I went to see Maná last Sunday (Sept 23rd) at Staples Center in LA. I went with my friend, DL, who told me that when she & her hubby last saw Maná about 8 years ago they were easily the oldest ones there. I asked, "And what do you think has happened in the past 8 years?" Yup. We were the oldest! A few different events during the concert underscored the decade(s) that separated me from the rest of the crowd. Maná played 4 consecutive sold-out nights at the Staples Center. This, according to everything I have read, was a historic feat. Neil Diamond sold-out 4 nights in 2005. Let's think for a minute -- Neil Diamond has a huge fan base that, while mostly white, crosses generations. Maná is virtually unheard of in the non-Spanish speaking world. And they sold-out 4 nights in Los Angeles. This wasn't their only venue. They are on a world tour. They had already played Fresno and were headed to the Bay Area for a couple of nights after LA. This means that the Spanish-speaking fans from all over California didn't need to go to LA to see them. It is amazing that they managed to get the crowds that they did. Aside from me and DL, I saw very few people who did not look Hispanic.

The concert was supposed to start at 8pm but it was about 9pm when it finally got rolling. That was a little annoying and I wondered if there was truly a problem causing the delay or if it was all just a ploy to get people to queue up at the California Pizza Kitchen and McDonald's outlets in the arena. There was also a place to buy cocktails. Now I wasn't driving so I was tempted to indulge but when I saw that a Sam Adams Lager was $10 (hello?) I thought "Hell no!" I don't have the cash right now to be paying too much money for a bad beer. People kept walking by me wrapped in McDonald's fumes. There is something about the smell of fast food that I find nauseating. I know that probably makes me a freak or a snob or something but tough shit. It's just the way it is. They put ads (big surprise) up on the screens. Every so often on the screens it would say "VIVA MEXICO" and the crowd would scream. They also flashed photos of various parts of the crowd on the screen and we all saw that Eva Longoria was in the house. God how LA.

Once the concert started it was pure performance. The staging and the theatrics were over-the-top. The show started with "Déjame entrar" and on the curtain hiding the stage was a video of immigrants coming over a wall with a helicopter's searchlight trying to find them. Then the wall explodes. Cool homage to the history and population of a good proportion of their Southern CA (if not US) fanbase. They had a thin curtain in front of the stage so the musicians' shadows could be exaggerated with the lights. It was fun and playful. Then the curtain was dropped and the stage crew raced to gather the cloth. We saw that stage crew a lot. They had to work hard to keep the effects going. I believe it was "Mándame una señal" that first brought out the testosterone. They had video screens on both sides of the drummer (and behind him). The ones on either side had a silhouette of a woman removing her clothing. Of course the people whistled and cheered. Then they sang their new hit "Labios compartidos" and had little floating lipstick prints in different colors on all the screens. DL thought they looked like lifesavers! "Labios" is a big theme in a lot of Maná songs (as are "alas"). Sometimes the hypersexual lead singer (more about him later), Fher, would make a triangle with his thumbs and index fingers and put that near his face as if we had forgotten about the double entendre of "lips."

The show then moved from overtly sexual to being very message-driven. They played “Cuando los ángeles lloran" and dedicated it to a guy in Guerrero, Mexico and another in Brazil who were killed while standing up for the environment. After the song the main stage screens flashed a message about how the song was for all who "han dado sus vidas por DEFENDER LA SELVA". Of course, the crowd screamed its approval. I might have the order of these next two messed up but I think next the screens had a message written across them slowly as in a handwriting font. I can't remember it all but part of it was something about how technology has developed a lot more quickly than our wisdom. Then the title of the next song came on the screen, the environmentalist cry "Dónde jugarán los niños?" The lights were dimmed and the stage was lit by candles in orangish-red glass holders. The band members wore skeleton masks that covered more than half their faces - stopping directly above the mouth. Fher, who had been wearing black anyway but with a red (velvet?) long jacket, switched to a black hooded robe. It was so dramatic. So theatrical. And in an odd way, a little Spinal Tap-esque. Then we saw another message on the screen that had statistics about how many people commit suicide every year and how many folks suffer depression. Then it said, "Acabar con su vida no es la solución. Pide ayuda. NO ESTAS SOLO!" And the people around me went absolutely nuts cheering. It was like "Yeah! I shouldn't kill myself! Wooo!!" Maná followed the message by playing "Tú me salvaste" (I think). At this point I was wishing I had brought a pen & paper. I was amazed by these messages on the screen and I had stepped out of my experiential self and was looking at the concert through an ethnographic lens. I was eager to see what would come next on the screen. I knew that some of their lyrics are mildly political but I didn't expect what I had just seen.

Well. I didn't see any more of that. We moved from this emotional and political depth to Alex González's drum solo. Nearly 10 minutes of him and most of it was impressive and of course it always pleases a crowd to when a drummer stands on his drum stool and when he plays behind his back. About halfway into the solo, Alex paused and the crowd went nuts, thinking that he was done. He gestured in the air and a bucket was lowered from the ceiling with a few bottles of Corona in it. He popped one open and chugged about half of it and the crowd screamed it's approval. It was like "Woo hoo! I like beer too!" I just had to laugh. The drum solo continued and this time Alex's entire drumset area starting rising up and soon he was about 6 or 8 feet higher off the stage and his ministage started spinning as he hammered his set. Would I have found that cool 15 years ago? It just seemed a little gimicky. And perhaps a tad too long.

The concert continued with some pyrotechnics (gee after singing about protecting the environment I found myself wondering how green a band they were). We were sitting close enough that we could actually feel the heat when the flames shot up. At some point Fher took off his red jacket. Hmmm... Not the best idea. He was wearing black leather pants (not skintight, thank god!) and a black sleeveless shirt. During "Corazón espinado" (did you know that Maná is performing with Santana on that hit off the grammy-winning Supernatural CD?), Fher was moving around in some Axle Rose inspired herion-chic fashion and you could see his 47-year old belly trying to keep up with his hips. It was a little sad. And sleeveless? He should really tone those arms a bit. I have seen a lot of photos of Fher and he does have the "I'm a bad boy and you really want to f*ck me" look going for him. At that concert, tho, he looked almost bloated. I wonder if he has recently gained weight (perhaps due to the tour schedule) or if those photos were just majorly touched-up. Fher carried himself like someone who is used to thinking of himself as incredibly sexy. To me he seemed like a Former Hottie. Sadly, it was another Spinal Tap moment.

At one point Fher picked a young woman from the crowd to join him on stage. I half expected it to be Eva Longoria but it was some woman from Guadalajara. They offered her a glass of wine and had her sit next to Fher on a lip-shaped couch (it looked like something out of Dali's house in Figueres). Fher sang "Tú eres mi religión" (only about 1/2 of it) and 2 other songs while she was on stage. I don't know how I would have reacted being on the couch with Fher with guitarist Sergio sitting on the other side of me. Fher was trying out a new guitar as well. So this guy is trying to play guitar and sing and what does she do? She keeps caressing him! And trying to kiss his cheek! And playing with his hair! Then she leans over and rubs Sergio's leg while he is jamming. Then it's Sergio's hair (which I really wanted to wash, BTW, and yes that makes me really old!). Then she starts kissing Fher's hair. It was creepy. DL told me she was creeped out and embarrassed for the woman. I wondered if they only sang part of each song because that was the plan all along or because she was too annoying. Then they escorted her off the stage.

Later they had rain on stage. I'm serious. For the song "No ha parado de llover" they had a cascade of water in the front of the stage. At first we thought perhaps it was a trick of lighting and cloth. We could feel cool air (similar to when we felt the blasts of heat earlier) but it was still hard to imagine how they could pull off actual water falling on the stage. Next was "En la muelle de San Blas" and perhaps another water-themed song. Fher was sticking his arm in the falling water and splashing the front row. We could see that his arm was indeed wet. I still do not know how they did it, but it was a really cool effect.

Another high point was when they sang the old ranchera "El Rey" with a reggae-rock beat.

A large black box was brought on stage by the stage crew. They opened the box and on the inside lid it said GRACIAS in large white letters. As each band member was introduced, he (and they are all men) would leave his instrument and then step into the box and be lowered under the stage. This was truly the most Spinal Tap of the whole concert. It was so freaking cheesy to watch them being slowly lowered. Some crossed themselves. Others blew kisses. Some held up their arms high with "rock on" hand signals. It was really awful. Soon it was just Fher and Alex left. So this means that we could hear the drums and Alex was singing. I wish I could remember which song it was. Alex stopped playing to go into the Mysterious Black Box but we could still hear drums. They had a freaking drum machine playing. It was nasty! I realize that they wanted to have a beat so Fher and the stage crew could dance but couldn't the stage crew or someone have been clapping? The drum machine made me question a lot of the music. Were the panpipes heard previously done on the synthesizer? Or was it a recording? How much of the music wasn't live? Where the hell did the drum machine come from?

The encore was "Clavado en un bar" which is such an anthem - a classic song about getting drunk off your ass when you get dumped. Of course it was a crowd-pleaser. Fher also pulled out a Mexican flag and spoke about immigration. A return to the political from the beginning of the concert.

They didn't play my current favorite song (which is "Fe"). Actually, I would have liked to have heard more songs from Revolución de amor than just "Mariposa traicionera" and "Eres mi religión." Perhaps I haven't spent enough time with Amar es combatir to really appreciate those songs but every time I listed to Revolución de amor I hear new complexities in the lyrics as well as the music. I have really grown to appreciate various levels of that album. While I realize it wasn't the tour for that album, I think they could have played more of the songs. Maybe they would have had they started on time. The concert felt short but I forgot to look at a clock when it ended. I'm pretty sure it was under 2.5 hours.

Overall I was entertained. The music was solid Maná, which to me means heavily influenced by early Police and Santana. Even if the band hadn't been entertaining, I found myself fascinated by the crowd and their responses to the show their idols were putting on. Thank-you, Maná, for adding that extra night in Los Angeles so I could see you. Hasta la próxima!