3 peat in Las Vegas - part one

The pilot announces that we are landing in Las Vegas. It is pretty close to 12:00 midnight. I peer out the window and I witness one of the most beautiful sites that I have ever seen. The night-lights of Las Vegas. The city actually looks like a country of it’s own being that it is encompassed, from the rest of the world, by mountains. As we land the pilot states that the temperature was 101 degrees…was this a taste of things to come? Vegas was sizzling! The Tejanos have landed…

It is now morning and Jv, Chanty, and I get things ready for the Tejano R.O.O.T.S. booth. Like Jv says, " If you can’t bring Mohammed to the mountain, you take the mountain to Mohammed!" That is what we did. We brought some of the Hall-of-Fame museum to Vegas. I was really impressed with how well we all worked together to make sure our displays were set-up right and were appealing to the eye. We met a whole bunch of our usual friends like Ricardo Hernández (Aur-Marc entertainment), Dave Biondi (BNET radio), David Chavez (Latin Pointe productions), and all of the great artist that we are by now accustomed to seeing…The Gang was there. While in Houston eating a little food at the airport (Hunan buffet) we met up with Arturo Móntez, Leonel Sánchez, and the legendary Tejano R.O.O.T.S. Hall-of-fame inductee Mr. Paulino Bernál. What a surprise indeed. We were surprised to find out they were headed to the Las Vegas Convention.

The meet and greet went well and we met a whole lot of Tejanos who were now living in different parts of the United States. This was a sign of how the night would be…A lot of Tejanos in the House. We put up our displays and headed to our rooms to groom up a bit. We splashed on a lot of cologne. Before we knew it...IT WAS 7:30 p.m. SHOW TIME!

Jv and Chanty went on ahead of me being that I wasn’t ready. I got to the Ballroom and I found out I missed the opening act. It was a comedian I had seen before on The Comedy Jam. I apologize for not writing his name down. When I entered the ballroom…WOW…what a place! The floor was decked in very nice carpet. There was security but they were dressed very nice with black suites. I made my way to the front of the stage and there was room for about 3 bands and it had a catwalk that was about 25 feet long. On each side of the stage there was a huge monitor. I would say they were about 50’x 50’. The dance floor was not that big but it was made of wood that was highly polished and it looked like that of a high school gym. The ballroom was so big you could probably put 2 or 3 jets inside of it. I hopped onto the stage and all I could see was a multitude of people. I got a lump in my throat. Then the lights were cut off………AVIZO TIME.

What an entrance people. I heard one of the most awesome introductions of a brass section ever. The lead singer came out belting out a tune and just took over. The whole band was dressed in black tuxedos. Very High Class and professional. After singing some great Tejano songs the brass went into one of the most awesome, spine-chilling, intro to a very recognizable song. Here is just a verse: "yOuR sTiLL A yOuNg mAn…bABy"Remember that One? The brass section was filling in with the most beautiful background vocals that I have ever heard. AVIZO is definitely one of the most underrated bands in the business. Their new lead singer sounds a little like the guy on American Idol whose name was Chris. He is the one who got offered a deal by the band named FUEL. After that wonderful song they went into " Buena Suerte,Corazón". The keyboard/accordion player and the trombone player were adding the voices to complete the trio on the CHORUS. The brass section had 3 trumpets, trombone, and 2 saxophone players. Their instruments were polished to a high sheen. Very,Very professional band. The crowd loved every minute of the show and music. I looked back at the crowd and there was just a sea of heads bobbing and weaving to the music as far as the eye could see.

Aviso finished their set but kept on playing in a "pianissimo" volume. Arturo Móntez, of Ternura Fame and DJ for the new 840 AM. station in McAllen, was introduced. He said a few words while Aviso played in the background. The he introduced THE LEGENDS. One by one they made a stride towards the front of the stage. The look of excitement on the people’s faces was totally mind blowing. Call me a " cry baby". Yes a tear ran down my cheek. I DON’T CARE, MI GENTE loved every minute of it. First Carlos Guzmán, Augustine Ramírez, Freddie Martinez, and then Sunny Ozuna. The Kings of the Mountains FOLKS. Carlos did his set first and asked everyone there to look at each other and say," I love you Tejano." That is exactly what everyone did. Then the intro to " Sufriendo penas" started. ALL I can say is," AVIZO WAS IN THE HOUSE!" Jamming with the legends. The crowd was in awe when Carlos sang " Vestida De Blanco". People were dancing in place or just swaying back and forth to the music. The dance floor was full the entire time. Carlos voice is like very fine wine. It only gets better with age.

Aviso then went into some funk music with slap bass and everything in between. The keyboard player alternated between the keyboards and accordion. They were all having the time of their lives. Freddie Martínez was introduced and the walls came a tumbling down. He sang a ranchera and the looks on the younger generation were a sight for sore eyes. I asked several of the young folks what was going through their minds and they said that they couldn’t believe how beautiful the true Tejano music sounded. It looked like they had just discovered "GOLD". Freddie sang his signature songs from the past and he really got the crowd going with " Botoncito De Cariño". Then he went into " Una Estrellita Lloró". Mr. Martínez then brought the crowd to a loud ROAR when he sang " El Arbolito." Cameras were flashing galore. Aviso was reading from sheet music but they were playing from the Heart. Freddie thanked the crowd and then sang one more song that he said was in his new CD. I noticed that his voice was different. It sounded more defined and the tone quality was very good. I am sure that the band had something to do with that being that they didn’t play off-key. They were truly the best that night. I like what I heard from Mr. Martínez. I am truly convinced of his status as a LEGEND. He put his heart and soul into that song.

Carlos Guzmán came back on stage and introduced Mr. Paulino Bernál. Mr. Bernal gave everyone a surprise when he announced that he would be starting a Tejano Conjunto again. This was accepted with a very loud applause from the people. Avizo then played the intro to a familiar song by Sunny Ozuna. " Cariñito Que Paso…" Remember that one? Sunny was dressed in black with a white Fedora Hat. Real classy. Sunny worked the crowd like the professional that he is. He made the women feel like he was singing to them. More cameras flashing and camera phones in the air. People were calling their friends left and right so that they could hear a little of the history that was taking place. Sunny gave the intro to "Reina De Mi Amor" and the crowd loved every minute. The icing on the cake was " Talk To Me." A song that made it to Number one on the billboard charts and earned Sunny a spot on American Bandstand. The dance floor was still full and the crowd by the stage was even bigger now. Beautiful Tejanos surrounded me from everywhere.

Carlos came back and introduced Augustine " El Guti" Ramirez. The reaction of the crowd was unbelievable. He strolled onto the stage playing his guitar plucking the intro to " Paloma Dejame Ir". People were just standing there like zombies in disbelief. I don't think they realized that it really was " El Guti" until he sang the first verse of the song. All of Augustine's songs were accepted like if they were made of gold. Then the Legends all came out and finished the set with a verse from one of their hit songs. The ending was a picture, etched in my mind and soul , that will forever light the flame that makes our music unique. A truly momentous and amazing musical extravaganza...

I missed the next group because a very dear friend had to go to her room to get her husbands CD's. people were asking for them like ' HOt Cakes'. I apologize to La Fiebre. JV gave a very good review of their performance. I regret missing their music.

Next on stage was the one and only coolest cat this side of the Galaxy....Mr. Ruben Ramos and the Mexican Revolution. The whole band just played with all their heart and soul. The brass section, Rick Fuentes (accordion/vocalist), Rick Reyes (drums), Joe Ramos, everyone tore it up with their incredible style of music. Puro first class Tejano/Chicano sound. The people DANCED, DANCED, DANCED all night long. What a great finish to a once in a lifetime show....