Alejandro Fernández and 50,000 Mexicans make history at the Plaza de Toros México

Mexican singer Alejandro Fernández has made history during his last concert at the Monumental Plaza de Toros in the Mexican capital, in front of 50,000 people. The show has been a tribute to his father, the late Vicente Fernández, who brought together 35,000 people on that same stage in 1984. On that occasion the show was called 'A Mexican in Mexico'. This Saturday, Fernández Jr. wanted to call it '50,000 Mexicans in Mexico' and he got it because the square was bursting. There was no room for a soul.

Fernández set himself the challenge of following in his father's footsteps and surpassing what El Charro de Huentitán achieved 40 years ago. "It's going to be a watershed in my career, a before and after," Fernández said in an interview with EL PAÍS two days before the concert. "It's going to be an impressive Mexican night," he said. It has been.

For months the organizers hung the sign "No tickets" and the scalpers have done business with the few tickets that remained. Up to 9,000 pesos ($500) could be paid for a general ticket in the streets around the plaza. Everyone wanted to see El Potrillo, the greatest exponent of ranchera music in his country and worthy heir of his father. An hour before the show started, Tlaloc – the Mexica god of rain – was still mocking the chilangos and forced them to take out their umbrellas. However, at 21.45 pm, even the sky has given a truce and the music has begun to play.

Alejandro Fernández during his concert. Edgar Negrete (CUARTOSCURO)

Fernández has opened the concert with ¿Dónde vas tan sola?, one of the first songs of her career. Walking with a determined step and a big smile has appeared on the scene in a black and silver charro suit with a huge mariachi hat. The square has erupted in screams. Hearing 50,000 Mexicans scream in the world's largest bullring is overwhelming. It's like a rumble, a roar that comes out of the earth and makes anyone tremble. The stage of several meters long and wide looked like a huge palenque ready for action, precisely the place where Fernández began his career following in the footsteps of Don Chente, as Mexicans affectionately call Vicente Fernández. "Like my father in that concert, today I will leave my skin, soul, heart and life so that Mexican music is heard to the sky," said the interpreter.

In 1984 the concert of the bullring was about not to be held, even Vicente Fernández himself assured the press that if he could not fill completely, he would retire from music. A threat that was never fulfilled. "It was a concert that cost my father a lot of work. I saw him suffer, I saw him cry, I saw how he put all the caste to carry out this project and how he suffered, "his son recalled in an interview. Alejandro Fernández grew up in the shadow of Vicente Fernández. His father was his school and taught him everything he knows about how to place the voice and how to move around the stage. After his loss in 2021, El Potrillo acknowledged that it has been a difficult time for the whole family. "I lost my teacher and my best friend and Mexico lost the best singer of all time," he said excitedly. "But my father taught me by his example that there is nothing more important than all of you. Despite the sadness, the best way to celebrate the legacy of Vicente Fernández is by singing his songs at the top of his lungs," he said to the shouts of the audience.

Growing up in the shadow of Vicente Fernández was never easy for Alejandro, but if there is something that his fans recognize is that despite that long shadow, El Potrillo has managed to give his music his own style, bringing it closer to pop and ballads, without losing that mariachi heritage that comes from his family. "My grandmother liked him, my mother loves him, I have two aunts who love him and my cousins are dying for him; his music is part of my family's soundtrack," says Tania, 29, who came to the concert from Toluca, in the State of Mexico, accompanied by her friends Raúl, Orlando and Saira to see her idol.

Now, Alex Fernandez, the eldest son, seems to be in charge of continuing the family legacy. Both paid a special tribute to Vicente Fernández and sang Perdón. Live mariachi music accompanied them throughout the concert. "I give my son the same advice that my father gave me. I don't want to fail by a millimeter. What my father did with me, I'm doing with Alex," says the singer.

Alejandro Fernández in the Plaza de Toros México.Gladys Serrano

For almost three hours Alejandro Fernández has completely filled the immense stage with his voice and his presence, entertaining the audience with some of his most popular songs such as Me dediqué a perderte, Nube viajera, No, Hoy tengo ganas de ti or Canta corazón. It is also the turn to perform his controversial song Kill them. " It's a very big hit of my career. I leave this song until the end so that those who do not want to listen to it, can leave, "said Fernández. There have also been moments for excitement, such as when one of her children gave her an ultrasound in the middle of a concert. "I'm going to be a grandfather again," he said with a laugh and everyone broke into applause. Fernandez has two more grandchildren and five children. After an exhaustive review of all his successes, he has given the public one last song: Como quien pierde una estrella, the first song with which he triumphed in 1995.

In summer Fernández will start a tour of Spain entitled Love and homeland. On June 17 it starts in Madrid with a concert at the WiZink Center in Madrid, and has a date for Fuengirola (Malaga), Almeria, Seville, Barcelona, Torrelavega (Cantabria) and will close in Santa Cruz de Tenerife as a finishing touch, on July 1 (the tour is organized by Planet Events, a company owned by Grupo Prisa, editor of EL PAÍS). "Whenever an opportunity opens to us, a window, a door, I will be there promoting the culture of my country," says Fernández. In autumn the tour will continue in the United States and Canada.

A few days before the concert Alejandro Fernández said that he got a tattoo on each arm. In the right you can read: "You do not have to arrive first, but you have to know how to arrive", as the song of El Rey says, which did not miss to close the tribute to his father on this monumental night. On the left, another sentence. A cover letter: "I don't sing to live. I live to sing."

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