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The Concert
I went to see Juan Gabriel in concert earlier. I thought Isabel Pantoja was going to be his opening act, but they alternated and both performed from beginning to end. They sang two duets, one towards the beginning and one for the finale. She was good, but I feel a little shortchanged only because it's just not what I was expecting.
Juan Gabriel is one of the most important figures in contemporary Mexican music. He's composed thousands of songs that are poetic and full of so much emotion that he actually moves his fans to tears. He's won million of fans all over the world. His most beloved songs are his oldest, written probably about 20 years ago. These are the songs fans want to hear and sing along at concerts. Most of his songs are ballads, but he also sings rancheras, a genre of traditional Mexican music. My favorite part is always when the mariachi group comes out. 
Isabel Pantoja is a Spaniard. Like JuanGa, her most beloved songs are some of her oldest. I like some of her songs, but I'm not as familiar with her materialas much. What I enjoyed most about her performance is that dramatic style unique to the Spanish.
She wore three different dresses throughout the concert, all in more or less traditional Spanish flamenco style, long with tight bodices, flaring at the feet with ruffles and a train, complete with matching shawls. She looked and sounded great and she danced beautifully. She's well known for her distinctive Andalusian sound and style. As an aside, she was married to a famous Spanish bullfighter who died in 1984 at the horns of a bull.
The only thing that was disappointing about the concert was the audience. Let's go over some ultra annoying concert-going types of people.
1. The late-comers. And I don't mean minutes late. I'm talking about those people who arrive an hour and half into the show, when the lights have long been turned off, and wander about trying to figure out where their seats are, obstructing the view to the stage. Naturally, these people have tickets in the middle of the aisle. So everyone has to get up to let them in as they balance their plastic cups of beer.
2. The cell phone addicts. Who are these people talking to in the middleof a inner-ear damaging concert? How can they even hear what's coming through?
3. The angry drunk that wants to fight. Need I explain? He's not so bad though because his more sensible friend will often calm him down.
4. The bores. I think these are the worst ones. These folks just sit there, usually with arms crossed. They don't get up, they don't cheer, and they definitely don't dance. They barely crack a smile. You'd think they're at a tax audit. It really sucks when you're surrounded by these because then, of course, you look like a complete idiot if you do actually sing along, dance, and cheer for the performer. And this is an integral component of the Juan Gabriel concert. He has great energy. He's moving around, jumping, dancing. Plus his once powerful voice is waning with age so the audience usually sings along and sometimes for him. But not this year. The audience was BORING.
My mother, a HUGE JuanGa fan and the reason we go see him in concert every single year, explained that the audience was so dull because they're all a bunch of old fuddy duddies. You should note that most of these people are in her age bracket. They certainly didn't stop her though. She has no qualms about singing along rather loudly and letting out appreciative shouts of "ole" and "ajua".
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3/12/06 7:08 PM
natalie
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