Juan Gabriel, a multimillionaire singer with limos and mansions in Mexico and the United States, regularly performs at the Pico, squishing through the pungent rodeo mud in his fancy patent leather shoes. I believe it’s the only place like that in the U.S.” The Pico’s not exactly authentic in that respect, but it’s the closest you’ll get in the United States. “In Mexico you have concerts in bullfight arenas, and people expect to see superstars but to bring the whole family. “The Pico is very much like the traditional carnavales we have back in Mexico,” says Elizondo, now president of her own publicity agency, which represents norteno superstars Los Tigres del Norte, who also like to play the Pico.
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Though these other places may be pleasant, they aren’t Mexican, say fans who attend shows at both. Modesty is also a large part of the reason the Pico has been able to remain one of the top concert venues in town, even as more comfortable and attractive venues, such as the Arrowhead Pond and the Universal Amphitheatre, have begun booking many of the same acts. Not just humility, according to Malu Elizondo, a former public relations representative for Hauser Entertainment, but a particularly Mexican brand of humility that says that showing off your money, especially your millions, and bragging are definitely taboo. “And to me, the whole Westside is nothing but a fantasy.”Īnd this, in essence, is what the Pico is all about. Hauser still lives where he grew up, in Whittier-albeit in a hilltop mansion-because, he says, he likes the food and wants to be able to go to the 99-cent store. And among Los Angeles fans of ranchera, banda and norteno, the arena-called the Pico for short-is probably the most famous concert venue in town.
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In Mexico, particularly northern Mexico, the arena is well-known, say radio personalities and promoters in the music business. This is the proving ground, a plain-looking, deceptively modest, 5,400-capacity holy grail for ranchera, norteno and banda. They go for concerts, rodeos and combinations of the two, from the brilliant (an Ana Gabriel concert) to the banal (a “midget rodeo”).
![pico rivera sports arena pico rivera sports arena](https://cdn.abcotvs.com/dip/images/3004560_012918-kabc-4pm-pico-rivera-rant-vid.jpg)
Families sit on blankets in the Pico’s bleachers with their popcorn, taquitos, soda pop and beer. The humility, prized in Mexican genres much as it is in country music, resonates with the people who go to the Pico for afternoon and evening shows. It’s a humble place where stars go when they’ve made it-not to gloat but to reconnect with regular people, to show their heads aren’t bigger from the fame. Put as a simple analogy, the arena is to Mexican regional music what Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry is to country music. But for many singers and bands, the Pico Rivera Sports Arena is an almost sacred place. Can you hold please? Hauser Entertainment. A receptionist sits behind a modest cherrywood counter and answers a phone that never seems to stop ringing. Just the faint white noise of the Pomona Freeway in the distance, the clicking of insects in the weeds and the sharp snap of the metal trailer door as people come and go from the front office.īeyond the door, cold air blasts from the vents. The sun buzzes down hard, baking the hay and manure out back. Just a dusty old outdoor arena, good for rodeos, not too big, not too small.
![pico rivera sports arena pico rivera sports arena](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/38WbmwZxZQU/hqdefault.jpg)
To be completely honest, it’s not much to look at.