What more can we say about the lineup at Supersonico Fest that hasn’t been said already? The event, which we hope will be the first of many, will bring a number of our favorite alt-Latino artists to L.A.’s Shrine Auditorium. The venue will host Café Tacvba’s 25th anniversary celebration, Ritmo Machine’s (Latin Bitman + Eric Bobo) second show in L.A., to name a few, plus will give local talent such as Kita Kline and Deorro a chance to perform in front of a large hometown audience.
Odds are that many of you have already decided who to see as well maybe see/skip completely. Or maybe you’re still deciding who to give a chance to and who to skip for a food and nap/bathroom break. Either way, we’re here to help! Here are five artists from the lineup to keep on your radar.
María y José
María y José is not the name of the cover band started by your tio and tia. In fact, there isn’t even a María or a José in María y José. There is only producer Tony Gallardo who is one of the godfathers of ruidosón, a term coined years ago during a MSN chat with Moisés Huerta of Los Macuanos.
Los Macuanos will also be at the festival and we recommend seeing both. However, Gallardo, unlike Macuanos, rarely performs in L.A. (Has he ever?! Someone please confirm!) while his peers have been here a handful of times and, odds are, will most likely return to L.A. again in the near future. In fact, I think I saw one of them hanging out at the Chancha Via Circuito concert a few weeks ago, straight chillin’. So if you absolutely MUST decide between one ruidosón artist, go with María Y José.
Jungle Fire
The funny thing about Jungle Fire is that the group was originally scheduled as a “one performance only” group in 2011. Three years later, the multi-member, Afro-Latin funk group has a full-length debut album to its name, Tropicoso.
The success is all thanks to the group’s amazing live presence. JF is without a doubt one of the best live bands from L.A., and anyone who hasn’t seen them in concert yet needs to. These dudes have killed it at The Echo, the Levitt Pavilion, and everywhere in between, and can play back-to-back shows of the same setlist but still manage to make each show a unique experience.
AJ Dávila
Unfortunately for those of us here in ‘Murrika, the great Boricua garage-rock group Davila 666 toured itself to death in 2012 just as they were finally getting the recognition they deserved. Although the band is technically on hiatus, they all seem to be enjoying their vacation and there’s no clear sign of it coming to an end.
Fortunately, the band lives on in its frontman, AJ Dávila. He released a wonderful debut album earlier this year that has a “similar-but-different” quality to his work in D666, which isn’t a bad thing at all! Maybe Davila 666 won’t ever get back together…but at least we have AJ Dávila.
La Vida Bohème
LVB is responsible for Será, one of the best albums of 2013 (a claim I’ll defend with my LIFE!), and the band has honed its live act over the years at venues great and small all over the world. Venezuela’s greatest rock band (another claim I will defend with my LIFE!) hasn’t had the best luck in L.A. when they performed at a RSVP-only, 21+ show and a all-too-brief, last-minute, early set in a tiny venue in the east side. The fest is their opportunity to perform in front of the L.A. audience they deserve.
Nortec Collective Presents Bostich + Fussible
Chances are that some of you considered sitting this one out to save energy for Calle 13 and Café Tacvba afterwards. DON’T! Grab as many energy drinks as you can and stay on your feet for these guys.
Bostich + Fussible recently hit us with a double whammy of news a few weeks ago. They confirmed that their recently-released album Motel Baja, will also be their last.
It’s not a far stretch of the imagination to assume the duo will return to L.A. for a few more shows to celebrate the record release…but what if this is it?! Catch them here for the first despedida.