Last Sunday night Juan Gabriel brought his Noa Noa Tour to the Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento, CA where Juan Gabriel and his orchestra, mariachi, and singers celebrated “El Dia Del Musico” (Musician’s Day) in front of a capacity crowd that was made up of fans from all over the northern California area such as Stockton, Yuba City and the bay area among other cities.
Juan Gabriel’s musical legacy was evident early in the evening as fans of all ages including preteens, teen agers, 20 and 30 somethings and those who grew up with his music who are now in their 40’s and 50’s and even grandparents lined up outside the Sleep Train arena on a cool northern California evening.
As the lights went down, the crowd took to their feet to welcome their musical hero who after 45 years of career hasn’t missed a step, even after having taken a terrible fall of the stage a few years ago, Juan Gabriel continues to be the ultimate showman, as he pranced around all over the stage making every single person in that arena feel as important as the people in the first row. Juan Gabriels’ charisma cannot be matched and his fans celebrated every passionate movement and it was evident that Juan Gabriel still enjoys every single second on stage as he always engaged the fans to be just as much a part of the show as he and his entourage were.
Musically, Juan Gabriel continues to push the boundaries of popular music and his live arrangements are just as courageous as the musical legacy he has left behind on his recordings. During his rendition of his first hit, “No Tengo Dinero” the song began with some exquisite electric guitar finger picking that was reminiscent of The Who’s “Behind Blue Eyes”, as the song progressed, the song went back to his original arrangement of early 70’s pop, and half way through it, the song stops and Juan Gabriel said: “Could you imagine what I could have sounded like when I started out with today’s technology?” and as the crowd cheered on, he asked “Would you like to hear what I would sound like with today’s technology?” and of course, the crowd responded with a roar and the orchestra started up the song again, this time with a techno/hip-hop/reggaeton vibe that got everyone dancing.
During “Yo No Naci Para Amar” Juan Gabriel and his orchestra took this love ballad though some jazzy interludes that made the passion of the song feel even stronger. During his Mariachi hit, “Caray” the mariachi was accompanied by the orchestra’s drummer and percussionist who gave the song an even bouncier and more energetic feeling.
Another highlight of the night was Juan Gabriel’s rendition of “Siempre En Mi Mente” in which half way through the song it turned into one of the most exciting sing alongs in which Juan Gabriel teased with the crowd and changed it around and began singing the chorus in English, which at first shocked some of the fans, but slowly but surely they began to join in as they sang “Always on my mind, forever, forever…”
After almost 3 hours of non-stop music and excitement, just when one could not imagine the momentum to get any higher, the familiar melodies of the mega hit, “Querida”, came through the PA system and the crowd took it up another notch and finally the end came, but not without the whole place dancing to the closing song, “El Noa Noa”.
