Interview with Penta el Zero M

Hallowmania returns to Brownsville on October 21 at the Jacob Brown Auditorium, and the main event is set: lucha libre superstars Penta el Zero M and his brother Rey Fenix, better known collectively as the Lucha Brothers, will be squaring off against The Mechawolf and Ultimo Ninja.

The Hallowmania 9 card will also include Willie Mack, Laredo Kid, Hijo de Fishman, Keira, Ivelisse, Ciclon Ramirez Jr., Canek Jr., and Eso el Payaso. Penta has been all over the place these past few years, and most recently competed at the PWG Battle of Los Angeles 2017 in August, a showcase event for the biggest stars of independent wrestling. He faced former WWE star Matt Sydal and former UFC standout and current Scenic City Invitational winner Matt Riddle there. Penta previously wrestled here in the Rio Grande Valley earlier this year at events promoted by Promociones Salinas and Lucha Powerhouse. This upcoming event is his return to the borderlands of South Texas.

I had the chance to speak to Penta about his career, his favorite wrestlers growing up, the state of wrestling today, and what he thinks of the Rio Grande Valley.

Note: This interview was conducted in Spanish, and this is the English translation of our conversation.

Eduardo Martinez: Why did you decide to leave (major lucha libre Mexican promotion) AAA?

Penta el Zero M: Because basically I want to be looking for other horizons, I want to explore and stand out more (in the wrestling world). Being in AAA has limited us a lot. So I wanted to embark on this new journey to grow more, professionally speaking.

EM: Do you have a favorite memory from your time in AAA?

PeZM: I always enjoyed all my wrestling matches. Wrestling, what happens in the ring is different from what happens outside of the ring. All the matches I had in AAA were pretty good, and I enjoyed being in the ring one-hundred percent.

EM: Who were your favorite luchadores when you were a kid?

PeZM: In my time my favorites were Fuerza Guerrera, the one who nowadays goes by L.A. Park [Note: L.A. Park is the original La Parka, who went by that name in the early days of AAA and late 1990’s WCW. He changed his name in the 2000’s to L.A. Park for copyright reasons, and now AAA has someone else using the La Parka name], Canek, the idols of the moment then like Rey Mysterio, Pierroth, Octagon. Those were some of the luchadores that were my idolos.

EM: Who do you think are the best luchadores in Mexico? Where do you think Mexico stands are far as talent?

PeZM: It doesn’t matter what promotion they are in, whether they are in the independents, in AAA, or in Consejo (Mundial de Lucha Libre), I believe that right now there is so much talent in Mexico. And I believe we’ve [Note: Penta is sitting with current lucha libre star and his friend Daga, who also left AAA, while this interview is being conducted] reflected that, by how we’ve transcended borders, how we are working on this side (of the border), and how much the people love Mexican wrestling, so I think that speaks well of the Mexican luchador.

EM: So the last few years you’ve been wrestling a lot in the American independent wrestling scene. I’ve seen you wrestle Chris Hero in matches that I’ve liked a lot, and many others. What are your thoughts on the American independent wrestlers and scene you’ve encountered?

PeZM: I think I’ve faced the best that the American independent wrestling scene has to offer, like Chris Hero, Sami Callihan, RVD, Ricochet, Raymond Rowe, Zack Sabre Jr., Will Ospreay, and so many other names that I’ve left out. So many people with who have built their great names and showcased their great talent. Also Rey Mysterio and Alberto el Patron, I feel like I’ve been in the ring with the best in the world, when it comes to lucha libre.

EM: You’ve become a regular here in the Rio Grande Valley, can you tell us what your impressions have been so far?

PeZM: The people here have always received us very well, the people here are great, here and all of Texas. And that motivates us to give one-hundred percent up there in the ring.

EM: Thank you Penta.

PeZM: Gracias.

What: Hallowmania 9
Time: 7:00 PM
Date: 10/21
Cost: $20.00, $25.00 (ringside)
Phone: 956-518-2460
Location: Jacob Brown Auditorium in Brownsville.

Round-Up

This week, we're going to have a round-up of some of the most anticipated Tejano, conjunto, and cultural events of the month of October, and two updates regarding previous stories.

--South Texas conjunto legend Pepe Maldonado has lined up the month of October with another quality list of top conjunto acts from the Valley and beyond. Thanks to Joe Maldonado for reaching out and always letting me know the upcoming schedule. These are the following acts scheduled for this month of October: Roberto Pulido y Los Clasicos (October 1), Los Nuevo Chachos de Jesse Gomez and Chuy Flores (October 8), Bernardo y sus Compadres (October 15), Los Texmaniacs (October 22), Ruben Garza y La Nueva Era and Orlando Rodriguez (October 29). Entry fee is $10.00, and the music starts at 6 PM every Sunday night. For more information on these upcoming events, you can visit https://www.facebook.com/lalomitapark?fref=ts or call La Lomita Park owner and promoter Pepe Maldonado at 956-867-8783.

--Elida Reyna y Avante will be playing at the Outta Town Dance Hall on October 14, Saturday night, in Mission. This year marks 14 years that Elida Reyna has been singing and leading the way with the group Elida y Avante. Tickets are $15.00 presale and $20.00 at the door. For more information call 956-584-1812.

--The legendary La Villita in San Benito has re-opened again this past Summer, and is the longest lasting conjunto venue here in the Rio Grande Valley. It has opened and closed during the past couple of decades, after first establishing itself during the 1940's and going through a conjunto golden era in the 1950's and 1960's. The following ats are confirmed for the next five weeks: Jesse Flores y la Ralea Tejana (September 30), Los Badd Boyz del Valle (October 7), Javier y Los Latinos (October 14), Ruben de la Cruz y su conjunto (October 21), and Ramon Lucio y Conjunto Dominante (October 28). Doors open at 7 PM, with dances going from 8 PM to midnight. $10.00 per person. 

--Legendary accordionist Eva Ybarra, who we've written about here previously in a cover story for the Festiva and who is a regular at the Narciso Martinez Cultural Arts Center, was a recipent of the National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment of the Arts. She received her award on September 14 in Washington, D.C. For those of you interested in seeing the video that they did in showcasing Ybarra's unique conjunto career, go to YouTube and look up: 2017 NEA Heritage Award Fellow Eva Ybarra.

--On October 12, 2017, the Roma ISD Choir, Orchestra, Conjunto, Folklorico, and Mariachi students will be having a grand showcase of performances during a benefit show called "To The Gulf Coast With Love". Tickets are $10.00 and will take place at the Roma ISD Performing Arts Center.

End of an Era for Los Fantasmas del Valle

Rodney Rodriguez.

After 17 years, 33-year-old accordionist Rodney “El Cucuy” Rodriguez of Rio Grande City has left the iconic conjunto Los Fantasmas del Valle.

This won’t be the place to spread rumors or chisme about what is exactly going on or what went down between the bandmates in this conjunto. I don’t know, first of all. The only things I do know and have heard is that Rodriguez is starting a new conjunto, the Facebook page for Los Fantasmas del Valle has been deactivated, and that the rest of the scheduled 2017 dates have been cancelled for the longtime conjunto.

The group has been one of the longest lasting conjunto groups in Rio Grande Valley history. This Mercedes-based band got the name Los Fantasmas del Valle from Alejandro Perez — the brother of the conjunto legend Gilberto Perez — after they recorded "Mis Pasos Andaran", a spooky song about a man who died but came back as a ghost to haunt his girlfriend.

At the time, Los Fantasmas del Valle was led by bass player Hector Barron, bajo-sexto player Julian Figueroa and accordionist Gilberto Rodriguez. The latter left after a run that lasted several years. Several accordionists rotated in and out, until Mike Gonzalez secured the role in 1975. He held on to that accordionist position for 25 years until he fell ill in 2000.   

That’s where Rodney Rodriguez comes in. The story is a famous one of how he joined Los Fantasmas del Valle. Barron received a recommendation from a fellow conjunto musician named Freddie Gonzalez to check out this young accordionist from Rio Grande City. An audition was scheduled at the Burger King in Pharr, near the Expressway and I Road (now called Veterans Road).

The 16-year-old accordionist had already been playing conjunto music for several years. He first started playing at the age of 13 in Rio Grande City at a air conditioning shop that was owned by Richard Lund. This was his big shot at joining one of the most popular conjunto acts in the Valley.

Rodriguez’s father gave his son a ride from Rio Grande City and he introduced himself first to the band.

"The Fantasmas thought that my dad was actually me," Rodriguez told me in 2015. "That he was the guy that was going to audition. Dice mi apa, 'Pues dejame traer a mi hijo.'" (My dad said, 'Well let me go get my son.')

He hopped out of the car surprising the band of older musicians by how young he looked.

"Me arranque con ella," (I started shredding it,) Rodriguez said. "They were surprised. They were like, 'O lo hizo igualito.' No mas oyeron esa y me dijo Hector, 'Alistate pa' el weekend.' Asi fue la cosa." (‘Oh, he did it exactly the same (as Gonzalez).' They just heard it and Hector told me, 'Get ready for the weekend.' That's how it went down.)

A few weeks later Los Fantasmas del Valle, with Rodriguez on board, traveled to Washington, D.C., where they represented South Texas conjunto music at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in the Summer of 2000.

As their accordionist, Rodriguez would be an important member of the group for the next 17 years. During that period Los Fantasmas del Valle became one of the most consistent conjunto acts of the 2000’s. They played all throughout the Rio Grande Valley and South Texas: at La Lomita Park in McAllen, the Narciso Martinez Cultural Arts Center Conjunto Festival in San Benito, and even at the Tejano Conjunto Festival in San Antonio. They also released multiple CD’s and merchandise during this time frame.

With Rodriguez gone, an era has come to an end. No word yet what is the plan with Los Fantasmas del Valle. But the good news is that Rodriguez, who at the young age of 33 already has a lifetime of experience, plans to continue carrying the torch (or accordion, in this case) for conjunto music well into the future.

I’ve been in touch with Rodney Rodriguez and we are planning to have an interview in the coming weeks to discuss his future in conjunto music. So we will keep you updated about what he plans to do in the conjunto music world. 

Television Time Remaining: Pirata Morgan in Hidalgo and my own personal history with wrestling.

Pirata Morgan spanking Corazon de Barrio.

It was Mexican Independence Day this past Saturday, and Promociones Salinas presented a free lucha libre event at the State Farm Arena in Hidalgo, Texas. The main event featured Pirata Morgan, or as he’s been calling himself “El Mejor Luchador del Mundo” (“The Best Wrestler in the World”) for decades, teaming up with Super Parka, who is the uncle of the famous L.A. Park (the original La Parka that was in AAA in the early 1990’s and WCW in the late 1990’s). The two rudos took on the técnico team of Corazón de Barrio and Hijo de Mascara Sagrada.

In his prime during the 1980’s and 1990’s, Morgan was legitimately one of the best wrestlers in Mexico, and someone who could do a little bit of everything. He’s best known for his blood soaked brawls with El Dandy, El Volador, El Faraon, Masakre, and Los Brazos. Now at 55 years of age, he gets on by with his tremendous charisma, beyond vulgar trash talking, great looking and sounding strikes, and a unique connection with his audience. Legends who gave their body and dropped buckets upon buckets of blood during their long and storied careers will always have a special place in the hearts of lucha libre fans.

As is the case with traditional lucha libre, the técnicos and rudos were one fall a piece as they entered the third and deciding fall. Morgan started using weapons he found at ringside, including a “Caution: Floor Is Wet” sign to batter his foes, even spanking Barrio with it. The kids screamed when the rudos were in control, and went wild when Barrio and Sagrada made their comeback, punishing Morgan, Parka, and the corrupt referee with the very “Caution: Floor Is Wet” sign that was used against them. “Una sopa de su propio chocolate” (“A taste of their own medicine”) is something always pleases a crowd. The good guys one, the bad guys lost, and most importantly, the kids went home happy.

After the match, the rowdy Morgan turned into a gentleman as he sold shirts, cute little dolls of himself, and took selfies with anyone that was interested. One shirt had a Spanish saying that basically translated to: “Today is a good day to [expletive] you up.” An older woman near me laughed and shook her head when she read it. The crew packed up, and did it all over again for another crowd of fans at Rio Grande City later that day.

It’s been a great year for professional wrestling in 2017, and I’ve been lucky enough to go to many shows this year, from local lucha libre events to EVOLVE, NXT and the WWE Royal Rumble in San Antonio to the Scenic City Invitational in Tennessee. It’s been a blast and it’s been making me think of my own personal history with wrestling. I’m a fan of a lot of things, and share many interests, but nothing has caught my attention quite like wrestling has for the past 20 plus years. 

Recently I was talking to my dad on the phone and I brought up how I was watching WWE Monday Night Raw, and he asks, “Te acuerdas cuando fuimos a ver Andre The Giant y el Ultimate Warrior.” (“Do you remember when we went to see Andre The Giant and the Ultimate Warrior?”)

He was referring to a WWF (now called WWE) event in Edinburg, at the Pan American University Fieldhouse on September 1, 1989. The card featured Mission native Tito Santana, Rick Martel, Jim Duggan, Haku, The Rockers, and a short 30-second main event between the Ultimate Warrior and Andre The Giant. The Ultimate Warrior quickly beat Andre The Giant, who was near the end of his Hall of Fame career.

I laughed and answered, “No pos, tenia no mas 3 años, no me acuerdo.” (“No well, I was only 3 years old, I don’t remember.”)

He laughs and confirms I was sleeping next to him and my older brother Angel Pablo for most of the show. Decades later I very much regret that I slept through that experience.

I caught various glimpses of wrestling over the early 1990’s, and loved playing with my older brother’s WrestleMania NES video game, action figures, and a pair of board games that WWF and the Texas-based WCCW released during the 1980’s. My dad and older brother were big fans of “Macho Man” Randy Savage, and when my little brother Christian was born in 1990, he got the middle name “Randy” because of that.

In 1993, I started watching a little bit of wrestling on my own, specifically WWF, and bought some trading cards of WCW, that I still have lying around somewhere. But it wasn’t until 1995 where I just got hooked, and never looked back.

One Thursday night, October 19, 1995 to be exact, I was channel surfing and came across the USA Network. They were showing a replay of a WWF Monday Night Raw episode that had originally been broadcast on October 16, 1995. The main event was a steel cage match between Bret “The Hitman” Hart and Isaac Yankem, DDS, an evil dentist that Jerry “The King” Lawler brought in to do his dirty work. Lawler’s interfering led to him being placed in a ‘Shark Cage’, and eventually Hart overcame Yankem by escaping the big blue cage. For whatever reason, this really silly match just resonated so much with me as a kid. From that point on, I kept watching wrestling week after week, catching Raw, WCW Monday Nitro on the TNT Network, and lucha libre.

During an episode of Raw, commercials began airing for a local wrestling event that was taking place in Harlingen, at what was then called the Harlingen Field. I convinced my dad to buy us tickets at the local HEB, and I ended up attending with him, and my two brothers. This is what I constantly refer to as my first live wrestling experience. The card consisted of mostly regional talent like Scott Putski, Black Bart, but the real draws of the show were the Guerrero Brothers  — Chavo and Hector Guerrero.

By that point, I had already become a big fan of Eddie Guerrero on WCW television, so I was excited to go see his older brothers wrestle in person. But what I didn’t know at the time was how experienced and great Chavo and Hector were, both as a tag team and in singles competition. That was the highlight of the night, seeing the Guerrero’s tear it up inside a ring that had the “Valley Morning Star” logo on the apron skirt. The peak moment for me was when the Guerreros busted out the “Estrellita” llave, a hold that is usually only seen in Mexico or in lucha libre influenced Japanese promotions. Just like my most recent experience, the wrestlers all hung out afterwards, and I got an autograph from the Guerreros on a program I had bought at the event.

Since then, I’ve been blessed to continue to go to so many wrestling events, seeing everyone from El Hijo del Santo to Ric Flair to Eddie Guerrero to the Undertaker to Perro Aguayo to John Cena. Like Miguel Angel Salinas was telling me right before his event this past Saturday, it’s a very addicting experience. From that first show I went to with Los Guerreros to this last one with Pirata Morgan, there’s nothing quite as fun as going to a wrestling show. I’ve been to a major UFC show, to big boxing fights, to Spurs games, and I’ve had a great time at all those events, but there is something special when it comes to a wrestling event, whether it’s in front of 50 people at the pulga or in front of 50,000 people at the Alamodome.

In the coming weeks, I’m going to be sharing more and more about the current independent wrestling scene here in the Valley and beyond. There is just so much great stuff happening in 2017, and I think it deserves to be documented and covered. As for now, time has run out, but tune in next week for more on the independent wrestling scene of 2017.

Los Guerreros in Harlingen back in 1996.

Big Weekend of Lucha Libre Action

A young Pirata Morgan.

This weekend, two of the biggest Mexican pro wrestling stars from the 1980’s and 1990’s will be making appearances in the Rio Grande Valley. The legendary Pirata Morgan, a brawler who wears an eye patch (he legitimately lost his right eye during a match in 1981) will be part of the line-up at the Fiestas Patrias 2017 at the State Farm Arena in Hidalgo, Texas on Saturday. The event is completely free and open to the public. Fito Olivares is also scheduled to be performing for that occasion. Brazo de Plata, better known to many as Super Porky, will be the focal point of the “Gran Homenaje Brazo de Plata (Super Porky)” event at Club Fuego in McAllen, Texas. Tickets for that event are $15.00 for adults and $5.00 for children.

Morgan has become a regular for the local Promociones Salinas crew in recent years. In the 1980’s and 1990’s, the ring announcer would often refer to him as “El Mejor Luchador del Mundo” (“The Best Wrestler in the World”). Morgan has wrestled with so many of the major names in lucha libre, in singles, tags, and trios matches, including El Dandy, El Satanico, El Faraon, Masakre, and so many more. In 1989, he was part of a memorable rivalry, where his trio that included Hombre Bala and El Verdugo feuded with Los Brazos of El Brazo, Brazo de Oro, and Brazo de Plata (Super Porky). Morgan would later take part in the CMLL World Trios Championship Tournament Finals, where he teamed up wtih MS-1 and El Satanico to form Los Infernales. They battled Los Brazos in a classic match, one of the best pro wrestling matches of the 1990's. Morgan would reverse a victory roll from the late Brazo de Oro to win that match.

I first saw Morgan wrestle live in December 12, 2005 at the then named Tejano Saloon in Pharr. He teamed up with El Maniaco to face El Hijo del Santo and Alebrije in a great match.

While teaming with his brothers under the Los Brazos brand, Porky became one of the most beloved luchadors of the 1980’s, 1990’s, and 2000’s. The three brothers lost their masks in a famous match against Los Villanos (Villano I, Villano IV and Villano V) in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon in 1986. In May of 1991, Porky participated in one of the most popular matches of that year, when he teamed up with his brothers to face El Dandy, Popitekus and Super Astro. He would go on to hold the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship for one year, in 1993-1994. Porky had an interesting decade in the 2000’s, where he dabbled in mixed martial arts in the DEEP promotion in Japan, and as a comedic character on WWE Smackdown in 2005-2006. He would go to AAA after his time in the WWE was up.

I last saw Porky at Club Fuego when he teamed up with El Hijo del Santo, for what would be Santo’s last Valley appearance, on June 2, 2013.

Porky’s sons, Maximo and Psycho Clown, are two of the biggest current stars in lucha libre. Clown just beat Dr. Wagner Jr. in a great ‘Mask vs. Mask’ match at AAA’s TripleMania XXV, on August 26, further cementing him as one of the top faces of modern day lucha libre.

No matches have been announced yet for the Club Fuego event by Robles Promotions, but Mr. Electro, Maximo, Corazon de Barrio, Brazo de Plata Jr. are some of the names that are scheduled to be wrestling. Doors open at 3 PM. As for the State Farm Arena show by Promociones Salinas, Morgan will be teaming up with Corazon de Barrio to take on Super Parka and Hijo de Mascara Sagrada, and Quinto Elemento and Asterisco Jr. will face Mysterio and Cruz Jr. That event starts at 2 PM.

"I grew up watching live lucha since I was like 5 years old, watching my father wrestle in Mexico," said Miguel Salinas, promoter of Promociones Salinas. "Very entertaining, if you haven't seen live lucha libre you're missing something that will be addicting for the rest of your life. My son is 9 and has been watching wrestling for 5 years. He will probably do the same as his dad."

The 7th annual Freddie Gomez Memorial Conjunto Concert

The 7th annual Freddie Gomez Memorial Conjunto Concert took place this past Saturday night in Brownsville, and it was a loving tribute to conjunto music as a whole, and to the pioneers of this genre of music in South Texas.

Timo Ruedas, Juan Antonio Tapia, Lupe Saenz, and all the people at the South Texas Conjunto Association (STCA) deserve credit for leading the way for grassroots conjunto music here in the Rio Grande Valley. When this event was organized, the idea that the STCA Brownsville Chapter had in mind was to have sons of conjunto pioneers honor their legendary fathers. So we had Santiago Jimenez Jr., the brother of Flaco Jimenez and a 2015 recipient of the National Medal of the Arts, paying homage to his father Don Santiago Jimenez Sr.

Santiago Jr. went up there, drank a bit of beer (he famously has talked about how drinking beer helps him perform on stage, adding a little bit of flavor to his music and helping put him at ease), and delivered a great 45 minute set. At one point, someone asked that he play “El Rosalito”, and he honored that request. The highlight to me was seeing him perform “Viva Seguin”, the great polka from his father, and a piece that has lived on thanks to Flaco and Santiago Jr. At the end, Santiago Jr. got a bit choked up during his emotional rendition of “Homenaje A Don Santiago Jimenez”, a corrido that told the story of his father. Afterwards, Santiago Jr. sold copies of his new CD, which has a cover photo of him receiving the National Medal of the Arts from former President Barack Obama.

The second chapter of the night was with Ricky Guzman III and Ricardo Guzman Jr. paying tribute to Ricardo Guzman Sr.; Ricky III’s grandfather and Ricardo Jr.’s father. Ricardo Guzman Sr. had the locally famous band Ricardo Guzman y Sus Tres Ases (bajo-sexto player Ricardo Jr. has carried on the brand of the band in recent years). Ricky III is one of the best young accordionists around today, and there were more people dancing during this set than at any other point of the night. Last time I saw Ricky III was at my neighborhood Jamaica at St. Anne’s Church, and I love his unique, Edinburg-conjunto-Tex-Mex style. Some of the Guzman family was in attendance, wearing a Guzman conjunto t-shirt that said “Conjunto Hasta La Muerte” with a skull. It looked so cool. Best moment of this set for me was when Ricky III started busting out “El Coco Rayado” and “Juana La Cubana”. 

Finally the Gilberto “Chore” Perez Jr. y su conjunto stepped on the stage to close at the night in Downtown Brownsville. Bajo-sexto player Gilberto Jr. announced a warm message from his father, Gilberto Sr., who resides in Mercedes and is still an active performer in the local conjunto scene. The conjunto played a nice variety, including a polka, a huapango, and even the Gilberto Sr. classic “El Dia de tu Boda”, one of my all time favorite songs. Composed by Ramon Medina, the song was recorded at Falcon Records by the composer and Gilberto Sr. on November of 1959. The emotional song also reminded me of my own father, who always remembers the song from his childhood.

"Ibamos a piscar algodon, y el troquero tenia un radio (We went to go pick cotton, and the trucker would have a radio)," Felix Martinez, my dad, told me. "Las muchachas jovenes, todo el dia estaban cantando la cancion (The young women would be singing 'El Dia De Tu Boda' all day long)."

Tapia deserves a special shout out for the different roles he took on during the night: a key member of the Brownsville chapter of the STCA, the bajo-sexto player for Santiago Jr., and the accordionist for Gilberto Jr. He did a great job on all fronts.

So all in all, it was a lovely night of conjunto music in Brownsville this past Saturday night. Was also happy to see many conjunto regulars in attendance, like Raul and Amelia Martinez, and the Perales Family. You know it's a great conjunto event when you see these folks there.

I’m very much looking forward to the next year’s celebration of conjunto music. With the future of the Narciso Martinez Cultural Arts Center Conjunto Festival being uncertain, after having established itself during its 25-year run, this annual event in Brownsville might become the only community conjunto festival for this region. So if you can make it out there the next time this extravaganza takes place, I strongly recommend you check it out and support it. Like that shirt said, "Conjunto Hasta La Muerte".

September Round-Up

This week, we're going to have a round-up of some of the most anticipated Tejano, conjunto, and cultural events of the month of September.

--Two of the biggest stars in Tejano orquesta music will be returning to the Rio Grande Valley on September 9, Saturday night. “The Legend Dance of the Year” will be headlined by Little Joe y La Familia and Ruben Ramos. Joe and Ramos are two of the very few Tejano orquesta leaders from the glory days of the 1960’s, 1970’s, and 1980’s that are still consistently working. The event will be taking place at the Catholic War Veterans dance hall in Weslaco, and entrance is $25.00 for the first 300 people, and $30.00 for anyone that arrives after the initial 300. For more information, call 956-522-5962.

--The great Sunny Ozuna and Big Crown Records teamed up for ‘Mr. Brown Eyed Soul’, a compilation of Ozuna’s beautiful songs from 1966 to 1972. I plan to have a full review up in the coming weeks, but to give y’all a preview right now, it’s strongly recommended. Amazing track selection of what made Ozuna such a special voice in Chicano Soul music. This is being released in several different formats including MP3, CD, LP, and a limited edition special colored vinyl LP. To pre-order, go to https://bigcrownrecords.com/store/

--La Lomita Park will be back in action in September, and they start things off this Sunday night, September 3, with Los Fantasmas del Valle. Pepe Maldonado is still working on the rest of the acts for this month, but we will have more information as soon as the rest of the bands for September are confirmed.  Entry fee is $10.00, and the music starts at 6 PM every Sunday night. For more information on these upcoming events, you can visit https://www.facebook.com/lalomitapark?fref=ts or call La Lomita Park owner and promoter Pepe Maldonado at 956-867-8783.

--Tomorrow, on September 2, the 7th annual Freddie Gomez Memorial Conjunto Concert will be taking place in the Historic Brownsville Downtown District, between the Capitol Theater and El Jardin Hotel. The theme of the event is “Sons of Conjunto Legends”, and will feature performances from Gilberto Perez Jr. y su conjunto, Ricardo Guzman Jr. y Los 3 Aces, and Santiago Jimenez Jr. y su conjunto. There will also be a “So You Think You Can Dance Conjunto” competition, a 20-plus minute dance marathon where participants will dance in different conjunto styles and rhythms like vals, bolero, redova, shotiz, cumbia, polka, and finally, a huapango. The event is open and free to the public, and is being organized by the South Texas Conjunto Association (STCA) Brownsville Chapter.

--If you’re looking for something to do before the big boxing showdown between Saúl ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and Gennady Gennadyevich Golovkin, his years September 16's Fiestas Patrias at the State Farm Arena will feature the iconic cumbia hit maker Fito Olivares, and lucha libre that includes the legendary brawler Pirata Morgan, who used to be announced as “El mejor luchador en el mundo” (“The best wrestler in the world”) during his heyday in the late 1980’s, early 1990’s. For more information visit http://cityofhidalgo.net/events/.