Review: Becky G raises Mexican pop vibes to kick off 2024′s State Fair grandstand series

A decade since she landed her first pop hit “Shower” at just 17, Becky G made her Minnesota headlining debut in the most Minnesotan of ways Thursday by topping off opening night of the State Fair.

Thursday’s concert saw a modest turnout but a meaningful start to this year’s grandstand concert series, since the Los Angeles singer and part-time movie star (“Blue Beetle”) was only the second Latino music star to headline the fair over the past decade besides Pitbull.

The scene: The attendance of 4,422 fans gave the mostly Latino and under-40 crowd plenty of room to stretch out and dance in the grandstand, which they did from the get-go once Ms. G (Rebecca Gomez) took the stage to the tune of her Bad Bunny collaboration “Mayores.” She wore a bright red sequined top and skirt to rival the brightness of the orange sunset after Thursday’s midday rain cleared. Her stage featured a pink, “Barbie”-like platform stage atop the main stage, where her six-member dance troupe roamed for most of the night.

The music: Many of the 20 or so songs in Becky’s 75-minute set list came off her more recent Spanish-language albums, including several off last year’s release “Equinas” and 2019′s “Mala Santa.” In fact, her only all-English song of the night was “Shower.”

Biggest takeaway: In the end, the show really blurred the lines between what qualifies as Latino pop and American pop music these days. The hip-hop boom of “Mayores” gave way to several more R&B-flavored tunes and then “Chanel,” which her sizable band played in an acoustic, Mexican-banda style.

“So many years, so many genres,” she rightfully boasted as she transitioned from the rocked-up “2ndo Chance” into the slowly funky “Dolores,” during which she brought up an audience member to serenade as a “stand-in Dolores.”

Coolest moment: While her own hits “Mamii” and “Shower” sparked the biggest bursts of singing and dancing near the end of her set, the night’s emotional centerpiece was Becky’s mid-show tribute to Selena — “an artist who I know I wouldn’t be here on this stage without,” she said. She sang a medley of the slain ‘90s Tejano music legend’s most danceable hits, including “Como la Flor” and “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom.”

Low point: Too many times in the set, Becky silently danced on stage while pre-recorded vocals of her many male recording collaborators played over the speakers. This happened in “La Nena” (original featuring Mexican hitmaker Gabito Ballesteros), “Chanel” (Peso Pluma) and several other tunes. It actually worked better in “2ndo Chance” when her male DJ sang Ivan Cornejo’s parts; and the DJ wasn’t that great of a vocalist, either.

Best banter: As one of her dancers handed her a red Solo cup early in the set, Becky quipped to the crowd, “You know what’s about to go down.” Yep, she then proceeded to raise a toast. More surprisingly, she did so by shouting out some family members in attendance. “[I’m] Mexicana,” she cracked. “I have family everywhere.”

Opening act: A young trio from Fort Wayne, Ind., Los Aptos earned a favorable response playing rather chill acoustic ballads like a bedroom-pop version of a norteño Mexican group. A sweet start to a very warm opening grandstand concert.