We went to see Pepe Aguilar’s Jaripeo Hasta Los Huesos Tour last Friday at the Allstate Arena. The show is essentially a concert held during a rodeo in which the singers also ride horses. The Allstate Arena holds maybe 12,000 people. I tend to enjoy entertainment of the “unfamiliar to me but popular enough to draw a good crowd” genre and the “you will not believe what I just saw” genre. Since this was both, we got tickets immediately. 

An event conducted entirely in a language you do not speak is a pleasing reminder that we are all the same. Technically, I did not know the stadium announcer was saying things like “Ladies and gentlemen, the show will begin in five minutes” and “There is no smoking permitted in the Allstate Arena,” but I knew. (I did pick up “Benvenidos PEPE AGUILAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!!!!!” just fine.) 

Same for Pepe’s performance. He’s a talker between songs, like Buddy Guy or Bruce Springsteen. I am about half-deaf and loudspeakers are hard for me to understand already, plus I understand very little Spanish, yet I can tell you with complete certainty that in separate monologues he touched all the concert bases: 

  • Told the audience how much they mean to him and his family (Los Aguilars are a family business started by Pepe’s father, and his adult children are also singers in the rodeo and also apparently big stars in their own right.)
  • Talked about how much he liked Chicago and namechecked some local spots for cheap pops 
  • Told a heart-tugging story that had tension but a gently happy ending 
  • Told a slightly ribald joke that got a huge laugh
  • Had his “If I can be serious for a moment” segment end with the same politely enthusiastic applause that exhortations for peace or vaccinations or mental health always elicit. 
  • Took a moment to remember someone who had died, not recently (I assume this was his father).
  • Told the backstory of one of his most popular songs as a lead-in to the band striking it up.
  • Asked the audience if they minded if he played one more song.

I enjoyed the music more than I usually enjoy live singing, presumably because I wasn’t straining to make out the words. Once I got the restaurant association out of my head, I came to realize mariachi is not unlike the nightclub, lounge, big-band style, which I like very much. 

Come to think of it, that’s something I learned 25 years ago after going to a Rat Pack show in Vegas with very similar motivations as the ones that took me to see Pepe.