After 15 years of shaping the landscape of Mexican indie rock, Odisseo is finally stepping onto U.S. stages, and not just to play, but to connect. This September marks the band’s long-awaited debut tour across the United States, with stops in Chicago, Austin, Dallas and McAllen, Texas, and a grand finale at The Roxy in Los Angeles. It’s a moment fans have been waiting for, and for the band, it’s a milestone built on patience, persistence, and purpose.
Odisseo’s vocalist Juan Pablo López and lead guitarist Daniel León, opened up about why now is the right time to cross borders, how their latest album Tormentas Inesperadas became a lyrical map of adult heartbreak, and the responsibility they feel when turning their live shows into emotionally immersive experiences. More than just a tour, this chapter signals a new phase in Odisseo’s creative journey, one that blends introspection with ambition, and cinematic storytelling with on-stage energy.
INSIDE THE EMOTIONAL ARCHITECTURE OF ODISSEO’S TORMENTAS INESPERADAS
YOUR TOUR STARTS IN SEPTEMBER, WITH STOPS IN CHICAGO, TEXAS, AND CLOSING WITH A BANG AT THE ROXY IN LOS ANGELES.
It’s always exciting to leave your country to share your music somewhere else. But we felt a real need to go to the United States because there’s a huge audience there that loves the genre we play and our band.
After almost 15 years of being together, we’ve never really given people in the U.S. the chance to hear us live. Every year we kept putting it off until we finally decided to go for it and do this first tour. And it definitely won’t be the last!
HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO BRING YOUR MUSIC TO LATINO FANS WHO HAVE SUPPORTED YOU FROM AFAR—ESPECIALLY IN SUCH TENSE TIMES FOR OUR COMMUNITIES IN THE U.S.?
I think music has always been a tool to heal or to bring relief. It helps you think about other things, escape from what’s going on, and connect with your emotions in different ways. Odisseo has always been one of those bands whose songs touch people’s hearts, helping them feel better after a storm. We hope people get to experience that energy from Odisseo live.
HOW DID YOU CHOOSE THE SETLIST FOR THE U.S. TOUR? WILL THERE BE SPECIAL VERSIONS OR SONGS FOR THE AMERICAN AUDIENCE?
We definitely have to include a lot from our latest album Tormentas Inesperadas and the most iconic songs from the start of the band. These shows need to be long because this is our first time visiting, and people have waited so long. I think we need to revisit every era of the band in these shows.
WILL WE HEAR BELOVED TRACKS LIKE DÍAS DE FUEGO AND NO?
DANIEL: Absolutely. There are songs that never disappear from our setlist here in Mexico. We understand music deeply, not just as musicians, but also as fans. We know how frustrating it is when your favorite artist doesn’t play a song you love. But it’s also amazing when they surprise you with a track you weren’t expecting. Designing the setlist for our U.S. shows has to be very intentional and meticulous because we want to truly satisfy fans who have never seen Odisseo live. That’s the real challenge and the exciting part of doing shows like these.
WE KNOW THE BAND PAYS A LOT OF ATTENTION TO SET DESIGN AND LIGHTING. WILL THERE BE VISUAL SURPRISES FOR THIS TOUR?
We haven’t finalized the plan, but we definitely want to do something different. We’ve done it before on a tour in South America, we brought a small lighting setup that our team controlled. I think for this tour we’ll need to implement something similar. Maybe not at the large scale we do in Mexico, but something unique so our show stands out from the local acts performing at the same venues. We want people to feel a real difference. So thank you for asking, because yes, we’re thinking about how to make the Odisseo experience truly special.
HOW IMPORTANT IS IT FOR YOU TO OFFER NOT JUST A CONCERT, BUT AN EMOTIONAL AND IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE?
We want people to live the Odisseo experience. Listening to our music on streaming platforms or watching live videos just isn’t the same. People imagine how it might feel live but it’s a different reality. We’re a band that thrives on live shows. We form a real connection with the audience, and I’d even say we’re interactive. We push people to connect with us and I hope that’s what happens with audiences in the U.S. too. Odisseo is an energetic band, and you can’t really grasp that unless you’ve been to one of our concerts.
WHAT EXCITES YOU THE MOST ABOUT TAKING THIS TOUR ABROAD BEFORE YOUR BIG FINALE AT THE AUDITORIO NACIONAL ON NOVEMBER 1ST?
We’ve toured all over Mexico and visited a few countries that pop up on our radar, but going to the U.S. was a priority. And this is the first big step. We hope to go back at least once a year. There’s a huge fan base for Odisseo there, so many of our streams come from the U.S., and we constantly get messages from people there.
As for the Auditorio Nacional, we performed there last year to kick off the Tormentas Inesperadas tour. It’s one of the most important venues in Mexico, and being able to close the tour there is a huge honor.
HOW HAS THE TOUR EVOLVED SINCE IT LAUNCHED LAST YEAR?
At first, we only played three or four songs from the new record and then focused on the hits. But afterward we’d see comments like, “Great show, but too bad you didn’t play Atípica or Estrella de Seda.” That’s changed over time. We can feel people’s excitement for these songs, and that’s exactly what we’ll do at the Auditorio: play the whole album. After that, we’ll go into the studio to work on a new one, and we’ll start a new chapter. But if we don’t perform this album in full now, we won’t be able to do that later.
TORMENTAS INESPERADAS UNPACKS THE EMOTIONAL AFTERSHOCK OF LOVE, LOSS AND STARTING OVER
LET’S TALK ABOUT YOUR NEW ALBUM TORMENTAS INESPERADAS, WHICH TELLS A HEARTBREAK NARRATIVE. WAS IT INTENTIONAL TO SHARE THIS CHRONOLOGICAL STORY OF FALLING OUT OF LOVE?
It wasn’t intentional, really. When we try to capture a chapter of life, it usually happens naturally. Those songs are documenting something real from our lives. Looking back at past albums, you can tell our perspective on life was different. With this album, we realized it was about just that, the storms that life throws at you. Sometimes they overwhelm you, or maybe they’re the rain a flower needs in order to grow. That’s the common thread.
Each song tells a story adults go through: divorce, heartbreak, meeting someone new, the ups and downs of marriage. That’s why we called the album Tormentas Inesperadas, because it reflects the many stages love can take, told from a more mature lens.
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THIS NEW CHAPTER IN YOUR CAREER IN TERMS OF LYRICAL VULNERABILITY AND MUSICAL STRUCTURE?
It’s a reflection of where we are now, in our 30s. Each album mirrors the phase we’re in, and this one is about life as adults, living with partners or having families. But that doesn’t mean the emotional experiences stop. That’s what’s beautiful: our longtime fans started listening to us when they were 18 or 20, and now they’re in their mid-30s. They’ve lived through the same things we write about. So it’s special to see how our music continues to connect with them as they grow.
ODISSEO’S LYRICS HAVE ALWAYS HIT DEEP, AND NOW FANS ARE TURNING YOUR VERSES INTO BREAKUP ANTHEMS ON TIKTOK. HOW DOES IT FEEL TO KNOW YOUR MUSIC PLAYS A ROLE IN SUCH PERSONAL MOMENTS?
JUAN PABLO: It’s really satisfying and surprising. Because the songs that seem least likely to go viral on TikTok are the ones that end up taking off. Our lyrics are dense, our choruses aren’t short, there aren’t obvious hooks. It’s not the typical formula for the platform. At first, we thought: “This album isn’t going to work on TikTok.” But it turned out to be the opposite. I think it’s because the songs are honest and touch on universal themes. It’s also exciting to see new generations discovering Odisseo and that tells us we’re doing something right.
THE BAND’S LONG-AWAITED U.S. DEBUT
This September, Odisseo embarks on their first-ever U.S. tour, bringing their compelling live performance to cities including Chicago, Texas, and Los Angeles. Fans will have the opportunity to hear both classic hits and new material performed with the energy and passion that define the band’s shows. Tickets and full tour information are available at ffm.live/odisseotour.
