Peso Pluma showed out to the Hispanic community in San Diego on Thursday, Sept. 5 at Pechanga Arena as he opened his 21st concert for the “Éxodo Tour.”
Hassan Emilio Kabande Laija, better known by his stage name Peso Pluma, started his music career in 2020 but it wasn’t until 2022 when the song “El Belicón” with Raúl Vega got attention on YouTube. Within a month of its release, it had gained 10 million views. As of today, the music video has 304 million views on the platform. Another song that helped him boost his career in 2023 was “Ella Baila Sola,” where Pluma was featured by Eslabon Armado.
The tour follows his fourth album “ÉXODO” which dropped on June 20. The album consists of 24 songs, with 20 of those songs being collaborations. Pluma performed singles and songs from his 2023 hit album, “GÉNESIS.”
As fans of all ages entered Pechanga arena, they were given a bracelet that would light up throughout the concert. Even though the concert was supposed to start at 8:30 p.m., people started to chant “Peso” throughout the wait.
It was exactly 9:25 p.m. when Peso Pluma made his entrance in front of the crowd to perform his first song of the night “LA DURANGO.” The concert started with orchestra music and a narrator telling a story. As the narrator spoke, dancers in face masks moved in a circle around the stage. The band started playing, lights flickered on and off and the dancers launched into their choreography.
Pluma slowly rose up to the stage from under with a bandana covering his eyes to his mouth and yelled out “San Diego, California” as the audience started to yell. During the middle of the song he slowly started to take off the bandana while dancing.
“Let the f**king scream of San Diego be heard,” Pluma yelled to the crowd at the end of the song.
After the fourth song of the setlist, he told the audience to chant his name. “I say Peso, you say Pluma,” he said. And, as the lights of the bracelet went off, the audience chanted right back.
Pluma brought his first guest of the night, Jasiel Nuñez, to sing the heartbreaking song, “LAGUNAS,” together with the arena lit up by bracelets, flashlights, spotlights and a lit up moon circling the crowd.
Pluma and Nuñez moved onto “BIPOLAR,” another slow heartbreak song that features Junior H.
“Thank you very much San Diego, thank you very much brother,” Nuñez said, after giving thanks to the crowd.
Pluma hit the stage with four seamless transitions to the Reggaetón songs. He started off with “MALA,” backed by his male dancers, then moved on to “QUEMA” where the female dancers entered the stage. In a smooth transition to the song “QLONA,” both female and male dancers kept the energy high with their choreography.
By his fourth transition, Pluma brought in his second guest, Yng Lvcas, to sing the song “La Bebe.”
After singing “PLEBADA,” Pluma takes a break to give credit to his crew and introduces his third guest, Don Toliver. Toliver enters the stage singing “BANDIT,” pausing halfway through as Pluma leaves the stage.
Toliver then transitions to “After Party” in which the fire comes out from behind the stage as one of the props. The arena turns into a nightclub, with dark blue lights around the stage and the audience jumping up and down. But before Toliver leaves the stage, Pluma rejoins him for “Lemonade” and the two perform their parts under red stage lights.
Pluma took a quick break to thank the fans for their support at the concert. “It’s an honor for us to be here. The fact that you’ve bought a ticket means a lot to us,” Pluma said.
He transitioned back to a slow song, “NUEVA VIDA,” which is about Pluma’s journey to his success. After a bit of guitar playing, he continued the sad corridos with songs such as “HOLLYWOOD” and “ROSA PASTEL” in which he brought Nuñez back out .
As Pluma moved into “PCR,” he wrapped the Mexican flag around his back and addressed the crowd.
“Long live Mexico, motherf**kers, long live the corridos and long live our culture,” Pluma said.
During the song, screens showcased a montage of many Mexican artists from different generations, including Jenni Rivera, Chalino Sánchez, Joan Sebastian and many more.
Pluma then brings in his fourth guest of the night, Darey Castro, who is part of the band Dareyes de la Sierra, and they perform “VVS.”
Once Dareyes de la Sierra leaves the stage, Pluma sings “El Gavilán,” with red laser lights cutting through the fog as white lights go on and off. In that performance, Pluma grabs the camera and kisses it, making fans scream out loud.
A violin starts playing with the only lights being the flashlights of peoples phones for the song “LADY GAGA.” Suddenly, the stage turned light blue and from a distance you see the next guest, Gabito Ballesteros, come in.
Pluma concludes the tour with “TEKA,” a reggaeton and tech style song. Pluma made his way around the audience. Just before Pluma was lowered under the stage, he said his final goodbyes as the audience chanted his name.
“I want to thank you for this very nice evening man,” Pluma said. “I hope you had a good time, I hope you sang with the family. You are very much appreciated and loved, San Diego.”
