¡Prepárate para una noche llena de música y energía!

When I go to a Mexican restaurant I am usually reminded that there is a whole other world right here in Madison that exists below the mainstream radar. It's like that China Miéville novel The City & the City with Madison's Hispanic population sometimes seeming to exist in a parallel city where English is not the primary language and culture happens out of the spotlight, away from downtown and the gaze of a well to-do middle class.

I exaggerate a bit as Latinos here are not confined to a certain area of town and take part in the life of the city in all ways but a lot of Spanish language cultural events take place more towards the perimeter of the city and out of the spotlight. Last month I ate at El Pastor on the southside and grabbed a handbill for a concert that happens later this week.

Three bands are playing at the Alliant Energy Center this Friday. I've, not surprisingly, never heard of any of them and likely would never have known about this concert had I not stopped to look at the handbill on the counter by the register.

Los Dos de Tamaulipas are the headliners. Led by brothers Rolando and Orlando Zapata, they are reputed to blend traditional norteño with modern corridos. According to Wikipedia, norteño is defined by accordion and bajo sexto, a 12-string guitar. Of course, there are infinite variations. Corrido seems to be less a musical genre than a way to tell a tale set to music in a particular meter.

Kanales is one of the openers and is the stage name of Mexican singer and songwriter Pedro Haros. He seems to be most closely associated with corridos.

The other opener is a band called Los de la Marka who seems to be purveyors of norteño. Their videos tend to feature a lot of pretty señoritas which makes for some fine viewing.