Latino Performers Shine at Coachella Music Festival

Latino Performers Shine at Coachella Music Festival

Over the last two weeks, music lovers from around the world flocked to Indo, California to take part in The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, an annual music event featuring genres of music ranging from rock, indie, hip hop and electronic music, as well as a large display of sculptural art.

This year’s festival – which wrapped this past Sunday after two weekends of shows, featured over 100 artists including main headliners The Black Keys, Radiohead, and Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg. Some notable Latino acts also took the stage alongside these big names, and have proved to be a formidable force at this year’s event.

Among these is Mexican alternative pop band Hello Seahorse! Hailing from Mexico City, Hello Seahorse! has become one of Mexico’s most popular indie rock groups, and is now gaining an increasingly large international audience. The group, which is currently working on a new album, mixes indie and synthpop beats to create a sound that is truly all their own. 

Additionally, music fans around the country were excited to hear about post-hardcore band At the Drive-In coming together for a reunion performance at the festival. The El Paso, Texas band, which split up in 2001, served as the big break for guitarists Jim Ward and Omar Rodríguez-López, who went on to form progressive rock group The Mars Volta. Omar Rodríguez-López has gained iconic status in his own right as a songwriter, producer, writer, actor, and multi-instrumentalist.

Another musician performing at this year’s festival -- who has frequently collaborated with Rodríguez-López -- is singer-songwriter Ximena Sariñana, who spoke with MexicoToday just after wrapping her U.S. tour back in August. The Grammy-nominated performer, originally from Guadalajara, is making a big name for herself and gaining international attention after the release of her first English-language album (Ximena Sariñana) last summer.

From seasoned performers reuniting onstage, to new opportunities for Latino acts that are just getting notice, all seemed to be excited about performing in such good company at this year’s Coachella Music Festival. “I went to the festival in 2006, but to play there is huge,” Sariñana said about the opportunity. “I’m flattered, excited, and honored.”