Su Soundtrack

Mexican superstar Gloria Trevi announces U.S. tour leg stopping in San Antonio

Gloria Trevi is coming to San Antonio on March 23, 2024.

There are plenty of chances to see Mexican music around South Texas, but one singer eclipses them all in fame. The incomparable — and often controversial — Gloria Trevi is coming to San Antonio on her newly announced U.S. tour leg on March 23, 2024.

Trevi is stopping by Freeman Coliseum on the Mi Soundtrack World Tour, in the middle of several Texas dates: Payne Arena in Hidalgo, Texas on January 26; El Paso County Coliseum in El Paso on February 24; Sames Auto Arena in Laredo on March 22; Dos Equis Pavilion in Dallas on Friday, April 12; and Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land in Houston on April 13, 2024.

A release promises an "avant-garde and elegant show," which will track the singer's career in different musical moments. Trevi became famous as a teenager in the 80s, so there will be much to cover — her most recent album, Mi Soundtrack, was even released in two volumes.

Hits played will include old favorites like "Pelo Suelto," "Dr. Psiquiatra," and "Con los Ojos Cerrados," plus newer tracks including "Medusa," "Que Se Acabe El Mundo," and "Siempre Yo."

“She is without a doubt, Gloria Trevi," said Trevi, self-referentially in the release. "An artist in constant timeless evolution, and I want to share it with the audience that has always followed and supported me unconditionally, and with their eyes closed throughout the years."

Versatile US-born Latin pop artist MAR (which the release refers to as MAR Solis) will open most of the shows during this leg of the tour, and all of the Texas ones.

The singer has also starred on the big screen (Zapatos Viejos), hosted TV shows (XE-TU Remix and Pequeños Gigantes), and won numerous awards for her greater influence on Latin music.

Trevi, who was called the Madonna of Mexico in her early career, has been at the center of a scandal for most of it, but keeps seeming to clear her name. A 2014 movie, Gloria, detailed the rock star's personal and professional lives, which bled into each other thanks to her involvement with music producer Sergio Andrade. Trevi has been accused and even formerly incarcerated for aiding Andrade in exploiting minors, but was released from prison for a lack of evidence and is fighting current allegations by stating that she, too, was a victim.

Tickets go on sale Thursday, October 12, at 10 am at livenation.com.

Confirmed dates for the first leg of Mi Soundtrack World Tour 2024:

Fri Jan 26 Hidalgo, TX Payne Arena
Fri Feb 02 Anaheim, CA Honda Center
Sat Feb 03 San Jose, CA SAP Center
Fri Feb 09 Palm Desert, CA Acrisure Arena
Sat Feb 10 Sacramento, CA Golden 1 Center
Fri Feb 23 Phoenix, AZ Arizona Financial Theatre
Sat Feb 24 El Paso, TX El Paso County Coliseum
Fri Mar 15 New York, NY Radio City Music Hall
Sat Mar 16 Fairfax, VA EagleBank Arena
Sun Mar 17 Greensboro, NC Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts
Fri Mar 22 Laredo, TX Sames Auto Arena
Sat Mar 23 San Antonio, TX Freeman Coliseum
Fri Apr 12 Dallas, TX Dos Equis Pavillion
Sat Apr 13 Houston, TX Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land
Fri Apr 19 Sunrise, FL Amerant Bank Arena
Sat Apr 20 Tampa, FL Amalie Arena
Fri Apr 26 San Juan, PR Coliseo de Puerto Rico
Fri May 03 Duluth, GA Gas South Arena
Sat May 04 Nashville, TN Bridgestone Arena
Fri May 17 Indianapolis, IN Murat Theatre @ Old National Centre
Sat May 18 Rosemont, IL Allstate Arena
Fri May 24 Fresno, CA Save Mart Center at Fresno State
Sat May 25 San Diego, CA Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre
Mon May 27 Highland, CA Yaamava’ Theater
Fri Aug 30 Denver, CO Bellco Theatre
Fri Sep 06 Tucson, AZ AVA Amphitheater
Sat Sep 07 Ontario, CA Toyota Arena
Fri Sep 13 Las Vegas, NV Bakkt Theater at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino
Sat Sep 14 Los Angeles, CA Crypto.com Arena
Fri Sep 20 Ridgefield, WA RV Inn Style Resorts Amphitheater
Sat Sep 21 Kennewick, WA Toyota Center
Sun Sep 22 Auburn, WA White River Amphitheatre

live music concerts

Movie Review

Gladiator II tells a very familiar story with Paul Mescal in the lead

Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Paul Mescal in Gladiator II.

There are some films for which making a sequel is natural, and others where a follow-up is wholly unnecessary. Gladiator, which both made tons of money and was named Best Picture at the Oscars, told an impactful stand-alone story that ended with the protagonist dead and no real loose ends. And yet because there’s always more money to be made, here we are 24 years later with Gladiator II.

The lead character this time around is Lucius (Paul Mescal), a general in a North African army who becomes a prisoner of war when the Roman army led by Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal) bests him and his troops in battle. Taken back to Rome, he is put in the pool of captured men forced to fight at the Colosseum for the amusement of twin emperors Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracella (Fred Hechinger).

Lucius is controlled by Macrinus (Denzel Washington), an ambitious schemer who bets liberally on his prized fighter and always has an eye to move up in the world. Meanwhile, Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), the sister of Emperor Commodus from the first film, is now married to Marcus Acacius and has a unique connection with Lucius that is fairly obvious from the get-go.

Directed once again by Ridley Scott and written by David Scarpa, the film commits a number of sins throughout its 150-minute running time, the most blatant of which is that, aside from a few embellishments, it essentially tells the same story as the first film. Lucius, like Maximus, is a deposed military leader who’s out for revenge on the person who killed his family. Instead of one obnoxious emperor, there are now two. And the only way for Lucius to earn his freedom is to fight his way out.

Stories told in the same world can echo each other and, if done well, overcome those similarities. But Gladiator II is shockingly boring for a purported sword-and-sandals epic. Scott and his team try to introduce new elements to the fights, like a gladiator riding a rhinoceros or a ship battle inside the Colosseum (with sharks!), but most of the sequences are inert with no propulsion to them.

The action fails because none of the relationships in the film amount to much. There are stand-out characters like Macrinus and the twin emperors, but instead of creating antipathy or strong feelings of triumph or defeat, the story just kind of happens without any sense of excitement or importance. Much of that issue lies at the feet of Lucius, who simply doesn’t inspire in the same way that Russell Crowe’s Maximus did.

Mescal is a fine actor who’s done good work in more intimate roles, but he’s not up to the task of being an action star, at least not in this film. Any bombast he shows with the character feels forced, and the story doesn’t give him enough opportunities to counteract that lack. Washington, however, fills up the screen with his charisma, and it’s during his scenes that the film comes closest to being rousing. Quinn and Hechinger are a lot of fun as the twin emperors, but in the end they feel like retreads of Joaquin Phoenix from the original.

Any sequel should have a purpose that sets it apart from what came before, but Scott, Scarpa, and the rest of their team fail in that respect in Gladiator II. It’s a mostly lifeless film that delivers scenes that would be exciting if they had any kind of good story to back them up.

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Gladiator II opens in theaters on November 22.

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