Jay Janner
AMERICAN-STATESMAN
More than 20 Latin performers, including Michael Ramos of Charanga Cakewalk, upper left, and their fans headed to Waterloo Park in Central Austin on Saturday for the Pachanga music festival. The sounds of Master Blaster, above, brought Betty Hernandez, left, Gisella Fabre and Maria Pinilla to their feet. See more photos from the festival with this story online at statesman.com.
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Music
Austin music festival exudes Latin vibe
First-ever Pachanga's eclectic mix fills 'void,' organizers say.
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Sunday, June 01, 2008
Pachanga is a Spanish word for "party." With scores of people dancing to rapid-fire drum beats and electric guitar riffs, it was a fitting name for the festival that took up Waterloo Park on Saturday.
More than 20 Latin rock groups from around the country united in Austin for the first-ever Pachanga Latino Music Festival.
Austin-based headliners such as the funk orchestra Grupo Fantasma and rockers Vallejo came to the shady park to fill what organizer Rich Garza calls a "void" of Latin rock and roll music in Austin.
"There are so many bands out there," Garza said. "No one has ever rolled them up together and shone a spotlight on the scene."
Garza, along with Vallejo drummer Alex Vallejo, brought to life Saturday's eclectic mix of straight-up rock 'n' roll, funk, hip-hop, traditional Latin music and everything in between.
He said that though you can go to the Austin City Limits Music Festival or the Fun Fun Fun Fest and see one or two of the bands featured Saturday — like hip-hop group Los Bad Apples or the San Antonio rockers Girl in a Coma — the Pachanga festival was the only place where you could see them all at once.
Chris Galvan stood under a tree and watched the reggae-funk band Bombasta perform.
"The turnout's kinda low," Galvan said, eyeing the several hundred people who came out during the afternoon. "But it's only the first year. There are enough Latinos in Austin to keep this alive."
Daniel Zeh and Lyria Gonzalez said they're always down for live music, which is what drew them to the Pachanga festival — along with Grupo Fantasma, which they saw at the Mohawk the night before.
"It was amazing," Gonzalez said of the band, which just put out its latest album, "Sonidos Gold."
Zeh, a recent transplant from South Carolina, said festivals like Pachanga are part of what makes Austin great.
"It's so diverse, and people are really accepting of it," he said. "I saw bluegrass last month, and now there's this."
pgeorge@statesman.com; 445-3851
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