Vive Latino – Caifanes Reunites and More
From Morning Becomes Eclectic producer Ariana Morgenstern: I’ve gone to many different festivals throughout the years in the States but I’ve never experienced one outside of the U.S. so when…
By Rachel Reynolds • • 1 min readFrom Morning Becomes Eclectic producer Ariana Morgenstern:
I’ve gone to many different festivals throughout the years in the States but I’ve never experienced one outside of the U.S. so when I was invited to attend Vive Latino, I accepted curious to find out what it would be like.
Held inMexico City, the 3-day festival featured 107 different bands from Spanish-speaking countries with only four exceptions– The Chemical Brothers, The National, Devotchka and Jane’s Addiction.
Held in the massive Foro Sol, where spectators usually come to watch car races, baseball games and large concerts, the stadiums were set up with 4 different stages much like Coachella.
The biggest draw was Saturday when Caifanes reunited and it seemed like all of Mexico City suddenly appeared. There were 75,000 people crammed into the stadium with not one empty space. Many of them had camped out early that morning to claim their spots and hadn’t moved for hours. Caifanes is considered one of the most important Rock en Español bands to emerge from Mexico and found fame in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, before splitting in 1995. The audience was so happy to see them back together again and sang along to every song, many with tears streaming down their faces. The energy and love the crowd gave them was extraordinary. I’ve never experienced anything like that.
I also got to see bands I was unfamiliar with like Sonidero Mestizo, She’s A Tease, Los Pellejos and Adanowsky, as well as artists that rarely are able to come to the United States like the Spanish rapper Mala Rodriquez, Argentine legend Charly Garcia, Los Enanitos Verdes, and Banda de Turistas.
It was a treat to see personal favorites like El Guincho. Alberto Pla (whom I first heard on a compilation director Pedro Almodovar released), Nortec Collective’s Bostich & Fussible with a full band, and Carla Morrison, who delivered one of my favorite releases in 2010. During Carla’s performance the tent was so crowded, it overflowed with adoring fans.
It was an incredible experience and I documented it with over 600 hundred photos but here are a few of my favorites.
— Ariana Morgenstern