Alejandara Guzman: Mexican Rock Star

One lazy day when I was a preteen, I remember sitting around with my family watching, of all things, a marathon of 'The Munsters' on basic In between commercial breaks, there were 'man on the street' interviews taken with people shopping on Rodeo Drive. As my family chattered about, I found myself distracted when on the screen appeared a familiar face.

"Isn't that Alejandra Guzman?" I asked, confused as all hell, because what the hell was a Mexican Rock Star doing being interviewed as a man on the street segment for the Munsters?

No one paid attention to me, so I scooted closer to the television and squinted my eyes. At closer inspection, it appeared Ms. Guzman was just as confused. She smiled brightly at the camera, speaking in heavily accented English, explaining she was here from Mexico for a shopping excursion, with a questioning look behind her designer glasses. It became clear that she thought she had been recognized.

It also became clear that they did not know who the hell she was.

Finally, she couldn't take the obscurity, and before they cut, yelled out into the microphone, "I am Mexican Rock Star!"

"Sure you are," the guy with the microphone said.

My jaw dropped. That WAS Alejandra Guzman!

To understand the travesty of this little gem of a moment, you have to understand. Ms. Guzman is to Mexicans what Madonna is to Americans, but less insane, more crazy, and less prone to British Accents.

She's a rockstar I've grown up with. I've seen her in concert, I own her albums, and to see her in between The Munsters episodes, shouting in her heavily accented English, "I am Mexican Rock Star!" has been a moment that has stuck in my head for years.

She has now been in the business for twenty years, and is still awesome. And got a lifetime award for it from the Mexican equivalent to the Grammys.

To prove how awesome she is, watch the attached youtube clip. And maybe the next time an expensively dressed gorgeous woman in sunglasses shopping on Rodeo Drive shouts, "I am Mexican Rock Star!", you'll believe her.

Stupid Munsters People.

Idina Menzel @ The Wiltern Theatre

Apparently my friends REALLY like Idina Menzel.

Though we already went to see her in San Diego, Sam found out she was going to be coming to Los Angeles, and immediately decided to buy tickets. The problem is, her usual concernt buddies were unavailable, and well, that left me.

Despite the fact that I seem to be attending concerts a lot lately, let me just come out right now and say: I don't like concerts.

Well, honestly, I don't like sitting in on place for too long in any capacity, but I tend to do much better in musicals (because I'm a sucker for story and music) than I do for long plays or concerts. A lot of it is because I'm hyperactive, a lot of it is becasue I just tend to bore easily. And also because I just HATE crowds (seriously. I'm not kidding. I can be in front of them just find, but do NOT put me IN one. K, thx).

Regardless, it was my duty to be a good friend once again accompany Sam to see Idina Menzel. Honestly, I was kinda curious to go. I wanted to see if there would be a different crowd than the mellower venue in San Diego, if Taye Diggs would show up, and if her set would change any.

Apparently Idina fans are crazy devoted no matter what city you're in. Before Sam and I went to the concert, we went to Taylor's Steakhouse for some grub, and on the way out, I joked to her, "Are you ready to get your Idina on?"

Behind us, there was a sudden gasp, and I hear a choked happy, "That's where WE'RE GOING!"

Two fabulous gay boys and their female friend looked positively delighted to see us, and began to immediately quiz us on our Idina knowledge.

Have you seen Wicked? Me: Yes. (I went to London! Ha!)

Have you seen Rent! Sam: Yes, original cast, baby!

Do you own both her albums? Sam: She has three.

Sam won that, in case you didn't already guess. She loves Idina like mad.

Twenty minutes later, a casually curious Mel sat on some really odd looking bar stoolly type of chair brought in for the occasion, flipping through my T-Mobile sidekick and casting amused glances at the big screen on the stage, which displayed text messages sent from the audience. I very quickly discovered that the fastest way to irritate me at an Idina Menzel concert is to text the lyrics to every Wicked song Idina's ever sung on the teleprompter. Seriously. I mean, I like Wicked as much as the next Idina fan. Hell, I even went to London to see Menzel open as Elphaba. But dude, we ALL KNOW THE L YRICS. You don't need to remind me.

Also, another way to irritate me is to randomly moo. It's a Rent thing. And LORD does it bug me. I HATE THE MOO.

*ahem* Moving on. We had a better opening act this time. This cute guy with a guitar who talked a lot about pain as he strummed. Don't they all? Then Idina made us wait for like, an hour before she showed up, and boy was it to some serious fan fare. The crowd itself wasn't as eclectic as the group in San Diego, but as I said before, they were just as devoted. Little pockets of gay boys, elderly broadway fans, screaming teenage fan girls, and pre-teen girls wearing Wicked t-shirts littered the hipster crowd, and when Idina showed up, the 17 year old girl beside me nearly started sobbing with relief. I'm serious. It was mad frightening and amusing.

Taye did show up, for those who were curious. Also causing the girl beside me to hyperventilate. He tried to sit in the crowd, but it was increasingly clear that he was going to get mobbed, and rather than suffer through that, he disapeared backstage. Good for you, Taye.

Idina herself seemed verklempt. It was the last stage of her tour and the manifestation of a dream, and as a result, she kept getting choked up, sentimental and nostalgic. Which led to a lot of cursing, because tears breeds embarrasment, and when your audience laughs at you, apparently lovingly telling them to fuck off is the right thing to do (they loved her for it).

Highlights this time were a cover to Pat Benatar's 'Heartbreaker', which required Idina a full five minutes to recover from her spastic headbanging ("I'm 37, you guys," she complained), and once again screaming at the audience that she was NOT going to ask Taye Diggs to sing with her ("and let him upstage me?! Please!" she sniffed).

The usual 'Defying Gravity' and Rent melody 'No Day But Today' were sung with amazing feeling, but my favorites are the little known 'Brave' and 'Gorgeous' from her new album 'I Stand'. They're just beautifully written songs.

Below is the music video for 'Brave'. It's weird. She strips down to jeans. It's supposed to be artful and insightful.

I'm just shallow and in it for the pretty.

Go with it.

While I'm in this country music kick -

Is there any song more depressing than Tammy Wynette's 'Stand By Your Man'? I mean, look at these lyrics:

Sometimes it's hard to be a woman
Givin' all your love to just one man
You'll have bad times, and he'll have good times
Doin' things that you don't understand

But if you love him, then you'll forgive him
Even though he's hard to understand
And if you love him, oh, be proud of him
'Cause after all he's just a man

Stand by your man
Give him two arms to cling to
And somethin' warm to come to
When nights are cold and lonely

Stand by your man
And show the world you love him
Keep givin' all the love you can
Stand by your man


REALLY? I mean, people sing this song all the time, but do they really listen to it? This like, the abused woman's anthem.


On a happier note, if you're in Los Angeles, please consider checking out a musical in which the women actually EMPOWER themselves : 9 to 5 the musical! Starring Alison Janney, Megan Hilty and Stephanie J. Block! Scored by Dolly Parton and written by Patricia Resnick, who wrote the actual screenplay of the movie! It's playing at the Ahmanson Theatre September and October of this year.

And if you're in NY? It's going your way next.

I'm going to flip through this playlist for some more uplifting female country songs... OOH! SheDaisy!
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Dolly Parton At the Greek Theatre

Even though my mother fiercely denies it, I fully blame her for my country music addiction. She was born in Texas, after all!

I honestly think my mother is just paranoid, because unlike her, I tend to fiercely obsess when I get involved in something, and if I fully embrace her country roots I might play that music all the time, and then I might drive her to full annoyance and hatred of all things country, much like what I did to her Abba love. Apparently she can no longer even tolerate the opening strains to 'Fernando' without bursting into hives.

Fight it as she must, she can never deny her love for Dolly Parton. So when the opportunity came up to buy tickets to see the legendary boobtacular legend at the Greek Theatre, Mom could hardly say no to the opportunity to see a living legend. Even if she had to risk me over playing Dolly to within an inch of her life afterwards.

At the Theatre, the crowd was buzzing, and boy, what a crowd! It was the most eclectic bunch I've ever seen at a country concert. I remember going with my aunt a few years back to see Lee Ann Womack, and we were literally the only people in the room without gray hair. And afterwards, as we were leaving, we heard a little old lady complaining to a security guard that the music was 'JUST TOO LOUD!'. At the concert. Right. Not so much a problem with this crowd. There were the cowboys, and the cowgirls, and the dapper men and woman. And then there were the kids (who cooed 'Aunt Dolly' thanks to her Hannah Montana appearances), and the gay couples (who shrieked with laughter when she mentioned all the men in dresses and sighed, 'It is LA after all!'), and the rabid fans who would not stop screaming 'Dolly For President!' 'We Love you Dolly!' 'You're so BEAUTIFUL, DOLLY!'

Quite a mix, and it made for quite an awesome and receptive crowd when, unexpectedly on time and without an opening act, Miss Parton herself came out and started the concert with a snappy 'Two Doors Down', then went straight into 'Why You Come In Here'. The evening never slowed down. What's great about Dolly is that she is a natural born comedianne and storyteller, and so the laughter never stopped, and the great music just kept coming. Her boobs were of course big points of reference, as well as her smoky mountain roots, but it was self-aware and insightful enough to create just a living texture of the woman on stage.

A lot of her numbers came from her new album, Backwoods Barbie (definately worth getting, in my opinion), but she was unafraid to play the classics, and she played them with ablomb. My absolute favorite number, however, just after her 'Coat of Many Colors' rendition, was when she decided to 'rock out'. Her words, not mine. Apparently, she heard the Fine Young Cannibals song 'She Drives Me Crazy' and decided, "I could really mess that up."

And so she did. With an electric guitar and a huge house band and that great voice of hers. And of course, she killed it.

Why wouldn't she? She's Dolly.

Check out her cover version from a recent concert below: