Juan Gabriel Sings Straight From the Hip

Goodbye quarrelsome gringos

You’re only good for war

You believe God is white

But He is darker than I

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Mexican superstar Juan Gabriel sang those words Saturday night near the end of “Cancion 187” (“Song 187”) before a near-capacity crowd at the Anaheim Convention Center. The song is one of the best from his latest album, “El Mexico Que Se Nos Fue” (“The Mexico that left us”), and it symbolizes Gabriel’s status as one of Mexico’s most energetic social commentators.

Not that this is anything new for him. But worsening economic conditions for Mexicans and Mexican immigrants in the United States after the North American Free Trade Agreement--as well as the recent televised beating of two illegal immigrants by Riverside deputies--are giving Gabriel’s lyrics a new dimension and urgency.

It’s true he has sold more than 15 million albums singing corny love songs, but from the very beginning of his career, he has also dealt with socioeconomic issues affecting his country’s poorest masses.

Gabriel, 44 (born Alberto Aguilera in Ciudad Juarez), opened the set with “No Tengo Dinero” (“I don’t have any money”), his first hit, recorded 25 years ago. From there, he delivered his usual nonstop, two-hour display of hip-jolting theatrics (he sings his love-hate ballads as if the one who broke his heart were right there onstage with him) and greatest-hits medleys encompassing his romantic ballads, cumbias and mild pop rockers.

He gave his best vocal performance in years--and he’s not a technically superb singer--in a flawlessly executed concert that was divided into two sets.

The first hour was mostly medleys of his hits. The second was a soaring performance of his original rancheras, during which he was backed by his Mariachi De Mi Tierra (formerly known as Mariachi Arriba Juarez).

Because of his commercial success, and because he is an exceptionally prolific writer who churns out songs for himself and other singers, some purists dismiss his importance in modern Mexican music.

Likewise, it’s as easy to focus on his undeniable charisma and magnetism onstage as it is to acknowledge that he doesn’t sing with the skill of Sinatra nor write with the innovation of Lennon-McCartney.

Yet he has a gift for melodies that are never dull, despite their simplicity, and for poetry that touches a nerve in the lives of people of all ages and social classes.

Those are the qualities that have earned him a seat alongside the greatest Mexican composers of all time.