I think I had never wrote a journal telling my experience of a concert. I've attended so many concerts, I'm very obsessed with music and I love seeing bands and artists live, it is one of my big pleasures in life. I tend to go to many concerts a year, but then why to write a journal about a specific one? Because this one has a lot of context behind it that I would love to share with all of you who has the patience to read my journals (that I'm still surprised that are not a few of you).

The concert was on January 24th, 2026. José Madero. GNP Stadium.WHO!? Who the hell is José Madero!? You may be asking.

José Madero was the lead singer of the punk rock band "Panda". That title may give you a hint of the title of the journal (honestly I had no idea how to title this journal and when I wrote this is when I thought "oh, that would be a good title!").

My fursona is not a panda bear because the band, actually, but it totally sealed it. For those who doesn't know (despite I've repeated myself so many times about it), I chose to be a bear because the Disey's show "Tailspin", I wanted to feel myself like part of the adventures of Baloo and Kit Cloudkicker, and I started drawing myself as a bear, but then I visited the Chapultepec Zoo, in Mexico City, seeing the panda bear for first time in person, and I felt in love with them, and since then I changed that bear for a panda bear. This was in 1998, I was 9 years old.

That's a very romantic story I always tell, but honestly it wouldn't stayed the panda bear at all, probably I would have forgotten about that story that I always tell, because I would have stopped drawing myself as a bear. I would totally joined the fandom anyway because I always liked drawing anthropomorphic cartoons but I would have been a different species, maybe a raccoon.

Around at that age I was already listening a lot of music, all kind, I was never attached to one kind of genre, or only "rock" and I didn't despise "pop" music, but I started loving punk rock bands like The Offspring, Green Day, Blink-182. At the same time I was also listening bands and artists in Spanish, but I was wishing there was something like Blink182 but in Spanish. Suddenly in the radio I listening a song, "Si Supieras" by Panda. Not only the rhythm but also the name of the band told me "this is the band I want to listen". I bought their album and I loved it (honestly, it is a terrible album, but even nowadays I have a certain love for it).

Back then nobody knew about them, and anyone who I showed the band they told me "they are terrible!". But for my pride of have "discovered" that band and that their name was the species that I was drawing myself, I kept drawing pandas, especially in school for representing myself for any situation, I was already treating that panda like my fursona without knowing even what furry fandom was.

I always felt like I was their #1 fan, and I didn't know if they were out there, for real, more fans of them, I was like the only one. I was going to their concerts that were in very small places, once I even see them in a street market.

It was not after their 3rd album that their popularity exploded, they changed their classic "happy punk" sound for something darker and more "emo" lyrics, which happened to be the sound that clicked with the times, and I kept following them, I was turning in a teenager so those lyrics also were hitting me hard. Now I heard them again and I like them for nostalgia, but were such dramatic lyrics that now just make me giggle.

Jumping to 2016, already 8 years being furry and with many furry friends, and my furry friend Sora also being super fan of Panda and coming with me to their concerts, suddenly we were attending their farewell concert in Mexico City, it was so sad that the band was not going to exist anymore and we were thinking "they are announcing this as a break but for sure they're coming back!", and as soon as the concert happened, the lead singer, José Madero, announced his solo project. That felt like a betrayal for many fans, but I was curious about his new music, especially because it was something completely different to his band, and I genuinely liked their music. He has been producing for 10 years music like bread on a bakery, he already has 6 solo albums and I more albums he was producing the most I was liking him, especially for his lyrics (because he still sings terrible!), they are even more emo, but very deep and wise. The other time I said "José Madero always have written emo lyrics, but when he was in Panda, he was writting about problems of a teenager, but now he is writting about adult issues and those hit even more".

Last year they announced he was going to be in the GNP Stadium, a massive venue in Mexico City where many international artists have been. I've seen Coldplay, Paul McCartney, Blink182, Shakira, Green Day there. It was incredible that him, in a solo career, was filling such a massive place (and he sold out). Incredible for an artist who is current (he is still releasing albums and songs) and not only for nostalgia (probably if Panda was back, they would fill even more times that same stadium, but people would go only for nostalgia). And indeed it was not a nostalgia concert, many were thinking that the big concert was going to be excuse to announce the return of Panda, or that he was going to sing many Panda songs, but he only sang 3 songs from his former band, from the 45 songs he played in around 4 hours of concert.

As a good fan, I got tickets on first row and I took my friend Sora with me. We were crying and singing along all the songs. And almost at the very beginning of the concert, José was singing looking directly at us, he was staring for 5 seconds while I felt his gaze on our direction. It was something very exciting.

Something that I noticed, being in the first row and nobody else in front of me, and I pointed this to Sora, is that, his manager from all his life, even when he was in Panda, was there walking, sometimes recording, also singing along. And just after an acoustic set, when José returned to the main stage to kept the regular concert, suddenly the manager approached to me, he poked my shoulder, at first I thought it was someone from security and my first thought was "did I do something wrong?", but when I turned around it was that guy and he gave me the guitar pick of José, he said nothing, as soon as I received it he turned around again and left. I saved it immediately on my wallet, but wow! Holy crap!

My thought, that I shared with Sora, is that he recognized me, I've been there for more than two decades always being in the front, I've grown with all his music, I've seen the manager's face so many times that I'm sure he has seen mine as well. For sure he recognized me, because we were so many people and I was not very in the middle, it was very targeted to me.

I'm never a hard core fan at all, I'm not those who wants to know their favorite artists no matter what, honestly I prefer they don't know me, I just like their art pieces and I admire them while I keep doing my own thing, probably the only hard core I tend to do is trying to be in the front row but that's it, I never want them to gain attention by them, and I would be so anxious to meet them because probably I would be super boring to them, I always get so nervous the times that I get to be in front of those who I admire, even with artists (musicians and illustrators) in the furry fandom. Once the lead singer of another band I love, Canseco, noticed me because in 2011 I made an fan animated music video for the band and they loved it, and he invited me to a concert and talked with me, and indeed each time he sees me again in their concert he says hi, but I felt very stupid because I don't know what to say, indeed especially with them I try not to be anymore in the first row because now I know they recognize me and even once he pointed me out to the audience and I could feel all the stares towards me, aaaah. So I've never seeked that big mainstream artists I follow even know about my existance, I prefer to be that fan in the shadows and only be there for their music. But then the next day, my sister, who works on the shows industry, and she knows José Madero personally, when I was telling her my whole experience in the concert, she told me "For sure José recognized you when he started singing towards you, once I saw him and he asked me about you" o///o

But yeah, I wanted to share my experience on this concert with all of you, it has been one of the most special ones I've attended, and I'm so glad I have a good friend who can be with me, there was a time I was going to concerts alone (which I didn't mind, but it is way better to be with good company), because I've always hanged out mainly with people who is more interested in animation, movies, even things like anime and video games, and they are rarely big fans of music artists and bands.

As same as this was an important concert for José Madero, it was also a peak for me, I've been following him since he was in Panda, his music has been so important to me, it has been with me in my bad times and even put a smile in the good times while thinking I'm out of those bad times, accepting the roller coaster of life we live, that bad times can come back. I've learned a lot of his resilience, he has been in very awful times and people tend to hate him from the very beginning, and he hasn't stopped despite anything to the point that, after so many years, he got to fill a big stadium like that. So yes, something to learn about his career: Perseverance, resilience, and continuing to do what you love, continuing to improve not to prove anything to the world, but for self-love. Keep going knowing that there are people who love what you do; what does it matter if there are people who don't like it or who speak ill of you? If you are authentic, there will be people who notice and will also love what you love to share to the world.