Ivan Cornejo performs at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago on Nov. 16, 2023.
Mexican American singer-songwriter and rising star Ivan Cornejo played the first of two sold-out shows at Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom on Thursday night, and I was lucky enough to be there to review the show. While that may not sound like anything out of the ordinary on the surface, it becomes a bit more interesting when you realize that I might be the least qualified person in the city to take on this kind of assignment. As a white 40-year-old man, the 19 year old Cornejo is literally just under half my age. He was born and raised in Riverside, CA, while I grew up in the Midwest. A middle school breakup inspired him to start writing and performing songs, showing prolific talent at both. My lack of success with the opposite sex at that age just led to listening to more My Bloody Valentine.
Did I mention that all of his songs are in Spanish and I have a hard enough time keeping my tenuous grasp on the English language as it stands?
Nevertheless, I couldn’t contain my curiosity about this guy. When I called him a rising star, I wasn’t exaggerating. Selling-out one night at the Aragon is impressive enough for established acts. For someone so young to sell-out two consecutive nights is quite the feat. And to do so as a Spanish act with little more than an acoustic guitar and a voice? I couldn’t pass the opportunity to see what all the buzz was about. With support from opener Arath Herce, Ivan Cornejo’s Terapia Tour made its penultimate stop here in Chicago.
Arath Herce performs at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago on Nov. 16, 2023.
For such a tall person, the evening’s opener Arath Herce seemed like he wanted to take up as little space as possible onstage. With no backing band, it was just Herce, guitar, and minimal backlighting mixed with a healthy dose of fog for his entire set. Dressed in a black turtleneck that gave off a very 60’s Greenwich Village vibe, Herce’s set reminded me of the sound and vibe that you get from John Mayer’s more lowkey songs, with simple vocal melodies and just-barely-there guitar notes that somehow combine to fill a massive room and keep everyone’s attention without needing much more than the bare minimum sonically.
Ivan Cornejo performs at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago on Nov. 16, 2023.
Even if I’m the most unlikely person to be tasked with reviewing this show, that might actually make me the most qualified person to do it. Totally unbiased. Emotionally detached. Able to cut through the noise and truly get to what it was about Ivan Cornejo that has his fans lining up down 3 blocks for hours leading up to the opening of doors at his show. After taking in his set, I’ve got a lot better idea of why that is.
First off, the guy is talented. The slightly raspy voice over acoustic songs that feel like they can stretch across a horizon gives off Ryan Bingham vibes. But it’s not just his voice, it’s how he connects with his audience that sets him apart, something that I didn’t need to understand the lyrics of his songs to see firsthand. His stage presence, both when performing as well as when interacting with the crowd, belies the fact that he isn’t even old enough to drink. Knowing exactly when to take control of a song and when to step away from the mic and let the audience take the wheel, Cornejo took full advantage of the sellout crowd not just singing along with every word to every song, but practically screaming along the entire night.
Fans enjoy as Ivan Cornejo performs at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago on Nov. 16, 2023.
Even with his maturity, Cornejo’s down-to-earth demeanor onstage goes a long way in making him seem approachable and relatable. After the fourth song of his set, Ivan looked like he was starting to disrobe (much to the shrieking delight of a good chunk of the crowd). Turns out, he wasn’t trying to up the sex appeal – he had just forgotten to cut the tag off of his new shirt before wearing it onstage.
I appreciate Cornejo throwing me a couple bones throughout the night (covering the old R&B standard “We Belong Together” in English as well as throwing in a verse and chorus of “Hey There Delilah”), but it wasn’t totally necessary. I may not have been able to understand the lyrics of any of his songs in the evening, but that doesn’t mean I couldn’t feel what they were about. I could still see their effect on the audience, men and women, young and old (and by “old” I mean like…mid 20’s). When you’re a talented enough performer and songwriter, the audience doesn’t need to understand the words to know what message you’re trying to get across. And for Ivan Cornejo to be pulling that off so naturally before hitting 20 years old, the sky’s the limit for where his career is headed.
Check out photos from Night One of Ivan Cornejo’s two-night run at the Aragon Ballroom – featuring Arath Herce – below and click here to pick-up tickets to future tour dates. More information can be found at Ivancornejoofficial.com.
(Photos and Review by Rich Funk)
