The Beat of the Street

More than simply music, Fiesta Broadway is one of the few opportunities to walk the streets of Los Angeles and feel as if you are actually strolling through any major Latin American city. As such, the event should awaken feelings of nostalgia in anybody born south of the border.

The 10th edition held downtown Sunday was business as usual. Leaving an illustrious exception aside, none of the acts on hand explored the most challenging and rewarding aspects of Latin music, and their performances left no indelible impression. You could actually say that most of the acts were interchangeable, from the harmless pop of Ana Barbara to the gentle mariachi stylings of Lucia Mendez.

Consider the music to be some sort of colorful aural backdrop, however, and you are on your way to having a grand time.

A more important aspect of the fiesta this year was the inspiring view of so many Latinos from different countries partying together in complete harmony, as well as the sea of strollers announcing the new generations of Latinos born in this country. The only discord came at the end when fans reacted angrily after the performance of the day’s top act, Los Tigres del Norte, was cut short.

Musically, what was meant to be one of the festival’s revelations ended up as nothing more than a pleasant interlude. The performance by the Chris Perez Band was a poignant example of how difficult it is to create a strong musical identity by mixing Anglo and Latino styles. A talented guitarist, Perez is the widower of tejano music legend Selena.

Like his wife, he has considerable charisma, but his material, a conservative hybrid of straight-ahead rock with touches of Afro-Cuban percussion, relies excessively on the legacy of decades past.

As you listened to the crunchy “Resurrection,” the single from his upcoming album on Hollywood Records, you couldn’t help but marvel at the fact that so many artists are still being influenced by the music of the early ‘70s.

The need for a larger-than-life act had become so apparent by the end of the day that when Los Tigres del Norte came out on the AT&T; stage, the band members were received like gods.

Unfortunately, the seminal Mexican group had to cut its set virtually in half. The band had been scheduled to go on stage at 5 p.m., which would have allowed for an hour performance before the day’s curfew. But the show ran late, meaning Los Tigres didn’t reach the stage until around 5:30.

Known for playing hours on end and accepting requests from the audience until everyone is satisfied, the Tigres were visibly ill at ease having to play such a short set. Making the best of the situation, they started with the glorious “Jefe de Jefes” and quickly jumped to other hits, such as the corrido “El Mojado Acaudalado.” Even this brief taste of Los Tigres’ accordion-drenched norten~o sound was enough to confirm the band as one of Latin America’s most charismatic outfits, able to be openly commercial and crowd-pleasing, while at the same time including a vital sociopolitical message in its lyrics.

Rather than interrupt Los Tigres at 6 p.m, city officials allowed the group to play an extra 10 minutes. When officials pulled the plug, the crowd showered the sound crew with cans and plastic bottles. The band continued to play in real unplugged fashion, while hundreds of fans chanted along for the rest of the song, the day’s final number.