October 10, 2025. Maná perform “De Pies A Cabeza” (“From Head To Toe”) at TD Garden
Fresh off their historic Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nomination, Maná returned to take a trip around North America to promise long-lasting fans passionate music and energy that has defined generations. With approximately three decades of touring, their impact on both music and culture has left a mark, and they came to Boston to celebrate in front of a multi-generational crowd that packed inside TD Garden wall-to-wall on October 10th.
Fans gathered around TD Garden with shirts representing every tour from 1993’s “¿Donde Jugarán Los Niños?” (“Where Will The Children Play?) Tour all the way up to their most recent tour, “Mexico Lindo y Querido Tour” (“Beautiful and Dear Mexico Tour”), in 2023. Some people witnessed these shows while others were likely not even born. What do they all have in common? They grew up listening to all of the same songs and were not afraid to shout every song word for word.
This year, Maná came back more prepared than ever to bring another eye-opening experience for everyone and their families. But looking back in time, it’s been a journey to where they are today. In the early days of Maná back in 1986 they began with three members: José Fernando “Fher” Olvera as a vocalist, Ulises Calleros (guitar) and Juan Calleros (bass guitar). These three put an ad in their local newspaper looking for a drummer where 15-year-old American Alex González answered and soon joined. This formation started the long story ahead when they released their first album, Maná, on May 12, 1987.
Two years later (1989), the album had a hit single, “Rayando el Sol” (“Lining the Sun”). In response to this rise, they toured heavily in order to support the album, performing more than 250 times throughout Latin America. Through ups-and-downs, Maná had then seen members come and go. Members Fher Olvera, Juan Calleros and Alex González stayed up until today, and today’s guitarist Sergio Vallín joined them in 1995 along with a reinvention of their sound.
People rolled in through the doors and some immediately began getting comfortable. The atmosphere was vibrant, with lights illuminating the arena and others running around to grab a snack before finding their seats on the floor or up on the balconies. Not a single seat was empty – filled with smiling faces waiting about an hour for the show to begin.
Lights shut off out of nowhere and the visual of a whale appeared. People cheered with excitement for the band to come out but were met with a 15-minute warning. Every minute built more and more anticipation as fans got ready for the curtain to open and for the band to appear. People forgot about their seats and stood up, positioning themselves for the best possible sightline they could get. The clock struck show-time, everything went silent and the crowd paused for a single second.
The whale appeared again when the clock hit zero; people knew what was about to happen. The sound of drums filled the room and cheers erupted from every side of the stage. Guitars began strumming and the bass could be heard keeping up with the beat. Shadows beamed on the curtains giving the sight of the performers. The show was just getting started.
They began to play their opening song, “Dejame Entrar” (“Let Me Come In”), and after a short introduction, the drums played a fill and the massive curtain separating the stage and the crowd fell down. Lights beamed across the stage, crossing over each other and making everything on stage as bright and appealing as could be.
October 10, 2025. Maná open up their show with “Dejame Entrar” (“Let Me Come In”) at TD Garden. Photo By Kenneth Palacios.
Lead singer, Fernando “Fher” Olvera, would travel side to side on the stage as the others would play their respective parts and instruments. Lights flashed over and over and the song slowed down and went into a breakdown to get them right back into the groove. Maná was just getting started and they already woke everyone up for what was next. The giant screen behind them shifted from one member to another, highlighting each member to make sure everyone could see them. The song ended with a clean crash and the lights turned off. The screams from the crowd just became louder.
Maná lead singer Fernando “Fher” Olvera traverses the stage pointing out at the audience in the middle of performing their opening song: “Dejame Entrar” (“Let Me Come In”)
Immediately, they began their next song, “Manda una Señal” (“Send a Signal”). Like many of their songs, this one speaks about love and togetherness and focuses on desperately wanting a signal of reciprocation from an impossible love. The stage changed colors from white at the start to becoming red to slow down the pace and give a feeling of reflection and sorrow. The energy switched to focus more on the sentimental feelings people had and less about the jumping and screaming they opened with before this. The echoing vocals filled the room, and the guitar riffs roared; every note felt in the audience’s souls and hearts. The song continued to reflect and build up until the middle was met with a scream and lights flashed bright and the guitarist broke into a solo.
October 10, 2025. Maná guitarist Sergio Vallín breaks into a solo during “Manda una Señal” (“Send a Signal”).
Matching the melody of the vocals, the guitarist repeated the phrases over and over, elevating the overall feeling of tone not just on stage, but reflecting it out and projecting it out into the eyes and ears of everyone there to experience it. The song ended with more drums and guitar hits over and over, flashing loud and bright as ever to end the song with a bang.
Greeting the crowd, Fernando “Fher” Olvera tells Boston that it’s been such a long time since their last visit, saying he feels at home and appreciates all of the people who came out of their way to be there that night for their performance. Once he finished speaking to the audience, he told them what their next song was going to be, “De Pies A Cabeza” (“From Head To Toe”), a song about showering a loved one with affection and being their sole source of comfort.
The drums kicked off and began the song and gave people a groove to sing and dance along. One the other instruments started, the song gave off a reggae-infused sound that felt like jumping up and down. With every drum hit, band members would hit body movements on the beats. The guitar solos felt electric and pulsed a groove through each speaker. Per Mana’s usual performance, the song ended with everyone hitting notes left and right until crashing out.
October 10, 2025. Maná drummer Alex González clicking back into the song after a break in the middle of “De Pies A Cabeza” (“From Head To Toe”). Photo By Kenneth Palacios.
The night didn’t end there; the cycle just repeated. The band brought out classics like “Vivir Sin Aire” (“Living Without Air”) that make you feel like you’re floating and have a laid-back feeling making time pass slow to “Corazón Espinado” (“Thorned Heart”), a song featuring both Maná and Santana that brings emphasized phrasing and hits that build anticipation with every hit. To close off the first part of their set, their drummer went up on a drum riser to soar high and elevate during the drum solo.
Maná would then move their performance to a second stage in the other half of the arena and performed an intimate moment on a smaller stage with the members close together in a square formation playing their other popular hits like “Bendita Tu Luz” (“Blessed Be Your Light”) and “Te Lloré Un Río” (“I Cried You A River”) that hit close to home for everyone in attendance.
They returned to the main stage after this intimate moment for their final three songs to “close out the night.” They play one of their most popular songs, “Rayando el Sol” (“Lining the Sun”), leaving everybody in disbelief of their final songs. The last notes ring out as everyone looks at the stage one last time.
They couldn’t leave without playing one more song. Maná encores to end their performance with “Oye Mi Amor” (“Hey My Love”), a fan-favorite and perhaps their most well-known song., Both fans who thought they would leave without playing this song and fans who had a good idea they wouldn’t leave without playing it were crying out with all the air in their lungs were ready for them to perform it. As their tour suggests, they wrapped up their final song and fans bursted out into tears of joy after singing their hearts out and exhausting their lungs. Fans were left “Living Without Air,” or as the tour is named, “Vivir Sin Aire.”
Check out the rest of Kenneth’s photos below.
