Fuerza Regida front man Jesús Ortiz Paz delivers performances in Spanish and English. But there is a third language at work, that of machismo.
JOP, as he is known to the Latin powerhouse band’s legions of fans, is a star who knows it. Stalking the stage in heavy leather, grabbing at his trousers, gesturing toward (we expect) the ladies in the house, the frontman is always in control.
The recording star who turned 29 in May even makes adjusting his shades a righteous moment, sticking his index finger up and holding it for an extra moment of suspense.
Paz and his Fuerza Regida bandmates/playmates Samuel Jáimez, Khrystian Ramos, José “Pelón” García and Moisés López packed Allegiant Stadium on Friday night. The show was the Vegas stop on the band’s “This Is Our Dream” stadium tour.
Demand for Fuerza merits multiple-stadium dates across the country, an impressive feat for Mexicana acts that often appeal to a more regional fan base. Fuerza Regida opened at Petco Park on San Diego on June 10, then to Oracle Park in San Francisco on June 20, T-Mobile Park in Seattle on June 25.
As the Seattle Times noted, the norteño cover band impressively filled a baseball stadium far from its SoCal home and “a short moose ride from Canada.” Fuerza moved on to Chase Field in Phoenix on Sunday, then play the close-to-home Dodger Stadium in L.A. on July 18 before closing the tour at Citi Field in New York on Aug. 7.
Formed in 2015, Fuerza Regida has grown in stature largely through its recent haul of music-industry awards. The band claimed five Billboard Latin Music Awards including Regional Mexican Artist of the Year, Regional Mexican Song of the Year and Hot Latin Song of the Year for their hit “Tu Boda.” They also took a pair of Billboard Music Awards in 2024, for Top Duo/Group and Top Latin Duo/Group. They were honored by the iHeartRadio Awards this year for Album of the Year, “111XPANTIA.”
The band seized a “Back to the Future”-storytelling arc in their Allegiant Stadium debut. They didn’t go back decades, of course, just to 2018 and then moving forward. Nonetheless, the guys were shown on repeated video clips, climbing into their signature vehicle (no, not a DeLorean), a jet-black, 1990 Chevy 454 SS pickup.
The truck boasts 230 horsepower. So does the band.
This is JOP’s favorite vehicle, and as such is the coolest thing on wheels. It is his personal ride, a status symbol in the Mexican American community as a symbol of the rewards for hard work.
JOP even penned a tribute to the Chevy SS for an essay published in Rolling Stone this past May:
“That was everybody’s dream truck right there. I remember being with my dad somewhere in the Inland Empire, maybe east of L.A., and telling him, ‘One day I’m gonna have that truck.’ The first time I actually got to drive it was when we shot the ‘No Es Pa Presumir’ video in 2019. I was driving it and thinking, it looks like something straight out of the Nineties, like Chalino Sánchez would’ve been in it.”
“No Es Pa Presumir” was not in Friday’s show. But the truck was, rumbling to the scene as a tribute to Sánchez, the late singer/songwriter who inspired countless Latin artists, including Friday’s headliners.
Fuerza came with a 12-piece band, Jáimez on 12-string acoustic guitar, Ramos on standard six-string, García on tuba (providing some massive low-end) and López on upright bass. With this high-horsepower musical engine, the band cast a universally wide net over their own regional Mexican styles into hip-hop, electronic and reggaeton.
They turned in their collab with Marshmello, “Harley Quinn,” a música mexicana-EDM mix. The superstar DJ appeared on video in Saturday’s show. He appeared in-person in the tour’s kickoff in San Diego.
In place of Marshmello, we got an unbilled visit from another white-masked Las Vegas outfit, the Jabbawockeez. The long-running dance team from MGM Grand joined Fuerza on stage to “67.” The Jabbas also appeared with Fuerza on Wednesday in a brand-collaboration event at the Las Vegas Puma outlet, and in an IG clip with the band the week before the show. It’s a quick, “West Side Story”-style faceoff, co-starring the apparel logo.
Fuerza also revived a seminal cultural event in its history, when JOP sang “Corridos Tumbados” at the 2025 Paris Fashion Week. The stage’s performance runway was turned over to a truncated fashion show. Backstage, the Chevy 454 SS was revving, its trek through time not close to finished.
Cool Hang Alert
Maxan Jazz is rolling along with female jazz collective Sisters in Swing on Monday, sibling pop tandem Dee + Shapeera on Thursday, Vegas vocalists Lisa and Ron Smith on Friday, singer-model Katy Monroe on Saturday, and Caribbean-pop outfit the Jeff Medina Group on Sunday. Show times are 7-10 p.m. No cover, but $25 food-and-beverage minimum per person for all performances except weekends, when it is $40. Go to maxanjazz.com for intel.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.