Grupo Frontera to Perform in Mexico City’s Zócalo During This Year’s Grito de Independencia

Grupo Frontera will be making a special visit to Mexico’s most iconic plaza…

The Regional Mexican group will perform at Mexico City’s Zócalo — the country’s most important public square — on September 15 for the annual Grito de Independencia event, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has announced.

Grupo Frontera“The members of Grupo Frontera will be there on September 15 at night in the Zócalo,” said the Mexican president at the end of his usual morning conference, where he played Frontera’s cover of “No Se Va,” originally by Colombian group Morat.

López Obrador reiterated his taste for the music of the Regional Mexican group, which he has included in his playlist to challenge corridos tumbados, a musical genre that although he has said he will not prohibit, he considers to glorify drug traffickers.

Grupo Frontera joins a long list of national and international artists who have set foot in the second-largest public square in the world, only behind Tiananmen in Beijing. Musicians such as Paul McCartneyJustin Bieber, Manu ChaoShakira, Café Tacvba and the late icon of regional Mexican music Vicente Fernández, among many others, have performed at the Zócalo.

The attendance record for free concerts held in the so-called Primer Cuadro in the Mexican capital is held by the Argentine rock band Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, which achieved the milestone of gathering 300,000 people on the night of June 3, beating Grupo Firme, who held the record after summoning 280,000 people in September 2022, according to figures from the government of Mexico City.

This week, the sextet scored their first top 10 hit on a Billboard album chart with El Comienzo, which jumped 39-4 on the Top Latin Albums chart on August 19 after its first full week of activity.

El Comienzo also jumped 12-2 on Regional Mexican Albums and debuted at No. 39 on the Billboard 200 all-genre chart.

Los Fabulosos Cadillacs’ Free Mexico City Concert Breaks Zócalo Attendance Record

Los Fabulosos Cadillacs are breaking records… 

The legendary Argentine rockers drew a crowd of 300,000 to their free concert at Mexico City’s Zócalo, on Saturday, June 3, breaking the attendance record set by Grupo Firme last year, according to data supplied by the local government.

Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, ZócaloUp until last night, Grupo Firme, the boisterous Regional Mexican group, had drawn the biggest crowd ever (280,000) to the historic Mexican site.

But last night Los Cadillacs bested Grupo Firme and other seminal acts, including Rosalía, Sir Paul McCartney, Roger Waters, Shakira, the late ranchera icon Vicente Fernández, and even pop star Justin Bieber.

“¡Winds of liberty, blood of a fighter!” tweeted Mexico City mayor Claudia Sheinbaum, quoting the lyrics of Los Fabulosos Cadillac’s famous song “Matador.” “We’ve made history again, breaking attendance records with 300,000 people in the Zócalo of Mexico City, enjoying an epic concert from Los Fabulosos Cadillacs,” she added.

Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, Zócalo The band — headed by singer Gabriel Fernández Capello, better known as Vicentico, bassist Flavio Cianciarulo and saxophonist Sergio Rotman — took over the second largest public square in the world (behind Tiananmen Square in Peking) with their blend of rock, ska, reggae and punk.

From early in the morning on Saturday, people from different parts of the city, and the country, lined up at el Zócalo in an effort to get access to the front rows of the stage. By the time the show started in the evening, the crowd was so large and tight, that some opted to move to the back to breath better.

The now-historic performance, which lasted around 90 minutes, is part of the group’s El León del Ritmo tour, which celebrates 30 years of one of its most celebrated albums, 1992’s El León, and three decades since the release of their fabled single “Matador.”

The fact that Cadillacs have been around for so long, and that they perform rock en español – a genre many say is fading — makes their accomplishment even more impressive. “They called them old, they made fun of them, and they answered with 300,000 people,” tweeted one fan.

“What happiness! How enormous and indescribable to be playing for all you! Thank you, eternal thanks. We receive this with our hearts,” said a visibly moved Vicentico to an adoring audience that sang to every song in their repertoire.

Following their performance at Coachella in April, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs will take their El León del Ritmo Tour to different countries, including Mexico, the Viña del Mar Festival in Chile, Spain and the U.S.

Here’s the full set list from their record-breaking performance:

  1. “Demasiada Presión”
  2. “El Muerto”
  3. “Carmela”
  4. “Estoy Harto De Verte Con Otros”
  5. “El Genio del Dub”
  6. “Calaveras y Diablitos”
  7. “Los Condenaditos”
  8. “El Aguijón”
  9. “Nro. 2 En Tu Lista”
  10. “Saco Azul”
  11. “Siguiendo La Luna”
  12. “V Centenario”
  13. “Carnaval Toda La Vida”
  14. “Mal Bicho”
  15. “Matador”
  16. “Mi Novia Se Cayó en un Pozo Ciego”
  17. “Vasos Vacíos”
  18. “El Satánico Dr. Cadillac”
  19. “Yo No Me Sentaría en Tu Mesa”