Most people start going to concerts in middle school or during freshman year, but not me. I am a high school senior and I just went to my first concert ever, with my parents. 

My dad spontaneously decided to surprise me and my family with tickets to the Maná Rayando el Sol concert. Unfortunately, he had a scheduling conflict and was on a business trip on the day of the concert, but I wish he had been there. Knowing my parents, they would’ve told me about the concert five minutes before we had to leave, but my mom let it slip.

 Maná was originally known as Sombrero Verde with members Fher Olvera (vocalist), Gustavo Orozco (electric guitar), and the Calleros brothers, Juan (bass), Ulises (electric guitar), and Abraham (drums), who originated in Guadalajara. In 1986, they formed a new rock group with Latin and Caribbean rhythms that they called Maná. The members of Maná that everyone knows and loves now are Fher Olvera (vocalist), Juan Diego Calleros (bass), Alex Gonzales (drums), and Sergio Vallin. 

The majority of Maná’s audience is made up of middle-aged adults, but there are a good amount of teenagers that love and listen to their music. Listening to Spanish rock groups like Maná was a part of my childhood. I was extremely excited and couldn’t believe that I was actually going to see them. 

The show was set to start at 8 pm, but we didn’t leave our hotel until 8:20 pm, so we rushed over to the SAP Center since we didn’t want to miss anything, but luckily the show had not yet started. We got there, sat down, went to go buy merch, and waited for it to start. 

As I looked around, I saw teenagers, parents, and even grandparents, some of whom I knew. I saw my classmates with their families, my mom’s friends, and even teachers at my school. The show was sold out, the arena was packed, and everyone was anxiously waiting for the show to start. Every time people thought the concert was starting everyone cheered and whistled and some were waving their México flags.

The concert started at 9 with a video compilation of Maná’s greatest hits and memories throughout the years followed by them playing “Cómo Te Deseo” and “Corazon Espinado.” After the songs were over, Maná welcomed all of their fans and Olvera welcomed all of the “gringos” and stated that they were not racists while waving his flashlight throughout the entire stadium. 

Out of all of the songs they played, I sang my heart out to “Corazon Espinado”, “Como Quisiera”, “En el Muelle de San Blas”, “Me Vale”, “Labios Compartidos”, “Clavado en un Bar”, and “Eres mi Religion” and nearly cried to “El Reloj Cucu.” 

The concert was about 2 hours long with them playing 20 songs, along with a drum solo, and a guitar solo. We were close enough to the stage that it felt like they were directly in front of me. Everything sounded so clear and passionate. You could feel the love and appreciation that they have for their fans radiate through every song they played. 

Every song either had a video playing on the screens or a change in the lighting that coincide with the messages in the songs. Before singing certain songs, Fher would explain how the song came to be. The songs had messages of unity, peace, love, politics and conservation. The coolest performance was when they sang “En donde jugaran los niños”, all the lights were turned off as the song started and turned on to reveal a giant elephant in the middle of the stage and the band members wearing animal masks. In the final 30 seconds of the song, the screens and lights turned red and Fher grabbed a hose and started to put out the “fire” to save the elephant.

The night ended with the group playing “Rayando el Sol” and Olvera spreading messages of peace and unity. As soon as the song ended John Lenon’s “Imagine” started to play and big white balloons were released into the crowd as the band gave their goodbyes while fans cheered and applauded. 

I was in shock, two of the best hours of my life had just ended. I was hit with so many different emotions; I was sad, happy, grateful, amazed, appreciative, captivated, nostalgic and speechless. Maná is a group that I have listened to since birth and I had just seen them perform live, which I thought would never happen, but I’m glad it did. Overall, the concert was great and gets a 10/10 rating from me.