A sea of red ties Saturday flooded Globe Life Field for RBD’s “Soy Rebelde” reunion tour.
The Mexican pop band marked the lives of a whole generation of U.S. Latinos in the 2000s and is now back for a reunion tour with sold-out stadiums in the U.S., Mexico, Colombia and Brazil.
The iconic red tie is reminiscent of the band’s origin: A Mexican telenovela titled “Rebelde,” or “Rebels” in English, with a storyline that focused on a private boarding school. The signature uniform includes a red blazer and tie, white button-ups, denim skirts and knee-high black boots.
After 440 episodes, the band took a life of its own: RBD produced six albums that sold over 15 million copies.
Many U.S. Latinos growing up after the millennium found themselves represented in the characters of the novela and became mega fans.
Dallas-based cousins Jaqueline Armijo, 24, and Karina Armijo, 28, sang their hearts out during Saturday’s concert.
“I grew up watching ‘Rebelde’ since I was 4 or 5 years old,” Jaqueline said. “I have videos of me singing and watching the novela wearing the outfit.”
Karina said all her school friends and cousins were “obsessed” with RBD.
“I would go to Mexico and they were so much bigger down there. So they would have merch, stickers, gum, you name it,” Karina said. “And I would go buy stuff there and bring it over here and show off to my friends.”
Following massive success in the United States and Brazil, RBD recorded albums in English and Portuguese.
One Brazilian super fan, Luiz Felipe Pereira Ballachino, 28, traveled from Buffalo, N.Y., to Dallas with his husband to attend Saturday’s concert. The couple wore star stickers on their foreheads, paying homage to RBD member Anahí whose character in the novela had the star sticker as her signature look.
“I was so emotional when I learned that they were back and I said, ‘I can’t miss it,’” Pereira Ballachino said. “I paid $1,000 to be here.”
Pereira Ballachino said he learned Spanish because of the band, but the most impactful aspect of RBD in his life was when RBD member Christian Chávez was outed as gay by a gossip magazine in 2007.
“It was huge. My mother never accepted the fact that I’m gay,” Pereira Ballachino said. “She knew I was a huge [RBD] fan, then at some point she was like, ‘[Chávez] is normal, successful, so it’s OK for you to be gay, too.’ It was basically that. So thank you, Christian.”
Every RBD member had a solo song, but Chávez’s was special to fans like Pareira Ballachino: Chávez wore a pink and gold traditional mariachi outfit while singing “Tu Amor.”
Following the song, digital projections of pride flags covered the stage while Chávez addressed the audience holding a rhinestone rainbow microphone.
“If you want to wear pink, wear pink. If you want to love who you want to love, love them,” Chávez said. “Follow your own rules because we’re rebels and we don’t follow others.”
Other memorable moments included RBD member Christopher von Uckermann wearing a Texas Rangers jersey and RBD member Dulce María addressing “the women of Texas” and talking about women’s bravery and strength.
Saturday’s concert took place on the day of the 19th anniversary of the band’s most iconic single “Rebelde,” which was the last song performed. Every member wore the signature uniform look and the crowd went wild.
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