On Friday night, the legendary Mexican rock band, Caifanes had become the first rock group to play at the newly-opened YouTube Theater in Inglewood. The new venue, as part of SoFi Stadium, can house up to 6,000 people in attendance. On that night, it was a sold-out show for the famous rock band.
Many fans inside the venue waved Mexico flag banners as this month of September is for representation of the start of holidays for the country. During the start of the set, lead singer, Saul Hernandez, thanked the crowds for the opportunity to play at the venue including mentioning, “You are the party. Thanks to you, this has been something unforgettable, something historic.” Moreover, in this month of September, this inaugurates nearly 35 years of existence of this band. A lot of other influential bands, such as – El Tri, Alquima, Maldita Vecindad, among others – took credit from Caifanes, as the Mexican rock scene surged during the 1980s.
As songs including, “Negra Tomasa” and “La Celula” played out, the crowds starting to show more of the origin with their national flag. This band is widely known to be spoken advocates of social justice as shown on the giant screens during “Antes de que nos olviden” and “Ayer me dijo un ave” as these tunes spoke of historic events of the Tlatelolco student movement of 1968 in Mexico City.
Diego Herrera, keyboardist, took the opportunity to play his own rendition of the Mexican national anthem call with his Sax solo. Hernandez, towards the end of the show, added, “You are the party. Thanks to you, this has been something unforgettable..something historic. Long live Mexico!” And also remarked that Mexico should live “without child abuse, femicides and violence.”
Setlist: Hasta que dejes de respirar / Amanece / Nubes / Miedo / Detrás de los cerros / Piedra / Nada / Ayer me dijo un ave / Los dioses ocultos / Mátenme porque me muero / Hasta morir / Nunca te doblarás (Juanes cover) / De noche todos los gatos son pardos / Aviéntame / Afuera / Aquí no es así
Encore: Himno nacional mexicano (Diego Sax Solo) / Antes de que nos olviden / Te lo pido por favor (Juan Gabriel cover) / Viento / No dejes que… / La célula que explota / La negra Tomasa (Guillermo Rodriguez Fiffe cover)
Photo Credit: Nacho De La Garza (dated: Oct 2017) from Microsoft Theatre (Los Angeles, CA)