Los Tucanes de Tijuana

Sunday night I shelled out the money for a ticket and went to see Los Tucanes de Tijuana at Kalipzo nightclub in Charlotte. For those of you who might not know who Los Tucanes are, they are know as the "papas de los pollitos," a Norteno group who over the last twenty years have written corridos and love songs. After Los Tigres del Norte, they are probably the second most influential group playing regional mexicano music. Their song, "Mis Tres Animales," is one of the most recognizable narcocorridos, spawning wallets, belt buckles, and t-shirts with the now infamous images of the parrot, the rooster, and the goat, symbolic stand-ins for cocaine, marijuana, and heroin respectively. Another song, "La Chona," is one of those upbeat dance numbers that sticks in your head and is instantly recognizable from its pop accordion riff; fittingly the song is a tribute to a woman who goes to the club, is first on the dance floor, and whose dancing skills can't be topped.

On Sunday, I watched the club slowly fill up. A local group, Voluntad Musical, opened up the night. They played some upbeat dance numbers, with the lead singer gyrating and working the crowd from the tiny stage. They even covered "El Tarasco," with the lead singer lifting his arms in flight while he sung,

"Yo soy un ave nocturna
Que aterriza en cualquier milpa"

Appropriate for carousing on a late Sunday evening, I think.

The DJ played some upbeat banda songs, people danced the quebradita across the floor (which if you've never seen it, is a feat in itself). Then a long video dramatically introduced Los Tucanes de Tijuana. The video was bilingual, with English subtitles, and showed the band's accomplishments, platinum album sales, bringing joy and hope to crowd across the migrant universe, and a funny shot of a toucan shitting in a Border Patrol agent's coffee cup and then having him gulp it down.



Los Tucanes played a number of their hits, the crowd was dancing and singing, because lord knows they didn't pay all that money just to stand around and watch people having a good time. The lead singer, Mario Quintero, gave a shot out to fellow singer Larry Hernandez, sitting in VIP. He managed to keep singing while ladies climbed on stage and danced with him, timing his turns to sing into the mic. All in all a sweaty but impressive concert.