A Hugely Successful Benefit For A Legend Turns Out To Be A Successful Benefit For La Onda And Me As Well.

A TALE OF TWO DANCES

Blanco Ballroom in San Antonio this past Thursday and Friday night was as different as night and day and black and white. Both nights reflected the best and the worst of La Onda. The benefit dance for George Cantu exemplified the best of La Onda. It showed what happens when a respected musician calls for help and support rallies behind him. About 900 people worth of support showed. Latin Express, Sunny Ozuna, Q-VO Band and others played to a standing room only crowd as our beautiful people danced the night away to the old school Chicana and R&B sounds.

This was in stark contrast to the handful of support that came out the night before for the TTMA Tejano Music Awards nominees dance. We heard from several people who attended that night stating maybe…MAYBE…one hundred people showed up. How could there be such a difference in attendance from one night to the next in the Tejano capitol of the world especially with such headliners such as Jay Perez, Gary Hobbs, Ram Herrera, Fama, Albert Zamora, Jonny Martinez and more? So what if the dance was on a Thursday night (a work night)? You mean to tell me fans in the capitol of Tejano music are not able to suck it up for this annual event and sacrifice some time and sleep from their busy work week?

I couldn’t believe the huge difference in attendance which caused me to immediately try to rationalize and search for answers to this puzzle. The nominees dance was on Thursday night. Was this the cause for the poor turnout? Has the TTMA lost the luster of years past when it was considered the crowing jewel of the industry? Or, is it a symptom of a much larger, unforeseen problem with La Onda? A disconnect, maybe, between fans and artists? I don’t know. But the outcome Thursday night is alarming to me and it seriously begs the question “what is going on?”

THE OLD SCHOOL FOR THE NEW SCHOOL IN LA ONDA

On the other hand, old school was the new school on Friday night in San Anto. Hundreds of music fans came out to support George Cantu and enjoy the brassy sounds of Onda Chicana. Even the zoot suit contest was entertaining as men and women strutted across the dance floor showing off their struts and dance moves to the beats. The music was great and the people were great. The only negative thing I could think of was, by scanning the crowd, the average age of the crowd in attendance had to be in the late 40s early 50s. Why is this negative? Well, this fan base isn’t going to live forever. We need a new generation to embrace our music. But, I digress.

TEXAS-SIZED HOSPITALITY

George Cantu was a gracious host by seating us with his family and introducing all sorts of people to us including Gilbert Velasquez, Joe Jama, Danny Casanova, Rene Rene, Gilbert Rodriguez, Gibby Escobedo and on and on and on. When Latin Express kicked off their set with a tight Latin Breed medley I knew it was ON! The party people in the house crowded the dance floor. As they danced by, couples stopped to hug George and say a few words. One by one people kept coming up to George as he stood at the front of the stage greeting, hand shaking and laughing. With the horn section blasting, the organ churning, the guitar strumming and George smiling, I knew right then and there I did the right thing by making the 12-hour trip at the request of George Cantu to participate in his benefit. And what a benefit it was. George was all smiles that night and by the end of the night he was still grinning from ear to ear. That smile and his sincere expression of gratitude for all those that showed their support is priceless and timeless. Thank you George Cantu. May you continue to get well.

Afterward, we followed a caravan to the nearest IHOP for breakfast with Latin Express, George Cantu and his family. I tell you, there is no hospitality like Texas hospitality. In fact, Tomas broke his glasses only a couple hours before the benefit dance. We ran to the mall to try to get them fixed before the dance. We weren’t able to get the glasses fixed and Tomas was really bummed out. In fact, he lost all interest in going to the dance and just wanted to stew back at the room. I couldn’t let my buddy sit in a hotel room while I was having a good time enjoying the old school. So, I talked him into going to the dance at least for a little while and if his eyes began to give him too much trouble then I would take him back to the hotel. But, the music was so damn good and the people were so damn nice that Tomas totally forgot that he couldn’t see. He was having fun throughout the night.

We met George’s brother-in-law that night who I forgot we met back in November in Alice, TX. As we reunited we told him about Tomas’ story with his broken glasses and he said his wife works for an optical store. Huh? What? Who? Maybe it was a stroke of luck or maybe it was meant to be. But his wife offered to help Tomas find new frames the next day. So, we hooked up for breakfast and took a drive to Converse, TX to get Tomas some new frames. Thank you to Frank and Gloria Guzman for their generous hospitality.

WHAT'S NEXT? THERE IS MORE!

Wow! How could things get any better? Well, how about getting to hear the new Ram Herrera? How about getting to hear the new Ruben Ramos? How about getting to hear some new Latin Express? How about getting to hear the new Veronica y Avance? All that and more on my next blog.

That's it for now!
-DJ Ritmo