Austin Sound

Last year’s Pachanga Latino Music Fest was one of the local highlights of 2009, a fantastic day out at Fiesta Gardens filled with some amazing music both local and international. You can check out our review of that one here. This year, they are slightly expanding it to two days, kicking off the evening of Friday, May 21, at 6:30pm and running again all day Saturday. The lineup is impeccable, including expected local Latino notables like Grupo Fantasma, Brownout, and David Garza. But they are also throwing some rock into the mix with Girl in a Coma and Amplified Heat, as well as the fantastic pop of Hacienda. The full lineup is below (courtesy of Austinist), and the Pachanga website is live with early bird tix on sale for only $15! That’s cheap, people! They’ll also be doing all the cool stuff from the previous fest again like the kids workshops (watching David Garza lead the “Hokey Pokey” was a definite selling point last year, but of course we are easily amused). Here’s hoping we have beautiful weather again this year for another awesome day of music.

We’re still basking in the glow of the fun from the Pachanga! Fest a couple of weeks ago (or maybe that’s just the sunburn?). If you missed it, though, here’s a little taste of the Saturday event courtesy of the fine folks over at SPIN Earth. They have a couple of special interviews and acoustic performances from some of the artists performing at this year’s Pachanga! We’ve posted up a nice acoustic version of David Garza and L.A.’s Gaby Moreno harmonizing on the stunning bolero “La Media Vuelta.” When they performed earlier on stage together, it was one the definitive highlights of the Fest, and they may be even better intimately captured here on a park bench. You can also check out Spin’s video of locals Dignan performing an uncharacteristic acoustic tune under the trees, as well as tons of over great videos from all over the world on their site.

The second annual Pachanga! Fest probably couldn’t have been a much better event. Packed into one day, the Fest cut a broad swath across the Latin Music scene, from radio stars to indie standouts to the most traditional sounds, and was the perfect sampling of the musical landscape whether as long-time followers or uninitiated newcomers. Contributing to the Fest’s success was the beautiful late May Saturday weather and the event’s move from last year’s location at Waterloo Park to the Eastside’s more intimate and accommodating Fiesta Gardens. With two smaller stages alternating on the Park’s east end and the large Pavilion Stage a short, shady foot bridge walk away to the west, the music was constant and more than could be fully absorbed. The Pavilion handled a combination of most of the bigger acts and more traditional sounds (Michael Salgado, the Chris Perez Band, and the sprawling female Mariachi troupe), but the smaller two stages offered up the more intriguing performances of the day (Mexican Institute of Sound, Brownout!, David Garza, Charanga Cakewalk). Altogether, Pachanga! offered 20 bands and one of the best single days of music that Austin has seen in a while.

One of the many highlights of this Saturday’s Pachanga! Fest in Fiesta Gardens will be David Garza. His performance on the Plaza Stage starting at 6:45pm will no doubt electrify the crowd, as nearly all his shows do, but were actually thinking more about his 3:30pm songwriting tutorial on the Ninos Rock stage! Garza continues to be one of this cities most adventurous and talented songwriters, fearless in pushing himself and his audience to follow both his most swooning lovelorn ballads and the bite of his fevered, rapid-fire scats. Both are exceptionally on display with Garza’s latest album, Dream Delay, but as has been his style over the past few years, he has posted some more new tunes for fans to download on his website. We’ve reposted “Planet Delete” below for download, but be sure to check out the other eclectic offerings he currently has up, including the haunted “Black Rainbow,” falsetto-twingeing “She’s a Wrecker,” and the brutal distortion rip of “Karoake King.” Though we’re sure he’ll schedules some more shows this summer, right now Pachanga! is the only date on his calendar before the ACL Fest, so best not miss him this Saturday. Get your Pachanga tix here.

We’re really looking forward to this year’s Pachanga Fest, the second annual day long Latino music extravaganza. It will be going down at Fiesta Gardens right by river on May 30, bringing together a bunch of great local acts like Maneja Beto, Brownout, and David Garza with national and even international artists like Cordero and Mexican Institute of Sound. Better yet, it’s only one day, so it’s a ton of great music packed into an easy to digest package!

Last year’s inaugural Panchanga Festival was a big success, bringing together some of the best local Latin acts for an all-star day of music. We’re happy to see it return again this year, set for Saturday May 30 in Fiesta Gardens. Tickets are on sale now for $20. Once again, it’s a pretty eclectic lineup that includes local standouts like Brownout, Ocote Soul Sounds, David Garza, and Maneja Beto, as well international acts like Mexico City’s Mexican Institute of Sound. Swine Flu be damned! Full lineup of currently confirmed acts below.