For me, like for a lot of news junkies, the biggest story of April 19, 2023 involved the largest defamation settlement in U.S. history, which saw Fox News agree to shell out some $787 million to Dominion Voting Systems. Appropriate for such an immense monetary figure, news of the legal decision rolled through my various social media feeds like a tsunami.
Little did I know, that same day, my significant other (a Latina from Nicaragua) was busy surfing another side the internet — riding the waves of completely different algorithms, knocked over by a wholly distinct headline: a different larger-than-life figure, Mexican singer Luis Miguel, was going on tour after a noticeable hiatus.
As a Gen-X gringo growing up stateside, the name Luis Miguel was not a terribly familiar one for me. Of course, my hometown of Chicago, Ill., U.S.A. is, among many other things, a wonderfully Mexican city, where taquerías are abundant and Spanish is our second language. Yet, I had only heard a couple of Luis Miguel songs: 1987’s “Ahora te puedes marchar” and 1990’s “Será que no me amas” both of them versions of English-language songs: Dusty Springfield’s 1963 hit “I Only Want to Be With You” and The Jackson 5’s 1978 song “Blame it on the Boogie,” respectively. Intriguingly, the Luis Miguel redux of the former song realizes a complete lyrical turnabout, transforming Dusty Springfield’s story of absolute adoration into one of terse rejection.
So, when I arrived to Chicago’s Allstate Arena on the evening of May 29, cajoled by my partner to spend upwards of $70 for each of our tickets, I did not expect leaving the spectacle singing the praises of the showman known to many as “El Sol de México.” Yet, as I made my way through the crowd of happy, slightly buzzed concert-goers, I knew that I had, over the course of almost two hours, become a veritable “LuisMi” fan.
Luis Miguel is scheduled to continue touring in the U.S., Mexico, and Spain until November 2024. For the uninitiated — for those LuisMi newbies among us, whether gringo or not — here’s some advice to have a good concert experience.
COME AS YOU ARE, BUT DRESS THE PART
There is no median age of the crowd at a Luis Miguel concert. On the night that I attended, audience members ranged from approximately 10-years old to roughly 70-years old, with every age in between. Of course, concerts aren’t known for their stringent dress codes, and the LuisMi concert was not an exception.
However, it was impossible not to notice the cool elegance that female attendees tried to exhibit. One can only imagine the minutes, hours (even days!?) spent on fixing themselves up for the affair.
Cocktail dresses were the most noticeable garment on display, and bright colors, sequins, and spaghettis straps were ubiquitous. It could have been a wedding, or a quinceañera, but I couldn’t help but wonder if some in attendance weren’t harboring a secret hope to be plucked out of the audience whisked away by Luis himself, a perennial heartthrob who has, by all accounts, enjoyed a rich love life.
This is not to suggest that the concert-goers were a homogenous bunch of starry-eyed señoritas. The hulking, mustached man seated beside me would have fit right in at any construction site. He, too, knew all of Luis Miguel’s songs, and sang along in his throaty baritone accordingly.
FALL IN LOVE WITH MEXICO
As depicted in the recent Netflix series about his rise to fame, Luis Miguel enjoys a truly international background: born to a Spanish father and Italian mother in Puerto Rico, the singer eventually became a naturalized Mexican citizen. Since then, the profound love between the singer and his adopted nation has been mutual.
For those new to the world of LuisMi, never forget: Mexican cultural nationalism is, quite simply, a juggernaut, knocking down everything in its path with hot sauce, Fridas, and gritos. Thus, while dressing to the nines was de rigueur during the concert, so was wearing a jersey from the Mexican soccer league. When we asked the couple seated behind us where they were from, they replied, simply, “Jalisco,” perhaps with the understanding that everyone there was from somewhere in Mexico.
When the show ended and while concert-goers filed toward the exits, someone screamed “¡Viva México!” — thus garnering the traditional response of “¡Viva!” Yet others broke out Mexico’s unique “f-you” whistle for Guadalajara’s professional soccer team, Chivas. When we finally get to the doors, various men greet the departing crowd outside, hawking delicious-smelling homemade tamales out of a cooler. Of course, all this comes after the spectacular interlude roughly half way through the show, which saw a troop of 20 or so mariachi blaze through a medley of regional music before transitioning into Luis Miguel “La bikina.”
Luis Miguel came of age during a singular moment in Mexican history, when the country looked to combine the national and the global both in politics and via culture. Luis Miguel is indelibly a pop singer, even as the emotions and nobility that his songs express often remind us of ranchera singers from olden days.
ALL THE FEELS
Over the course of almost two hours, Luis Miguel doesn’t miss a note. As the fairly accurate setlist on Youtube reflects, the concert not only includes an homage to Mexican culture, but also tributes to Michael Jackson and Frank Sinatra.
The show’s production is impeccable in terms of musicality and stagecraft. LuisMi was often seen signaling small changes to audio technicians. He had a propensity to hit the beats a split second after the audience, perhaps to underscore the power of his voice or to render melodies more dynamic.
The work of drummer Víctor Loyo is especially mind-boggling, given the quick transitions between songs and the numerous musicians onstage at any given time.
Luis Miguel avoids any type of banter with the audience: His lyrics tell the whole story of our collective emotions as friends, lovers and sometimes even scorned admirers. Having been given light-up bracelets to wear upon entrance to the show, every audience member gets to play a part, sparkling and synchronized along with the music.
The jumbotron behind the performers on stage often depicts moving images of clouds, rivers, mountaintops, seemingly meant to underscore what we already know: Luis Miguel’s music is part of any Latin American’s lifeblood — unwavering and timeless.
Luis Miguel will continue to tour the U.S., Mexico, and Spain throughout 2024.
— By Dr. Kevin M. Anzzolin
Dr. Kevin M. Anzzolin, Lecturer of Spanish, arrived at Christopher Newport University in 2021, where he teaches a wide range of classes. His book, Guardians of Discourse: Literature and Journalism in Porfirian Mexico, was published with the University of Nebraska Press in May 2024. His research focuses primarily on Mexican narrative from the 19th- to 21st centuries, and his work has been published in journals such as Letras Hispanas, Hispania, and Studies in Latin American Popular Culture.
