Eagle Mountain Casino continues its 2014 concert series with Bronco, also known as “El Gigante de America,” who will return to perform an 8pm show on July 13.
Bronco is from Apodaca in Nuevo Leon, Mexico. Their modern take on the Norteno style in the ‘80s and ‘90s helped earn them a number of international hits. Band members José Guadalupe Esparza, Ramiro Delgado, Javier Villareal and José Luís ‘Choche’ Villareal crafted a sound that paid tribute to the Norteno tradition while incorporating modern instruments like keyboards, as well as a more melodic, pop style with elaborate costumes.
Bronco experienced international fame partly by help of their international hit “Que no Quede Huella” from their 1989 album, A Todo Galope, and tours that took them all over Mexico and to the United States, Puerto Rico, Spain, Argentina, Venezuela, Peru and many other countries. The band also acted in the television soap opera “Dos Mujeres un Camino,” alongside Erik Estrada, Laura León, Lorena Herrera, Selena Quintanilla and Bibi Gaytán. In addition to acting, they performed the show’s opening song.
Grupo Bronco has sold over 10 million albums to date. Their CD Pura Sangre earned gold and platinum records in Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay, as well as in Mexico. All of Bronco’s albums have achieved solid sales in the United States.
After Esparza announced he was going to pursue a solo career in 1997, the group broke up. In 2003, the band members finally announced a return, and later that year, the group was reformed. They intended to use the name Bronco in Mexico again, but had a dispute over the copyrighted band name with their ex-manager, and chose to go by the name El Gigante de America, the nickname their public gave them. Despite not being able to sing as Bronco in Mexico, the group still uses the name for international concerts.
In 2012, ‘Choche’ Villarreal died in Nuevo Leon, and former keyboardist and accordionist Erick Garza was kidnapped and died in Monterrey.
Tickets ($30, $40) are available at www.eaglemtncasino.com, and at the casino gift shop, (800) 903-3353.