Fiel a La Vega is a

Rock en español Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band from

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

formed in 1994. The band consisted of members Tito Auger and Ricky Laureano (vocals and guitars), who come from the northern city of

Vega Alta, Puerto Rico Vega Alta () is a Vega Alta barrio-pueblo, town and Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality of Puerto Rico. Vega Alta is on the northern coast of the island, north of Morovis and Corozal, Puerto Rico, Corozal; east of Vega Baja; and west of ...

, along with brothers Pedro and Jorge Arraiza (drums and bass), who come from the neighboring city of Vega Baja. Their hometown is what gave name to the band. Since 1996, they were joined by percussionist Papo Román, who left the band in 2006 to spend time with his family. The band rose to prominence with their eponymous debut album, which was released in 1996. The album was a hit, spawning several hit singles like " Salimos de Aquí" and "El Wanabí", and turning the band into one of the most popular musical groups in the island at the moment. Fiel a la Vega followed their debut album with four more studio albums, three of which were released independently. Despite not having the support of a multinational record label or wide publicity, after 20 years, the band is still considered by many as "the most important rock band in the history of Puerto Rico". In recent years, the band has left the hectic production/gigging schedule, with its members being involved in personal projects. Singer Auger has been touring the island solo, and with a musical troupe called La Banda Acústica Rodante, while guitarist Laureano has been pursuing a solo career, while also touring the island with fellow guitarist Joel Rodríguez. Brothers Pedro and Jorge continue to work as a professor and chef respectively, while also working on their own band, Los Arraiza Voladores and featuring with the acoustic cover band Good Acoustics. In October 2016 the band performed at the Coliseo of Puerto Rico to celebrate their 20th anniversary accompanied by former member Papo Román and keyboards played by Francisco "Quito" González. The concert had an attendance of 7,000 people and lasted 3 and a half hours commemorating their two decades playing music.

Band history

Early years (1994-1995)

Childhood friends Ricky Laureano and Tito Auger formed the band in 1994 after looking for success in the

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. Returning to

, they joined long-time friends Pedro and Jorge Arraiza (with whom they had played before in ''Los Arraiza Voladores'') and officially started the band. After playing local gigs through the island, they started gaining the attention of the public and became one of the most sought bands in the island. Their

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debut was in '' Voces en Función''.

First Albums and Success (1996-1998)

In April 1996, the band released their eponymous album '' Fiel a la Vega'', adding percussionist Papo Román to its line-up. The

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

spawned hits like " Salimos de Aquí" and " El Wanabí", both of which were released with videos. According to local

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'' El Nuevo Día'', the album was among the Top 10 sellers of the year. In August 1996, the band played at

Hard Rock Cafe Hard Rock Cafe, Inc. is a chain of theme restaurant, theme bar-restaurants, memorabilia shops, casinos, hotels and museums founded in 1971 by Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton in London. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and roll ...

Old San Juan Old San Juan () is a historic district located at the "northwest triangle" of the San Juan Islet, islet of San Juan in San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan. Its area roughly correlates to the Ballajá, Old San Juan, Ballajá, Catedral, Old San Juan, ...

. In 1997, their first album was certified

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for selling 50,000 units. Following the success of the album, the band held four sold-out concerts in July 1997 in the Performing Arts Center of Guaynabo. The concert was released months later as the band's follow-up album, titled '' El Concierto Acústico''. In the concert, the band played acoustic versions of the songs in their first album as well as covers from

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artists that influenced them such as Roy Brown, Leon Gieco,

Silvio Rodríguez Silvio Rodríguez Domínguez (born 29 November 1946) is a Cuban musician, and leader of the Nueva Trova movement. He is widely considered as Cuba's best folk singer and arguably one of Latin America's greatest singer-songwriters. Known for his ...

, and Haciendo Punto en Otro Son. The band continued to enjoy the success playing in front of 30,000 people at the Claridad Festival. That night an attendance record at the festival was set. That same year, they participated in the annual special show of Banco Popular dedicated to

Bobby Capó Félix Manuel "Bobby" Rodríguez Capó (January 1, 1922 – December 18, 1989) was a Puerto Rican singer and songwriter. He usually combined ballads with European classical music, classical music and was deeply involved in Puerto Rican folk ...

. The band performed the song "Sale el Sol" in the show. In 1998, amidst relentless touring, they released ''A Quien Pueda Interesar''. The album was accompanied with videos for the songs "Bla, Bla, Bla", "Al Frente", and "El Panal". Following the success of this second album, they became the first Puerto Rican band to headline and sell out the

Roberto Clemente Coliseum Roberto Clemente Coliseum (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Coliseo Roberto Clemente'') is a sports and concert arena located in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was, for many years, Puerto Rico's largest indoor event facility, and remains one of the large ...

. The concert was held on June 6, 1998. In November of the same year, they returned to the Roberto Clemente Coliseum, sharing the stage with local bands Haciendo Punto en Otro Son and Moliendo Vidrio. During the concert, the bands alternated sets performing the hit songs of each other, ending with a huge "junte" of all of the musicians singing several songs of each band. The concert was recorded and released later as an album titled '' Un Junte para la Historia''.

Deal with EMI Latin (1999-2001)

In March 1999, the band organized a series of concerts at the Luis A. Ferré Performing Arts Center where they performed their music with a symphonic orchestra, not The Puerto Rico Symphonic Orchestra, as it is sometimes stated. In the concert, they played their hits as well as covers from Rubén Blades, Danny Rivera,

, and Puerto Rican Salsa superstars El Gran Combo. At that time, the band finished negotiating a record deal with

EMI Latin Capitol Latin (formerly EMI Latin) is a brand of Universal Music Latin Entertainment, a division of Universal Music Group. Previously, it was a subsidiary of EMI. History In 1989, José Behar, the former head of CBS Discos, signed Selena t ...

. Soon after, they released ''Tres'' being their only CD with a major label. The band produced the hit singles "Canción en la Arena", "Solamente" and "Desde el Comienzo". In April 2000, the band toured the

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with shows in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...

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, and

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. In June 2000, upon returning to

, the band held a concert at the Rubén Rodríguez Coliseum in Bayamón. In August 2001, they collaborated with other artists in a song titled "Canción para Vieques", about the Navy-Vieques protests.

Last albums (2001-2010)

In November 2001, they parted ways with

. A month later, they released their second

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...

titled '' El Concierto Sinfónico''. They followed it with presentations in the island and in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, while they began to work in their fourth studio album. The album ''La Prosperidad'' was released independently in December 2002 with the single "Hay que Edificar". They supported it with a national tour through all the island finishing on May 31, 2002, with a concert at the

. In 2005, they released a greatest hits album to coincide with the band's tenth anniversary. '' Desde el Comienzo: 1994-2004''. On October 11, 2006,

percussionist A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

Papo Román communicated by letter to his " friends, press, musicians and dear fieles" that he will be quitting the band after ten long years with them. He stated that, despite not regretting the time spent with the band, he needed to slow down and dedicate time to his family. Román is the father of six children, two of them teenage daughters. In 2007, the band was selected along with several

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

groups to be part of a marketing campaign from

Absolut Vodka Absolut Vodka is a brand of vodka, produced near Åhus, in southern Sweden. Absolut is a part of the French group Pernod Ricard. Pernod Ricard bought Absolut for €5.63 billion in 2008 (equivalent to € in ) from the Swedish state. Absolut ...

. The campaign features the popular Absolut bottle silhouette using the motif of Fiel a la Vega's first album. The other bands selected were

Los Amigos Invisibles Los Amigos Invisibles ( Spanish for "The Invisible Friends") is a Venezuelan band which plays a blend of disco, acid jazz and funk mixed with Latin rhythms. In addition to releasing eleven critically acclaimed albums, the band have been lauded ...

(

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

Charly García Carlos Alberto García Moreno (born October 23, 1951), better known by his stage name Charly García, is an Argentine singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer and record producer, considered one of the most important rock musicians in ...

(

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

), Los Jaivas (

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

) and

Aterciopelados Aterciopelados (), also known as Los Aterciopelados, is a rock band from Colombia, led by Andrea Echeverri and Héctor Buitrago. Their music fuses rock with a variety of Colombian and Latin American musical traditions. Aterciopelados have reco ...

(

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

). In March 2007, the band recorded a live concert at the Ambassador Theater in

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...

. At the end of the year, the concert was released in a

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

titled ''Sesiones: 10 Años Acústicos y Eléctricos''. Also, according to their website, they started working on a new album. In April 2008, the band played at the ''Movistar Music Fest 2008'' in

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

, with Tego Calderón, Calle 13, and

Zion Zion (; ) is a placename in the Tanakh, often used as a synonym for Jerusalem as well as for the Land of Israel as a whole. The name is found in 2 Samuel (), one of the books of the Tanakh dated to approximately the mid-6th century BCE. It o ...

. In early 2010, the band released the first single from their next album. The album, titled '' Equilibrio'', was released on February 9, 2010. On December of that year, the band started a series of concerts on the cities of

, Ponce, and Mayaguez. The concert in San Juan was supposed to be held at the

University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

, but due to ongoing strikes and protests at the university against the government, the band moved it to the Centro de Bellas Artes in Caguas. During the concert, lead singer Tito Auger heavily criticized the government for its handling of the crisis at the university and the current state of the country. "In recent years, it has been made more evident that the alleged democracy that protects us is only a mask for the media, a simple

slogan A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a clan or a political, commercial, religious, or other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose, with the goal of persuading members of the public or a more defined target group ...

. We are dominated by a

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, which is an industrial, business, and political class, that is getting stronger and richer" said Auger.

Recent years

In recent years, the members have all been involved in their own projects. Singer Tito Auger has been performing with La Banda Acústica Rodante, which features fellow singers and musicians Mikie Rivera, Rucco Gandía, Walter Morciglio, and Nore Feliciano, while guitarist Ricky Laureano has launched a solo career, releasing two albums and occasionally touring under the name of Laureano & Rodríguez, along with Joel Rodríguez. Laureano explained in an interview that "saying we iel a la Vegawill continue to make music together is more complicated than ever because everybody is doing his own thing. Tito and I are dedicated full-time to music, Jorge is a chef, and Pedro is a professor; so it wouldn't be impossible, but it's an uphill battle." On October 18, 2014, Fiel a la Vega held a sold-out concert at Bahía Urbana in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in front of nearly 5,500 people. During the concert, which lasted more than 3 hours, the band played songs that spanned their 18-year trajectory. The concert was also broadcast through the Internet. In October 2016 the band performed on the Coliseo of Puerto Rico to celebrate their 20th anniversary accompanied by former member Papo Román and keyboards played by Francisco "Quito" González. The concert had an attendance of 7,000 people and lasted three and a half hours commemorating their two decades playing music. On August 18, 2018, they sold out hotspot venue VIVO Beach Club with a show including hits from all their albums. The show featured giant projection screens on which videos allusive to the songs were shown. In October 2019 they sold out two shows at San Juan"s Luis A. Ferre Performing Arts Center of their acoustic show accompanied by a string quartet directed by Ricardo "Papoi" Dávila and with pianist Jorge "Bebo' Rivera. They followed up in November 2nd with "Rocktoberfest @ VIVO Beach Club" alongside Puerto Rican rock bands Vivanativa, La Secta and Millo Torres y el Tercer Planeta. hosted by comedian Chente Ydrach. For this show Ocean Lab Brewery (located at VIVO Beach Club) produced one distinct beer for each of the bands and the host, to their specifications and those were the only beers available during the Fest. On July 27, 2020, they broadcast a live, socially distanced show over social media platforms which collected nearly half a million views in two days. In this show they played their 1998 album "A Quien Pueda Interesar" entirely. They also announced new material in the works. In August 2023, the band released ''Prima•Vera'', their sixth studio album and the first in more than 13 years. Guitarist Ricky Laureano said the new album represented "a musical rebirth for us and a testimony of our commitment to music".

Band members

Current members

* Tito Auger -

Vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

rhythm guitars In music performances, rhythm guitar is a guitar technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass ...

* Ricky Laureano -

, lead guitars * Jorge Arraiza -

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

, keyboards,

background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...

* Pedro Arraiza -

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

Former members

* Papo Román -

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

(1996–2006)

Discography

Studio albums

* '' Fiel a la Vega'' (April 1996) * ''A Quien Pueda Interesar'' (May 1, 1998) * ''Tres'' (November 1999) * ''La Prosperidad'' (December 2002) * '' Equilibrio'' (February 2010) * ''Prima•Vera'' (August 2023)

Live albums

* ''El Concierto Acústico'' (November 1997) * ''El Concierto Sinfónico'' (December 2001) * ''Sesiones: 10 Años Acústicos y Eléctricos'' (DVD, December 2007) * ''El Concierto'' (CD/DVD, October 2015) *En Vivo Desde El Teatro Ambassador (Marzo 2019)

Compilations

* '' Desde el Comienzo: 1994-2004'' (2005)

Other collaborations

* '' Siempre Piel Canela: La Música de Bobby Capó'' (1997, released by Banco Popular) * '' Un Junte para la Historia'' (November 1998)

Singles

Awards

1997

* Farándula Award: Best Local Rock Band. * Artistas Award: Most Outstanding Band of the Year. * Tu Música Award: Best National Rock Band. * Tu Música Award: Ballad/Pop Song of the Year ("El Wanabí")

1998

* Tu Música Award: Best National Rock Band. * Tu Música Award: Song of the Year (" Boricua en la Luna") * Tu Música People's Choice Award.

2000

* Tu Música Award: Best National Video ("Solamente")

2001

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadc ...

Award: Best

Rock en Español Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

Song ("Canción en la Arena" written by Auger and Laureano)

Book

In 2005, writer Edgardo Soto released a biography of the band titled ''Salimos de Aquí: La Biografía de Fiel a la Vega''. The book includes facts about the band's formation and their rise to fame in the mid-1990s.

Release Information

* Soto, Edgardo. (2005) ''Salimos de Aquí: La Biografía de Fiel a la Vega''. Terranova Editores; 1st Edition ()Amazon.com: Salimos de Aqui: La Biografia de Fiel a la Vega: Edgardo Soto: Books
/ref>

Notes

External links

Fiel a La Vega

CD Desde El Comienzo online

CD El Concierto Sinfonico online
{{Authority control Puerto Rican musical groups Musical groups established in 1994 1994 establishments in Puerto Rico Rock en español music groups