Live review · Toronto · Budweiser Stage

Caifanes Bring the Dark Poetry of Mexican Rock to the Shore of Lake Ontario

On their joint North American tour with Café Tacvba, Caifanes played fifteen songs, covered Juan Gabriel and closed with a Maldita Vecindad anthem shared with their tour mates. I went to Toronto for this one.

By Axel CalderonJune 28, 2024Photos and video: Axel Calderon / TNR

Two legends, one night

Caifanes and Café Tacvba on the same bill is the kind of announcement that makes the Latin community in Canada plan a road trip. Budweiser Stage, on the edge of Lake Ontario, was the setting, and Caifanes took their half of the night with the seriousness of a band that knows exactly what these songs mean to people who grew up far from Mexico.

They opened with “La negra Tomasa”, the cumbia that usually closes their shows, and went straight into “Nubes” and “Para que no digas que no pienso en ti”. Saúl Hernández still sings like every word costs him something.

Shot on my phone

TNR

The classics, and a Juan Gabriel surprise

“Viento”, “No dejes que…” and “Miedo” built the first half, then the run everyone was waiting for: “La célula que explota”, “Detrás de los cerros”, “Mátenme porque me muero”, “Aviéntame” and “Afuera”. Those are songs that live in the memory of a whole generation, and hearing them one after another is a lesson in how strong this catalogue is.

Then came the moment I did not see coming: a cover of Juan Gabriel’s “Te lo pido por favor”, the band turning a ballad everybody knows into something heavier and darker, with a sax solo and the Mexican national anthem woven in just before it.

“Toronto is a long way from Mexico City, but for that hour it did not feel like it.”

Pachuco, with Café Tacvba on stage

After “Aquí no es así”, Caifanes brought Café Tacvba out for “Pachuco”, the Maldita Vecindad anthem. Two of the biggest names in rock en español sharing a song that belongs to a third: that is the whole history of the genre in four minutes.

Sources: setlist.fm, Pollstar, tour announcement.