Jesse & Joy kicked off their world tour El Despecho on Saturday (Aug. 16) with a sold-out show at the Brooklyn Paramount theater in New York City, where they delighted a multigenerational and predominantly Latino audience with hits ranging from “Si Te Vas” and “Me Soltaste” to “¡Corre!” and “Espacio Sideral.”
The Mexican pop duo formed by the Huerta siblings — Joy dressed in a dazzling orange three-piece outfit, Jesse in a white suit with red fire-shaped accents — took the audience on a journey through their most popular songs, which their devoted fans sang along to with full enthusiasm from start to finish. It was an emotional reunion with their New York fans, where they hadn’t performed since March 2022, and Jesse & Joy made sure to gift them a special moment.
Midway through the concert, as a surprise, a group called Mariachi Aventurero NY appeared on stage to accompany Joy in a ranchera medley that included Marco Antonio Solís’ “Si No Te Hubieras Ido,” Juan Gabriel’s “Caray,” and the classic popularized by Vicente Fernández, “Volver, Volver.”
Immediately after, Joy introduced their 2015 hit “Un Besito Más,” which she and Jesse wrote in memory of their late father. While doing so, she explained with a trembling voice how this song had helped them navigate grief and had also accompanied others in their pain from a different kind of separation.
“Many years ago, someone told us that they shared the same story with us. My brother and I offered our condolences and said, ‘We’re so sorry for your loss.’ I’ll never forget when this person said to me, ‘My dad is still alive, but he was deported,’” said Joy, struggling to hold back tears. “Ever since then, my brother and I have been very clear that wherever we have a microphone, we have a voice.”
“We will always stand with our people, but above all, we will stand on the right side of history,” she continued as the audience cheered. “We want you to know that we are with you, that we are part of you, and that as long as we have a microphone, we will raise our voices. Tonight, like every night, we will remember our father here on stage, but we also want to honor all the people who are going through very difficult times and know that life somehow finds its way.”
Jesse & Joy’s El Despecho Tour follows their latest album Lo Que Nos Faltó Decir, an eclectic set released in May that showcases a diverse range of sounds representative of their bicultural upbringing (Mexico-U.S.), including pop, regional Mexican music, singer-songwriter styles, and soul.
It also comes on the heels of Joy’s nomination for a 2025 Tony Award as co-writer of the songs for the Broadway musical Real Women Have Curves. The show is set in East L.A. in 1987 and follows the story of a daughter of immigrants torn between her ambitions to go to college and the responsibility she feels to stay home to care for her undocumented family — a theme that has gained relevance amidst the mass deportation campaigns of the current Trump administration.
“Something that’s really affected me with this story is that all these issues that were happening in the ’80s are still happening today, and you would think ‘No, it’s 2025, so many things have changed, it should be easier,’ and it’s not,” the artist said previously to Billboard Español. “I have dual citizenship, I feel very privileged, but it is very difficult for those who are going to live right now in this new change of government.”
Jesse & Joy are set to perform on Sunday (Aug. 17) at the Warner Theater in Washington, D.C., followed by shows in Cleveland; Toronto; and Fresno, Calif. With more than 40 dates across the U.S. Canada, and Latin America, El Despecho Tour will keep the duo on the road until early 2026. For dates and tickets, click here.
