It’s puro San Antonio: Mariachis sounding trumpets. Musicians plucking strings. A swaying ensemble in silver and black singing and chanting, “Go Spurs Go!” A 1-minute, 55-second eruption, celebrating the arrival of Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama.
Campanas de America recorded the video six days before the Spurs drafted Wembanyama with the No. 1 pick. Since its June 23 release on social media, the video has logged more than 1.3 million views, moving people around the world.
One fan in Europe tweeted: “For 15 years I’ve been dying to come from France to see the Spurs, now I got to make it come true!” One in San Antonio tweeted: “Cut me open. This is what’s inside.”
The reaction stunned David Escamilla, an 18-year-old violinist with Campanas de America. He posted the video on Twitter to inform family and friends of some news: His first gig with Campanas de America was filmed at Rudy’s Seafood. Then his phone blew up. “I had set my phone for silent,” he said. “But for three or four days it was buzzing with likes and comments and retweets. It was mind-blowing.”
The idea for the video sprang from serendipity. On May 16, the Spurs won the NBA’s draft lottery, a pop of ping pong ball luck that floored Anthony Medrano. An avid Spurs fan and a Campanas de America violinist, Medrano was certain his team wouldn’t get the first pick. So certain he refused to watch the lottery on the big screen television in his office. But when the news broke on the tiny screen on his phone? “I yelled so loud,” he said, “it scared my wife.”
The next day, a videographer asked Medrano about a music video. Ten years earlier, Campanas had recorded a “Go Spurs Go” video to the tune of “Micaela,” which logged 86,000 views. The discussion sparked an idea. What if Campanas replaced the only word in the song — Micaela — with another, also with four syllables – Wembanyama? And let the original music stand?
Medrano, 60, thinks musically and visually. He is a producer and choreographer whose credits include shows at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles and the V Theater in Las Vegas. As production director for Campanas, Medrano suggested recording another version of “Go Spurs Go.” The videographer, Gabe Redondo, suggested an updated video. Boom. It was on.
For the shoot, Redondo chose Rudy’s Seafood, where a mural of Wembanyama was painted months before the lottery. On June 9, six members of the 12-piece ensemble went into the studio. In two hours, they were done. An engineer re-mastered the new vocals with the original music.
One week later, Campanas recorded the video at Rudy’s. Medrano, the choreographer, did not choreograph the moves. He let everyone cut loose. Roland San Miguel spun his guitarron and twisted his mouth open like a rock star. Medrano pointed a violin bow at the camera. Juan B. Ortiz, the band’s co-founder and violinist, danced with more rhythm and joy than any 68-year-old man you’ve seen. Then there were the trumpeteers, arching their backs, swaying in unison. A masterpiece of mariachi magic.
“The idea was just to have fun,” Medrano said. The ensemble felt so much more. “We were yelling like we were at Game 7 of the NBA Finals.”
Medrano has pulled for the Spurs since they played in the American Basketball Association in the 1970s. He remembers the heartbreak of blowing a 3-1 series lead and losing to the Washington Bullets in the 1979 NBA Eastern Conference finals. In the early ’80s, he skipped class and slipped into the gym at Churchill High School to watch the Spurs practice. Medrano left the gym, briefly, to drink from the water fountain. When he turned to dart back into the gym, “the hand of the finger roll came across my chest and stopped me,” he said. “Wow. It was George Gervin.”
In his youth, Medrano performed as a Mexican Folklorico dancer. In 1984, he joined Campanas. Over the years, he and Campanas have welcomed Spurs fans into the AT&T Center with music and chants — “Go Spurs Go!” — and performed the national anthem. Campanas, you could say, is the unofficial mariachi band of the Spurs.
Formed in 1978 by Juan Ortiz and his wife, Belle, Campanas has performed for Bill Clinton at the Presidential Hispanic Inaugural Gala and President George W. Bush at the White House. Last week, the band mourned the loss of Belle Ortiz, who died at the age of 90.
“She did see the video and she was happy about it,” Medrano said. “She wasn’t sure who Wembanyama was, but she loved that we did a good job.”
Campanas produced a second video, one with music and images from the first video and narration. Juan Ortiz describes the band he directs and offers some history. “We are San Antonio,” he says. “We are Texas. We are Spurs 100 percent. … Yeah, we were around to see all the other guys, the big guys. But our big guy this time is Victor Wembanyama.”
A burst of music and dancing follows. Exuberant. Unrestrained. Puro San Antonio.
