Free Latino-Vibe Outdoor SXSW Friday Night Concert Fun For All

AUSTIN, TX ― Sometimes, young people attending SXSW lament their inability to gain access to events given their underage status. Or, as it's said, some material sometimes is not for all ages. But a concert on Friday night welcomes all ages and it's free.

Several bands will take the stage at Mohawk Outdoor, 912 Red River St., starting at 8 p.m., offering music that can be enjoyed by the entire family. It promises to be a diverse lineup of artists, as described by festival organizers:

• Things get started with Jasper Bones, a 19 year old singer-songwriter from Pasadena, Calif. who began building an online following with through covering contemporary hits with his soulful vocals laid over bluesy guitar. He calls this sound “Chicano wavy-soul.” After releasing three of his own songs, Jasper Bones has proven to be able to apply his unique, genre-bending sound towards creating original content. Planning to release his debut EP in 2018, Jasper is heavily influenced by modern artists like Kali Uchis, Chicano Batman, and Daniel Caesar in addition to classic artists like Smokey Robinson and Ritchie Valens. His set runs from 8 p.m. to 8:40 p.m.

• Private School then takes the stage at 9 p.m. for their own 40-minute set. This Miami-based New Wave duo began as experimental electronica with an affinity for Pink Floyd-style musical landscapes. Led by Mario Giancarlo and supported by Alvaro Jeanneau ― both of Peruvian ancestry ― they favor new wave with dark house tendencies and a love for Scott Walker, and penchant for the crooning style of Julio Iglesias. The analog synth sonidos provide a bed for Spanish and English pop tracks that come alive with melancholic flair unique to their influences and upbringing.

• Kitten is up next, taking the stage at 10 p.m. "Growing up in LA, KITTEN’s Chloe Chaidez never learned about limitations in her life, only possibilities," her bio describes. "In fact, in her childhood it wasn’t even a question of whether she could be a Rock Star when she grew up... it was more of a choice of whether she wanted that or to be an Olympic Gymnast." When you first gaze at the diminutive Chaidez, you wouldn’t envision back flips off the stage and the laying bare of emotion in raw, rock and roll. Her youth is said to belie her musical influences, which include 80s New Wave and 90’s Britpop – music that came out mostly before she was even born. Moving to New York City upped the stakes for Chaidez, her bio continues. She busks in Union Square and lives in Brooklyn, testing her material on a tough crowd – New Yorkers. Getting people to focus on what she was singing there was the best endorsement possible for her anthemic songs. "I used to be afraid of expressing myself directly through the band's lyrical content," she says. "But I've been through a lot over the past couple of years, and you're gonna hear about it in this new record.”

• At 11 p.m., The Marías take the stage with their psychedelic sounds. Formed in Los Angeles in late 2016, this is a band that combines jazz percussion, hypnotic guitar riffs, smoke-velvet vocals and nostalgic horn solos. "There's something undeniably sensual in the group's dream-like fusion of jazz, psychedelia, funk and lounge," their web page reads. ¡Que sexy!

• Next is an artist named "Cuco." We know nothing about who this might be, as no biographical information was given. See for yourself. ¡Que misterioso!
• Eleganta & La Imperial close out the concert, taking the stage at 1 a.m. Here's how the band is described: "In 2014 Daniel Martinetti released his first LP as Elegante & La Imperial entitled El Sonido de Las Lobas (released on AUX label led by the renowned Dengue Dengue Dengue) and released the video clip of the single "Puro Comer", Album and video that have been cataloged as Within the best productions of the year 2014 by specialized press, the presentation of that record was also an opportunity to present what was the idea of E & I from the beginning, to be a live band and to play Latin electronic music, live.

"That is how Fefa Cox (Voice), Alejandro Leon and Max Donagini met with Daniel Martinetti to write lyrics and make new arrangements in the songs of the album "El Sonido De La Lobas" as well as produce new songs to play together for the first time in October of 2014 starting what is the new stage of Elegante & La Imperial a Peruvian combo with a fusion full of Chicha, Cumbia, House and live experimental electronic music.
You could define the current sound of Elegante & La Imperial as a Organic sound born in concrete jungle. Fusion of experiences, stories, sound union without defined borders."

So get out there, don your dancing shoes and enjoy the night! ¡Viva SXSW!

>>> Logo and photos courtesy of SXSW