February 2008 Archives

*RBD. The red-hot Mexican teen pop group continues it's current tour with a new swing through the US.  The new tour, titled after their latest CD "Empezar desde cero," will last through April. Here's a few dates:

March 1, Las Vegas, NV, Orleans Arena

March 2, Los Angeles, CA, Nokia Theater

March 7, Charlotte, NC, Cricket Arena

March 9, Miami, FL, American Airlines Arena

March 13, Duluth, GA, Gwinnett Arena

March 14, Fairfax, VA, Patriot Center

March 16, Newark, NJ, Prudential Center

March 28, Tucson, AZ, Casino del Sol

March 29, Glendale, AZ, Jobing.com Arena

March 30, El Paso, TX, Don Haskins Center

April 3, Bakersfield, CA, Rabobank Arena

April 4, San Jose, CA, HP Pavilion

April 5, San Bernardino, CA, Hyundai Pavilion

April 6, Chula Vista, CA, Coors Amphitheater

*In recent years, Colombian singer/songwriter Juanes has risen to the position of perhaps the most important rock artist in Latin music. Juanes' latest CD is "La Vida...es un Ratico." Juanes will kick off his new "La Vida" world tour in New York City's Madison Square Garden on March 8. Here's a few dates:

March 06 New York, NY Madison Square Garden

March 30 Washington, DC Patriot Center

April 02 Rosemont, IL Allstate Arena

April 09 Duluth GA, Gwinnett Arena

April 10 Orlando, FL Amway Arena

April 12 Miami, FL American Airlines Arena

May 07 Los Angeles, CA Nokia Theatre

May 09 Los Angeles, CA Nokia Theatre

May 16 San Jose, CA HP Pavilion at San Jose

*The 2008 Tejano Music Awards are set to unfold March 8 at a new venue in San Antonio - Villita Assembly Hall. The People's Choice-style awards recognize the most popular Tejano artists. The awards  will be followed by the always popular, free-admission two-day TMA Fanfair, featuring hundreds of bands from all over the Southwest performing on six stages at Market Square.

*SXSW 2008. Austin's major five-day music festival will include several Latino music showcases. At presstime, only upcoming rapper Mala Rodriguez, from Spain, has been confirmed. More details: SXSW.com

Once upon a time, Tejano was king of the hill.

Or at least, king of the Houston Rodeo - for one day. The event was called Go Tejano Day and it began in 1990 and it usually meant a Tejano group or groups were headling the Houston Rodeo for that one day - at the Astrodome, and later Reliant Stadium..

Through the years, hard-core fans have grumbled "where's the Tejano?" when norteño bands such as Los Tigres del Norte and Bronco took the stage.

This year, it's the norteño/marginally Tejano-sounding Duelo and the Duranguense Los Horoscopos de Durango on March 16. The familiar complaint by hard-core Tejano fans is that Horoscopos and Duelo are not hard-core Tejano acts such as Little Joe or Ruben Ramos. However, similar to Tejano bands, they play a mix of norteño, cumbias and polkas.

The Houston Rodeo's very first Go Tejano Day was in 1990 with Emilio y Rio, Vikki Carr,  and Roberto Pulido y los Clasicos. In the years since,dozen sof Tejano groups have been spotlighted from Selena to Little Joe, Mazz to David Lee.

Interestingly, the Houston Rodeo has never had an official Go Vallenato or  Go Norteño day either. According to officials, the term "Go Tejano" was never meant as a strict description of the music, but rather as a general Go Hispanic or Go Latino day. And it just so happened that Tejano as a genre, was fast-rising in the early '90s so the term fit perfectly at the time.

Things have changed a lot since.

When it comes time to booking the bands, the Houston Rodeo folks are doing what commercial radio and record labels do - they go for what brings in the largest crowds.

If Tejano fans want their headliners to remain hard-core Tejano groups they should call and write the Houston Rodeo folks to make their voices heard.

The Houston rodeo is one of the largest musical platforms in the world. Some day, hardcore Tejano music may return there.