On Friday, Monterrey, Mexico, got its deluxe fix in concert bliss from two of Baja's most-formidable female vocalists, Julieta Venegas and Carla Morrison. The pair co-headlined at the Arena Monterrey for a very special night of Querer es Poder, an inspirational-driven concert for their growing audiences.
What was the message of the night?
The Spanish proverb “querer es poder” is roughly translated to,"If you can dream it, you can achieve it." That night, and together in concert for the first time, the artists shared their stories of struggle and overcoming the impossible.
Both Venegas (Tijuana) and Morrison (Tecate) have achieved their dreams by earning Latin Grammys by way of homegrown efforts. Most important, both have put Baja music on the map, earning them trailblazer status for their efforts.
The Long Beach-born, Tijuana-raised Venegas is the queen of Latin alternative music. She has earned five Latin Grammys as well as a Grammy award for Best Latin Pop album in 2007. The cherry on top is her humanitarian side: Venegas has participated in a number of UNICEF initiatives in Mexico. Her sixth studio album, Los Momentos, garnered critical acclaim, hitting No. 1 in Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela.
Morrison is a member of the new post-Venegas generation. The beauty of it all is there is no competition between the two because they find pleasure in building their music community and in creating honest music. In their repertoire, you'll find various collaborations with fellow Mexican musicians, including work with Natalia Lafourcade, Torreblanca, Girl in a Coma and Cafe Tacvba. In 2012, Morrison took home two Latin Grammys, one for Best Alternative Song, for "Dejenme Llorar"; and one for Best Alternative Album of the Year, for Hasta la Piel.
Venegas and Morrison are powerful role models for young female musicians everywhere, and were perfectly recruited for the appropriately titled, Querer es Poder concert, where fans got the opportunity to see them on the same bill for the first time.
Venegas said on her Facebook, "With the beautiful @carlitamorrison, beautiful singing at Los Regios!” She also included a cute all-smiles candid photo of the two backstage.
By way of a reply, Morrison tweeted, "How beautiful to share with Julieta!!! The Queen of all!!!!"
Now that right there is sisterly comrade love.
Dita Quinones is a multimedia journalist born in Tijuana with a passion for Latin alternative and hip-hop music news. Her main goal is to uplift and inform so that the Latino, Filipino and hip-hop community get knitted into the fabric of American history. In addition to SoundDiego, she contributes to Latina, Fox News Latino, Poder, VidaVibrante, San Diego CityBeat and HipHopDx. She is also the founder of the infamous music and politrix blog GN$F! Follow Dita on Twitter or on Facebook.
