Street musicians in Mexico
Recently, I took the The Saint to a certain establishment (in a DC suburb we’ll call B-Town) that sells as its main menu item mussels. It was The Saint’s birthday and a group of us was sitting at an outside table when, suddenly, I caught sight of them: two young men–one with a guitar and the other with a violin–wearing charro shirts, bright red moños (or cravats) and eager looks on their faces.
Now, B-Town is not the type of place where one would expect to see Mexican troubadours roaming the streets. Still, our group was delighted to see these two guys because it was The Saint’s birthday and few things are better than a mariachi serenade on your birthday. The music is so soulful and romantic.
So, the young mariachis sang Volver, Volver to wild applause from everyone, even people dining at surrounding tables. We requested a second song. But then the restaurant manager appeared out of nowhere, said “No más,” and ran them off. He wouldn’t allow them to sing another song.
We were stunned. Listen here to our friends’ reactions:
Until that moment, I was willing to overlook the chilly service and mediocre food at the place in B-Town that sells mussels. Now I have reservations about ever going back. The manager’s actions left a bad taste in my mouth.
What would you do?
Here’s a video of Vicente Fernandez singing Volver, Volver to watch while you decide:
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How fantastic! Life! Spontaneity! Color! Song! I just looked up “volver” and wish I knew more Spanish to understand the words of the song. Good you for reporting on B-town. Martha
Thanks, Martha!!
It is incredible how the manager shot his own foot. Thank you for posting this incident and I will never patronage this establishment.
It was certainly a strange reaction to pretty music!