Pop Music Reviews : Jose Jose Anniversary Bash a Multi-Artist Bust

Latin American popular culture was visible outside the Sports Arena before Thursday night’s concert, billed as a celebration of Mexican romantic balladeer Jose Jose’s 25 years in the biz. Surrounding the parking lot were dozens of street vendors hawking everything from tamales to Chiclets.

That scene was much more vibrant than what actually took place during the show. It was to have been a gala “ espectaculo “--nearly every style was represented among the 18 acts: rap (Mellow Man Ace), techno-pop (Ole Ole, of Spain), rock (Alux Nahual, of Guatemala), nortena (Los Huracanes del Norte, of Mexico).

But only a few of the acts managed to escape the doldrums of what appeared to be mostly lip-synced performances. Puerto Rico’s Danny Rivera, who sang live atop rhythm tracks, managed to enliven the crowd with impassioned vocals on his slightly disco-ized salsa numbers. The highlight of the evening was a technical mishap that left Rivera without a rhythm track for several moments: he sang a Mexican ranchera classic a cappella to keep the show alive, an honest moment in the midst of a mega-star fantasyland.

Unfortunately, Jose Jose himself, known as “ el principe de la cancion “ (“the prince of song”) throughout the Latin pop world, did not manage to rise above the lifelessness at his own anniversary bash. He seemed to lip-sync several new songs--none of which matched the richness of his ‘60s and ‘70s classics--and excused himself from an encore before a pleading crowd because, apparently, there were simply no more recorded tracks available for him.

Happy anniversary, Jose Jose. Too bad your bash couldn’t have been pulled off with a little more artistic integrity.