Concert business feels immigration pinch

By Leila Cobo and Ayala Ben-Yehuda

MIAMI/LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - There was no fear of immigration enforcement in the air at the recent Que Buena outdoor festival in El Monte, Calif. Throngs of families, many dressed in red, white and green, milled about during the all-day fest celebrating Mexican independence, listening to performances by Jenni Rivera, La Arrolladora Banda el Limon and dozens of others.

By producer Chris del Rey's calculations, at least 160,000 showed up during the day, equaling and maybe surpassing attendance from the year before.

Asking about immigration status at a family event like this one, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Lt. Sheila Sanchez said, is "not our mission."

Events such as this one, and the circuit of more underground dances known as "bailes," are considered central to the promotion and dissemination of regional Mexican music. And while all was well at Que Buena, the overall health of live regional Mexican music appears to be faltering.

In state after state, promoters say that burgeoning Mexican populations in towns little and big have hunkered down, out of sight and out of public events, to avoid confrontations withstepped-up immigration law enforcement.

Their fear has, by all accounts, made a significant dent in the lucrative regional Mexican market, with audiences often leery of attending the weekend shows that are the bread and butter of this music genre.

"The same groups that would bring me 4,500 people in Atlanta last year are now bringing 1,500," promoter Ariel Rivas said.

"This is real," Rivas added. "I live it every weekend. People are afraid to go out. They are afraid of immigration. I've been doing this for 10 years, and I've never seen a situation like this before."

MAKING CONTACT

Bailes, which literally translates to "dances," encompass a broad range of entertainment, from nightclubs that fit 4,000 and are primarily for dancing, to rodeos and fairgrounds that fit 15,000 and attract the whole family. Booked by a large network of independent promoters, these events do not generally report ticket sales to Billboard Boxscore, but they serve as a powerful marketing tool for labels, who use the shows to promote their acts.

All regional Mexican acts, whether new or established, do the baile circuit, typically playing 30 to 70 dates per year, in the process establishing a rapport with audiences that is near impossible to acquire in the more structured realm of pop.

"We have very direct contact with our fans every weekend," said Tony Melendez, lead singer of Conjunto Primavera, the most-played act on regional Mexican radio. "We always allow at least one hour to take pictures with fans and chat with them. It's very important for us to be close to the audience that buys our tickets."

Like many other acts, Primavera has cultivated its audience literally town by town. As the Mexican American population has flourished in even the remotest of states, so has the regional Mexican dance circuit.

Until the recent uptick in immigration enforcement, that is.

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