On a Sunday night in downtown Denver, Michael Cec was doing what he’s been doing for years: filling the streets of Larimer Square with music.
He had no idea that the group of men listening to him busking were some of the biggest rock stars in Latin America. Even less that they were about to give him the opportunity of a lifetime.
“I could tell they were musicians, just by how they looked at my guitar, my gear. They applauded after the first song, asked me to play a second,” Cec said. ”And then the lead singer (José Fernando Emilio "Fher" Olvera Sierra) walked up to me and asked if I’d ever heard of a band called Maná. And I said no”
Maná is often considered one of the most influential Latin American rock bands of all time, selling over 45 million records worldwide. They were in Colorado last month to play at Red Rocks Amphitheater … and they wanted Cec to be a part of it.
“They just told me, they said, ‘Hey, we're playing up at Red Rocks this Wednesday and Thursday. Why don't you come open for us?’” Cec said.
He was stunned. “I asked them right off, I said, ‘Is this a joke?’ They said, ‘No, no, no.’”
It was hard for Cec to believe they were serious. Not just because playing at one of the most prestigious venues in the world sounds too good to be true, but because – in his words – he is still new to this.
Cec, now in his 40s, didn’t pick up a guitar until he was 20 years old. And performing in public? It didn’t happen until he moved to Denver, only 6 years ago.
"For a long time, I was that guy who'd, like, show up at open mics, and by halfway through the second song, people would be like, all right, let's get this guy outta here,” he said.
Perhaps that's why, even after checking these strangers’ Instagram and realizing who Maná was, Cec couldn’t believe the offer to play at Red Rocks was real.
Still, he said yes, and even called the Englewood Italian restaurant where he works to find someone to cover his shift … just in case.
“I told them, ‘I’ve got a situation I’ve got to deal with.’ That’s how I phrased it,” he said.
He kept it quiet. He didn’t tell friends. He didn’t tell co-workers. He wasn’t sure if it would actually happen, even as the day came.
“Even through soundcheck, I thought maybe I’d just be background music while the place filled in,” he said. “Nope. It was filling. Filling up. And then people started cheering.”
Red Rocks can fit almost 10,000 people, and Maná’s concerts usually sell out. Cec had never played for a crowd this size. But in the moments leading up to stepping on stage, instead of being nervous, Cec says everything fell into place
“I walked out and people started cheering. I just waved, you know … and once I plugged in and I strummed … muscle memory, performance kind of just took over,” he said.
It didn’t matter that he’d never played for thousands before. As soon as Cec started playing his music, which he laughingly describes as an attempt to fuse the Red Hot Chili Peppers with Gregory Alan Isakov, it clicked.
And the applause?
“Wonderful. I mean, people who know me know that I'm rarely at a loss for words, but the genuine love and excitement … is just something that I still honestly think about every day,” he said.
After his performance, Cec says life hasn’t completely changed. He is in touch with the Maná’s crew, and there are exciting things happening in the background that Cec wasn’t sharing in this interview.
As of now, he’s still working at the restaurant and busking at Larimer Square. But going back to this stage, it's ok with Cec. Street performance, he says, has its own magic.
“I can stand in the street and play a song and that song will fill that block … people who are just going about their business,” Cec said. “Coming from dinner, shopping, honestly, people who live on the street, it resonates and it has an impact.”
To him, the streets of Denver are just as sacred as the amphitheater at Red Rocks.
“You know, we live in such strange times that we're all trying to make sense of. And music to me is one of the great unifying forces … It fills me with a great sense of joy, a great sense of purpose and meaning in my life. And … it allows me to feel like I'm doing something for the city that I love,” Cec said.
For now, he’s taking it one day at a time. Grateful. Humble. Still playing.
“I just love playing music,” he said. “And if these are things that are coming to me … I just want to stay present.”
