Los Fabulosos Cadillacs visit LA, bringing a sense of joy to a city that needs it

Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, one of the most influential, politically driven bands of Latin America, formed in 1985, 13 years before I was born. Still, their music, filled with political and social commentary in their lyrics addressing themes of police brutality, social injustice and the lasting impact of military dictatorships in places like Latin America, has echoed and filled the memories throughout my life, way before I knew what many of these themes were. 

Last weekend, the band played at the Walt Disney Concert Hall for two consecutive nights as part of their world tour commemorating 40 years of their trajectory. The concert, filled with parents, kids, youth and elders, reminded me that music has the power to heal us and bring us glimpses of joy, which in today’s world is urgently needed. 

The band's visit to L.A. happened on the same weekend that millions of people throughout the country took to the streets to denounce the policies of President Trump, including the increasingly violent immigration enforcement and the ongoing deployment of National Guard troops in different cities.  

In L.A., the city that has the largest number of Latinos in the nation, attending a concert at the same time as ongoing ICE raids emerge every day in different parts of the city feels uncanny, even dystopian. 

How could I enjoy, laugh, sing out loud and feel joy when my community members are being kidnapped off the streets? 

That is the thought I had before attending the concert and the kind I have whenever I experience true joy, a type of guilt that comes in waves. 

Five minutes into the show, seeing Latinos simmering in joy, I was reminded that feeling it all, including the happy moments, is also part of the journey and that one must be as intentional about their joy as they are about their resistance.

The band played “El Matador,” which touches on state violence and police brutality, something that in recent months journalists and other social justice organizers in L.A. have been a clear target of. 

In June, dozens of local journalists, myself included, were met with projectiles, tear gas, and rubber bullets from LAPD officers during anti-ICE protests, threatening not only the lives of public informants but also violating the First and Fourteenth Amendments. 

The song's lyrics also describe the hunting and state repression of social leaders, explicitly mentioning Víctor Jara, a revolutionary Chilean songwriter and activist, who spoke out against the Vietnam War, poverty and inequality. 

In 1973, he was arrested, tortured and killed by soldiers during the 1973 coup that installed the Pinochet dictatorship. As the song played in a room full of people screaming the lyrics, I thought about some of the local leaders who have also been accused and threatened for the work they do for the marginalized and undocumented people of the state. 

In June, Sen. Josh Hawley, chair of the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, accused members of theCoalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, also known as CHIRLA and Unión del Barrio, of “aiding and abetting criminal conduct,” as well as promoting “unlawful activities,” in L.A.

In reality, both organizations have been at the forefront of the immigrant rights movement in L.A., providing people with rapid response training, mobilizing community patrolling efforts and holding the federal government accountable when it comes to racially profiling and arresting people without due process or using excessive force in raids and arrests. 

At the concert, I sat next to a young person, probably in their early teenage years. They were around the same age I was when I first heard the music of Los Fabulosos Cadillacs. Sitting next to them made me wonder who had introduced them to the band’s music and how special it is to pass down the music we love from generation to generation. 

“It’s hard to believe it’s been 40 years, but what excites us most is that the music is still alive, not just for us, but for the fans who have grown with us, and for the younger generations who are discovering our songs for the first time,” said Vicentico, lead singer of Los Fabulosos Cadillacs. 

I reflected on my mother, who raised me in a household where ska or rock en español were constantly playing. As a young rockera, she also taught me how to speak up against injustices and how to be brave when doing so. 

As the concert was ending, I remember not wanting the night to end. As each song played, the guilt I felt for being there turned into quenching water that filled my cup. At the end of the concert, my cup felt full once again. I was again ready to face the world with grace and hope.