latest news Grupo Firme targets Boyle Heights with bus gig

There are buses and tourist buses.

Popular Banda musicians from Grupo Firme de Tijuana combined the two and made their way through Boyle Heights on Thursday ahead of their record-breaking Memorial Day weekend concert at SoFi Stadium atop an iconic red tour bus.

Performing aboard the double-decker vehicle, the regional Mexican music septet visited the Mariachi Plaza and El Mercadito in Boyle Heights, two cultural hubs in the predominantly Mexican neighborhood of Los Angeles. Footage posted to the band’s official Instagram account shows the musicians singing along to “Ni el Dinero Ni Nada,” a cover of a ranchera by legendary Mexican singer-songwriter José Alfredo Jiménez.

Lead singer Eduin Caz released several clips of the appearance, much to their chagrin fan happiness in the comments who begged the band’s ostentatious bus to travel to their respective communities.

The Latin Grammy-winning norteño band — known for hits “El Tóxico,” “Ya Supérame” and 2021’s “Cada Quien” with Maluma — will play SoFi on Saturday. The band will become the first to perform at the Inglewood site in two consecutive years and the first artists to perform in the center of the stadium, known as the round, a SoFi Sadium representative said. (Ed Sheeran will play in the round at the stadium on September 23, but all previous concerts have been held in the stadium’s north area.)

The venue is expecting between 50,000 and 60,000 attendees on Saturday and tickets are still available.

“Grupo Firme is a reflection of our community. Their shows at SoFi Stadium represent our commitment to curating exceptional experiences that resonate with our diverse audiences,” said Adolfo Romero, vice president of programming and booking for SoFi Stadium, YouTube Theater and Hollywood Park. “Their passionate and electrifying performances epitomize a genuine connection with their fans and we wanted those lasting memories for fans to be at SoFi Stadium.”

The band also broke the stadium attendance record for selling the most tickets by a Latin band or artist. Last year, their Enfiestados y Amanecidos tour sold over 100,000 tickets at SoFi for two shows. They previously set the record in downtown Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena for the most back-to-back pitches by a Latino group in the history of the venue, which was formerly known as Staples Center.

The city of Inglewood also recognized the band at a city council meeting on Tuesday for “their outstanding musical contributions” and for breaking the SoFi Stadium record. The council also said that Grupo Firme was the first Mexican regional band to perform in the council chamber during the award presentation.

“It’s something unique. Honestly even more so because they told us they’ve never brought a band to the facilities in town,” Caz told KABC-7. here with the band. It’s something good for us. More than anything because people love us here.

Meanwhile, Mexican rock band Maná is due to perform across the street on Saturday at the Kia Forum in Inglewood.

Times writer Carlos De Loera and Tommy Calle contributed to this report.