walking along all points of the rotating, star-shaped stage dripping with long, sparkly fringe and confidence.
Kicking off their set with “Camioneta Gris”, a song in the great tradition of corridos which made the band popular for telling the stories of the narcos and drug wars of their native Mexico, Los Tigres were ready.
The band has made their career on storytelling and seeing them on stage, it was apparent why they have not only been successful as recording and performing artists, but also as actors with the band filming 40 movies in their career.
Brothers Eduardo on accordion and Hernan on his flag covered bass, a nod to the bands constant dedication to advocate for immigrants and human rights all over the world, circled each other with theatrical tension to the story of a surprising king of cock fights in “El Rengo Del Gallo Giro.”
Teetering between their intricate and detailed stories of drug cartels and betrayal like their hit from the popular telenovela and movie “La Reina Del Sur” and more romantic ballads like “Quiero volar Contigo,” Los Tigres took every opportunity to remind the crowd that these songs were written for them.
Jorge, Herman, Eduardo and Luis all took turns on vocals and shifted in and out of flashy accordions, basses and Eduardo at times on sax. Original drummer and cousin to the Hernandez brothers, Óscar Lara really picked up the pace when he and the rest of the Tigres were surrounded by the large congos and full band of the Mariachi Real Del Valle and beautiful dancers from the Ballet Folklorico of the University of Texas Rio Grande.
Los Tigres pulled out the sexy stops for “Manzanita” as they crooned about tasty, juicy and ripe apples ready for the picking, a song which no doubt had an effect on the countless sensual dancing Latinas in the audience projected onto the screens hugging their lucky men.
The band invited the lively crowd to a friendly competition between the men and the women to see who could be louder with the band ultimately agreeing that the women triumphed as women “mandan en todas partes” making them the bosses of the land.
For a band that began in 1968 and is known for holding encores that go on and on, even once holding a 12- hour concert in Mexico, made great use of their limited time with a 19 song set.
Though they couldn’t keep playing as they normally would, Los Tigres always oozed joy and sincerity with Jorge holding his notes for up to 20 seconds, much like the dearly departed hero and the idol of many, Vicente Fernandez on “Por Tu Maldito Amor.”
Los Tigres Del Norte concluded their jam packed set with some of their biggest hits in their 56 year long career including “Jefe De Los Jefes,” “La Puerta Negra” and the amazingly powerful “América.”
As the family band sang about the beauty reflected in the diversity of the continents of North and South America and the desire for everyone to be recognized as a citizen of the world not constrained to identities based on man made boundaries in their final song, it made the strength of our city’s Latino community feel even stronger and warmer.
Right before the Tigres made their way off the stage and appeared to be caged in the back of the truck that pulled them away from the dirt arena and their screaming fans, Jorge proudly informed the crowd that they again broke the record for most paid stadium attendees since their 2019 performance on that very stage with 75,595 tickets sold.
Hearing an entire concert in Spanish and seeing the crowd at Go Tejano Day exiting the busy, winding staircase with hoots and hollers of celebration it was clear why Los Tigres Del Norte will always be the “jefes” of norteño music.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2024.
