Touted
as the ‘most modern of LA’s music
festivals’, a Sold Out crowd of
music, food and culture lovers descended upon the Long Beach waterfront at the
Queen Mary Events Park this past Saturday are still reliving the sights, tastes
and especially the sounds of the sold out Tropicália
Music and Taco Festival.
Once
again The Observatory Group breathed
new life into the stale festival landscape, and this time made history with
their most eclectic line-up, and most successful music festival to date.
While
the concert line-up resonated with fans of any given genre or generation the
free all you can eat tacos (and pupusas, posole, taquito's, etc) helped provide
the sold out crowd with the energy needed to fuel for a nonstop dance party.
GRAMMY®
award winning Mexican Regional music icons Los
Tigres del Norte headlined Tropicália,
whipping the crowd of millennials into a frenzy of Norteño dance twists,
twirls, caballito kicks and sing alongs to ‘La
Puerta Negra.’
L.A.'s
favorite psychedelic funk rockers Chicano
Batman and the fashion designer turned indie pop/electronica
Colombian-American songstress Kali Uchis
prepared the crowd for a night of dancing with their dreamy grooves and
body shaking beats. Of course icons of the Alt-Latino genre, Café
Tacvba,
veterans of many outdoor music festivals, performed their always trippy live
set during sunset aka the magic hour.
And
that was merely the main Tropicália
stage. There were five stages in all that kept kids darting from one legendary
performer to another, like Celso Piña,
the Queen of Rockabilly Wanda Jackson
and the sleeper highlight of the show, 60's Spanish pop star Jeanette who had the Latinx millennials
singing along to ‘Muchacho de los Ojos Tristes” The appreciation that the young
fans showed these elder artists, especially soul music legends Brenton Wood and The Delfonics as well as 90's RnB star Ginuwine, all mainstays on the turntables at any East L.A. backyard
party, would make any old rocker proud of the new generation of music lovers.
Fan appreciation of
the past was rewarded with performances from the present and future of Latin
rock and pop starting with reggaeton royalty Ivy Queen, then the modish
lo-fi singer/songwriter/rapper King
Krule, R&B songstress Jhené Aiko, electro-soul beauty Alina Baraz, and psychedelic
cumbia Thee Commons, swooning Cuco, Brazil's
psych pop icons Os Mutantes plus the
cumbia sounds of Sonora Dinamita
plus many, many, many more.
Tropicália
Music & Taco Festival was hosted by East
LA native Felipe
Esparza best known for
his raw, real-life comedy, his irreverent on-stage persona, and wild hair. In
fact much of the sold out crowd was drawn to the festival via the comic's
social media posts which opened with his often-imitated phrase, "What’ sup
fool?" followed by invites to Tropicália
Music & Taco Festival.
And of course
much of the success to this festival goes to the dozens of food vendors who
supplied tens of thousands with delicious nourishment needed for a long day of
dancing and singing. Many thanks go to: Carnitas el Momo, Dia de los Puercos, Mariscos Jalisco, Burritos La
Palma, Pez Cantina, Calo Provisions, Taqueria la Venganza (Vegan), Epic Tacos,
Cuatro Calaveras, La Calaca Fish Tacos, Dos Mexicanos Grill, Street Kitchen LA,
Bann Mi Tacos, Chichen Itza, Taco Mel, The Classic Taco, 3941 Tamales, Casa De
Brisa, Los Tacos Guys, Barrels Baja Fresh Tacos, Vchos Truck, Triple Threat
Tacos, Butchers Block LA, Padre Long Beach, Macheen Tacos, Chuys Tacos.
About the
event organizers, The Observatory Group:
The
team at The Observatory Group manages some of the southland's most recognized
venues: The Observatory Orange County, the Constellation Room, and the
Observatory North Park. The Observatory Group has organized L.A.s most talked
about music festivals including Day N Night, When We Were Young, Summertime in
the LBC, Beach Goth, Soulquarius an RnB Jam, One Love Cali Reggae and now
Tropicália Music & Taco Festival.
Artist Lineup (Alphabetical
Order):
Alina Baraz
Banes World
Beach Bums
Brenton Wood
Buttertones
Buyepongo
Café Tacvba
Celso Piña
Chicano
Batman
Chrome Sparks (DJ Set)
Chulity
Vinly Club
Cuco
Current Joys
Dub Cub
Evelyn “Champagne”
King
Funky Sole
Evelyn “Champagne”
King
Funky Sole
Ginuwine
High Curbs
Inner Wave
Ivy Queen
Jack Moves
Jeanette
Jhené Aiko
Jessie Reyez
Jorja Smith
Kali Uchis
King Rule
La Banda Skalavera
Las Cafeteras
Los Tigres Del Norte
Low End Theory
Madlibe
Os Mutantes
Phoney Ppl
Pity Party
Red Pears
Sad Girl
Sango
Scam & Jam
Slow Hollows
Smino
Sonora Dinamita
Summer Salt
Surf Curse
The Delfonics
Thee Commons
Very Be Careful
Weapons of Mass Creation
Wanda Jackson
XXYYXX
Yellow Days
