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Sep 17, 2025 By Adrian Peel Photography by Adrian Peel Web Exclusive

La Sonora Santanera, a much-loved musical collective from Mexico, responsible for many timeless standards commonly heard at weddings and other celebratory events in the country, came to Koko in London on Sunday, 14th September.

The legendary orchestra, whose unique style incorporates tropical music, mambo, cumbia, and bolero, were not only there to celebrate their 70th anniversary, but also to mark Mexican Independence Day, which falls on 16th September.

With that in mind, before the main event, the Mexican ambassador to the UK, Josefa González Blanco Ortiz Mena, came out on stage to cheers and applause.

Flanked either side by Mexican naval officers, she waved the national flag and delivered the traditional ‘grito’, which signalled the start of the country’s fight for independence in 1810.

This was followed by the singing of the Mexican National Anthem which, as one might expect, was delivered with gusto by the mainly Mexican crowd.

Before the headliners, there was passionate support from London-based Mariachi El Mexicano, who performed ‘tried and tested’ favourites such as “El Rey”, “Soy Puro Mexicano”, and “La Bikina”, accompanied by dancers from This is Mexico!, a Mexican folk dance company based in London.

Excitement had reached fever pitch by the time the many members of La Sonora Santanera appeared at around 9.15pm.

I counted 13 musicians on the stage, including four frontmen/singers (one of whom looked about 15), a horn section, percussionists, a bass player and a pianist.

The first song of the set was the sing-along classic “La Boa”, which received a very enthusiastic response.

Other standouts in their animated and very enjoyable performance included “Pedacito de Mi Vida”, “Bonita y Mentirosa”, “Donde Estas Yolanda”, “Luces de Nueva York” and “Bomboro Quiñá Quiñá”, which boasts a particularly catchy melody - one that’s impossible not to move to!

When it came to singing “Por Las Calles de México”, from 1965, one of the frontmen asked the audience beforehand (in Spanish) who in the audience was from Mexico City and which areas of the city they were from. Cue much shouting and cheering.

There was a lot of friendly interaction with the audience throughout the show, which was nice to see.

One of the frontmen spoke about the ensemble’s 70th anniversary, and also commented on other outstanding achievements such as the fact that La Sonora Santanera have won two Latin Grammys and a Goya Award (the Spanish equivalent of the Oscars).

Two of the older members were also introduced to the crowd, with it being revealed that they have both been with the orchestra for more than 50 years.

One of the singers noted that surely many Mexicans living in London miss their home country. “Mexico misses you too,” he said warmly.

There were also quirky elements to the performance, such as when members of the band donned Mexican wrestling masks for “Los Luchadores”.

I must admit that I’m not usually a huge fan of this type of music (after a while a lot of the songs start to sound the same to me, and it’s certainly not a genre I’d listen to while at home or in the car), but I really enjoyed tonight - and danced a lot!

There were some excellent songs with infectious melodies and superb displays of musicianship from a band who were clearly enjoying themselves - and it was also great to see people dancing in couples as if it was a wedding or special occasion.

All these things and more (there was even Mexican food for sale in the venue) helped to ensure that tonight in London certainly felt like the latter.