Oscar Armando Diaz de León, known by his stage name of Carin León made a return to Houston’s own Toyota Center for his “Colmillo De Leche” tour, named after his successful recent album. The Regional Mexican artist’s passion for his art showed throughout his whole performance. Although, I do have to note that León states that “Regional Mexican music” is too small of a name for the sound he creates & performs. Opening up the show with an intro video along with pyrotechnics, León appeared on stage to perform “Secuelas de Amor“. This was the perfect way to set the tone for the evening, a loud and electrifying night. The stage production was already perfectly set up, with a big inflatable hat that hovered over León and from there his beautifully ranged unique voice began to captivate the audience.
Leon’s interaction with the crowd began beautifully by making everyone including myself feel like I was a part of his performance. He followed with the set list of a mix of hit songs along with his most recent album, performing favorites such as “El amor de tu vida”, “Me La Avente” and my personal favorite “Primera Cita”. The crowd was already engaged and ready to “Perderse en el alcohol” (“Get lost in the alcohol”, quoted from “Como Lo Hice Yo” ). He went off shouting out all his mamacitas in the crowd and addressed Houston as his second home. It was safe to say that if you weren’t already in love with this man… you were now. With a drink in a red solo cup in one hand and the mic in the other, his charming charisma and stage presence was now seen more than ever. Los pasitos prohibidos de León were being shown and the night was just getting started. “El Amor es una Farsa” (Love is fake) was a big part of the night displayed with a lot of emotion, not only for León but also to everyone who has ever been in love. He stood center stage with a guitar performing “Quisiera Saber” under pink bright lights which sealed the intimate setting of the show regardless of were you were sitting in the arena.
Personally, the biggest highlight of the night was the surprise guest Tex-Mex legend and producer, AB Quintanilla. Quintanilla accompanied León on stage to perform alongside León’s band where he covered his late sister Selena’s hit song “Si Una Vez”. They also perfomed “Tennessee Whiskey” and “Que Vuelvas” a song that originally features Grupo Frontera, a currently top-charting Mexican band. León addressed the honor it was to perform alongside one of his idols being AB Quintanilla. Followed by a few more song covers such as “La Boda del Huilacoche“, a León fan favorite that really gets you dancing in your seat and made the fan experience one to remember. Leon’s stage presence, combined with stage production and his wonderful dance moves made this show one for the books in the Latin community. It was an unbelievable experience with incredible vocals that immersed the audience and created heartfelt connections. Houston definitely had a blast, I can’t wait for Carin León to come back to town so I can hear those amazing vocals and see more of his dance moves…if you know, you know.