After more than a year, mariachis in North Texas are singing again
The pandemic left band members almost jobless, but this weekend they’ll be busy at work.
Alexia Quintero of Mariachi Rosas Divinas performs at Legacy Hall in Plano on Thursday, May 5.(Anja Schlein)
“No songs, no music, no nothing”.
That’s how José Antonio Laguna described the months of March and April 2020, when the pandemic hit North Texas.
Laguna, director of Mariachi Mexicanísimo, has been a full-time musician since 14.
For him, and for several other mariachi musicians, 2020 was a year of few performances.
Although demand for mariachi music has increased this year, Laguna, who is from Guanajuato, Mexico, thinks his work schedule still won’t compare to what it was before the pandemic. Not until 2022.
Updated on May 4, 2021 at 9:55 pm
Cinco de Mayo, an annual celebration of Mexican history, falls on a Wednesday this year. The May 5 festivities commemorate the Mexican Army s victory at the Battle of Puebla in 1862, and eateries across the Dallas-Fort Worth area are celebrating the holiday with live music, free drinks, and meal deals for dine-in or take out.
Here is a list of Cinco de Mayo events and specials from eateries across North Texas.
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The restaurant s Cinco de Mayo celebration kicks off at 3 p.m. on Wednesday with street tacos as well as other food and drink specials including a Frozen Paloma. HG s fiesta will also include a Titleist bag raffle, a piñata, a fortune telling machine, a live mariachi band, and a DJ from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Cinco de Mayo celebrations began this weekend, but there s still plenty of partying left to do on Wednesday. And while you’re not too likely to come across many explanations of the holiday’s historic significance, there will be some honest attempts to honor Mexican culture.
From free drinks and flashy fiestas to tequila tastings and taco plates, Dallas bars and restaurants will celebrate Cinco de Mayo the best way they know how, in all its fabulous flavors, and we’re all be better off for it. (At least until Thursday comes.)
The Five Days of Cinco from Ojo de Tigre Mezcal Artesanal
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Mick Adams and the Stones, which bills itself as “the world’s most authentic” Rolling Stones tribute band, may have sympathy for the devil, but that doesn’t mean they appreciate being scammed.
“We escaped this without getting screwed,” said Erin O’Brien, the band’s manager (and wife of lead singer Adams). “But I’m worried about other people in the business who might fall for something like this.”
Which would, of course, leave them shattered.
OK, enough with the Stones references. This is a classic bogus-check racket, with the unusual wrinkle that it’s targeting entertainers rather than, say, seniors sitting alone at home.