House of Blues Orlando welcomed Puerto Rican rock band Fiel a la Vega last Saturday, April 15, when they performed to a nearly sold-out crowd.

The stop was a continuation of their retrospective presentations that began on the Island late last year, marking the twentieth anniversary of their formation as a group and their eponymous debut album.

It would be far easier to make a list of the songs they didn't play, including the expected acoustic set of covers that is already ingrained in people's minds.

Fiel a la Vega is: Tito Auger (vocals, guitar), Ricky Laureano (vocals, lead guitar), Jorge Arraiza (bass, backing vocals), and Pedro Arraiza (drums, backing vocals). They were also accompanied by Francisco González on keyboards.

The local Puerto Rican diaspora is always eager to absorb and react enthusiastically to anything that brings them closer to the Island. Auger promised the crowd that they would be received and welcomed back home with open arms, at any moment, independently from any circumstance that drove them away in the first place. After singing his heart out and giving their all on stage, the feeling was definitely mutual.

In a show more than three hours long, Fiel a la Vega's message was loud and clear. A message delivered with the same energy as when they started more than twenty years ago. A message of social and political awareness. A message of national pride and love for the country. A message about the direness of its current situation. A message of hope for what's next.

That's where we come from.

Y eso no es de donde quiera.