Orquesta Mondragón 50th anniversary concert in Mexico City, Digi Mart USA News (Mexico City): The Orquesta Mondragón will celebrate 50 years of artistic career on November 12 with a concert at the Teatro de la Ciudad Esperanza Iris in Mexico City. The Spanish group will perform alongside special guests, including Rubén Albarrán, vocalist of Café Tacvba.
According to vocalist and actor Javier Gurruchaga, who spoke exclusively with Unotv.com, the band’s relationship with Mexican audiences began formally in 1982 during the promotion of the album “Bon voyage” (1980). Frequent tours and local recordings from 2006 onward strengthened the group’s artistic ties to the country.
The band’s founder highlighted the natural affinity between Spain and Mexico through satire, Día de Muertos and popular celebration. He said the warmth of Mexican audiences has marked the group’s memories since its first visits to the capital.
“Mexico is a fundamental part of our career. They have always been songs that have a lot to do with the way of being and the Mexican sense of humor,” Gurruchaga said.
Gurruchaga recalled fond memories of recording in Mexico City studios with local producers. During that early period in the 1980s, the musician even sang English versions of emblematic pieces such as “Caperucita feroz.”
The orchestra last visited Mexico on March 17, 2019. “We owed Mexico nearly seven years without returning; because of the pandemic it became impossible, and now we are back,” he said.
The Teatro de la Ciudad Esperanza Iris will host the Orquesta Mondragón together with the following special guests, as detailed in the original report.
The show will offer two full hours of music performed live. The band leader ruled out digital tricks or prerecorded tracks during the commemorative evening.
“We have to stress that we sing live. There is no trickery or cardboard, no special effects,” he said.
Gurruchaga also acknowledged that over his life he has become close to Mexican culture and has made Mexican friends over the past 50 years who have supported him in various areas of his career.
The singer’s passion for Mexican culture includes his work as an actor in local films such as the biographical film “Cantinflas.” Filming of that feature took place inside the same Teatro de la Ciudad Esperanza Iris. “It is a place where I even filmed a part in the movie; that sequence was shot there, curiously, and I have a great memory of it,” he said.
The Donostia-born artist regularly enjoys screenings of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema at the Cineteca Nacional, including works by directors such as Luis Buñuel, Luis Alcoriza and Emilio “El Indio” Fernández. He also said he enjoys browsing the antique shelves of the Donceles bookshops on each visit to Mexico City in search of classic illustrated books.
Gurruchaga said he usually has breakfast at the café “El Popular” on 5 de Mayo street and orders his stage outfits from artisan tailors on Avenida República de Brasil.
“These have been hard years, which is why this concert has much more important value, because the Mondragón is returning with desire, with the will to live, and returns to Mexico on November 12,” he said.
The November 12 show is intended as a celebration of life and of the enduring presence of live music. Gurruchaga has invited fans to sing along to timeless anthems such as John Lennon’s “Imagine” during the evening.
