Alacranes Musical, La Original Banda El Limon, Roberto Tapia, and Banda Clave Nueva

To say that Alcranes Musical understands telenovela-style drama would be an understatement. Not only has the band’s music been featured in Mexican soap opera ‘Al Diablo Con Los Guapos’, but the bands own story is full of plot twists. Around 2010, the group split in half due to disagreements between band members. Both factions of the original band hired new members and continued to tour under the name Alcranes Musical. Thankfully, the dispute was resolved in 2011 and since then Alcranes Musical has been busy doing what it does best: bringing their brand of duranguense music to the world. The popularity of Alcranes Musical means that you will not have to try hard to hear their music. Tune into any Latin radio station and you’re bound to hear them. Nonetheless, Alcranes Musical is a band you really need to see live to appreciate. Their shows are about celebration: celebration of music, celebration of community, and celebration of heritage. Por Tu Amor, Por Amerte Así and Fue Su Amor are hits for a reason. They capture the spirit of this band. Go to an Alcranes Musical show and you won’t see a single person sitting down. Everybody will be dancing, and you will be too. Guaranteed.

Usually, large groups get lost and lose their magic amongst so many members, but with La Original Banda El Limon, each member has something new and magical to bring to the performance, and with the use of all of their instruments and vocals fusing together, they create a wonderfully original sound. Their ranchera sound is fun and exciting and has people dancing without fail, and the fact that every member of the group is so dedicated to the show, means that there’s always someone invested in getting the audience singing or dancing along, which makes the atmosphere of the shows incredible.

They opened the show with Rhythm of the Band, from back in the 90s, and of course they blew everyone away. Their tight focal and brass harmonies complimented each other wonderfully, and the range of the vocalists was incredible. They played a really great selection of tracks, and played the album The First in its entirety, and when they played The Best Perfume, they had everyone screaming and dancing right away. They are all incredible performers as well as musicians, and in this genre of music that’s so important for winning over the audience.

It’s evident from the way that Tapia commands the stage that he’s been performing since a young age, and I wasn’t surprised that he enrolled to a prestigious music academy at just age 11. He walzed out on stage with his cowboy had on and microphone in his hand, and his band took their positions behind him whilst he introduced himself to the applauding audience. He opened the show with the title track from his number one charting Latino album, El Muchando, and from there on in, he’d won over the entire audience.

His following comes partly from his extensive musical success, but also from his work as a vocal coach on the American/Spanish version of The Voice, where he has collected a huge fan base. He played a great variety of tracks, from tracks such as Te Tragio Ganas, right through to the new material, like the incredibly popular Amor Perdido. He kept calling out to the audience to join in with the singing, and everyone was going for it all the way through. Although it was a seated venue, there were hardly any bums on seats for the entire show, everyone was having a best time and wanted to be dancing along!