With Lollapalooza, Pitchfork, Riot Fest, North Coast Music Festival, et al., Chicago can claim to be the capital of destination music festivals. Now the presenters of the first-ever Ruido Fest, set for Friday through Sunday in Pilsen, hope to strengthen the city’s stake on that title.
Whereas the other festivals showcase various strains of rock, Ruido Fest offers a twist: a total focus on Latin alternative music — rock primarily sung in Spanish. Cafe Tacuba, Zoe, Molotov and Kinky — some of the biggest names on the alt-Latin scene — are among the more than 40 acts from Mexico, South America and the U.S. scheduled to perform on three stages in Addams/Medill Park, 1301 W. 14th St., over the weekend. Along with the subgenres of post-punk, cumbia rock, ska/reggae, electronica, hip-hop and more, they’re bringing the noise. That’s what “ruido” means in English.
The event’s organizers are billing Ruido as a one-of-a-kind festival, at least in the United States. “As far as festivals go, there’s never been anything like this,” said Eduardo Calvillo, a longtime local Latin rock promoter and founder of the radio show “Rock Sin Anestesia,” broadcast weekly on WLUW-FM 88.7. “When we were already planning for Ruido, Los Angeles had just wrapped up the first Supersonico,” he said, referring to the three-day Latin rock festival at the Shrine Expo Hall last October. “But Ruido will be the first three-day outdoor Latin music festival ever in the U.S.”
Calvillo is one of four Chicago-based promoters behind the festival, along with Metronome (North Coast Music Festival), Riot Fest Presents (organizers of the annual rock event, with editions in Chicago, Denver and Toronto) and Star Events (Taste of Randolph Street and the Hyde Park Jazz Festival).
“I didn’t have experience producing a big festival, so it’s great to have these promoters on board,” Calvillo said. “Once Riot Fest signed on, I knew the festival was happening. We needed a strong partner behind us.”
The promoters already have big plans for the future. “We’re looking forward to making Ruido into an annual event that will be the definitive weekend for the best in Latin music and culture,” said Max Wagner of Metronome. “There is a great level of interest in this music in Chicago, and this local passion has been generally underserved in many ways.”
With the Latino population in the Chicago metro area nearing the 30 percent mark, according to 2010 U.S. Census figures, and with the Chicago metropolitan area having the fifth-largest Latino demographic population (according to a 2011 Pew Research study), Ruido’s organizers believe they’re addressing a largely untapped market.
“I’ve been involved in this genre for more than 15 years, and every band always tells me, ‘We get a better response in Chicago than we do anywhere else,'” Calvillo said.
Cafe Tacuba, universally regarded as the godfather of the alt-Latin scene, believes so strongly in the Ruido cause that it decided to interrupt its current concert hiatus and sign on as the fest’s headline act.
“Chicago really expresses what’s happening on the Latin rock scene,” said Emmanuel del Real, co-founder and keyboardist-guitarist of the Mexico City-based Cafe Tacuba. “It’s big that they are doing three days.”
In terms of ticket sales, that already has been the case. “Though Chicago has a history of people traveling here to see events like the Blues Festival or Lolla, we didn’t know what to expect,” Calvillo said. “We hoped we’d sell maybe 500 tickets, and then the three-day passes sold out almost instantly.” So far, ticket buyers represent all 50 U.S. states, he said, and even some nations in South America. (Single-day passes and some VIP packages remain available.)
Still, Calvillo wonders why a festival of this nature has been so long in the making. Multi-day Latin rock festivals have sprung up in Mexico (Vive Latino) and South America (Rock al Parque in Bogota, Colombia), but not in the United States. There have been exceptions, such as the Watcha Tour, a multi-city, one-day lineup that ran for three years (1999-2001), and more roots-oriented events, such as the one-day Pachanga Latin Music Festival in Austin, Texas (with satellite editions in Dallas and Houston).
“People ask us, ‘Why Chicago?’ and I respond, why not?” Calvillo said. “First, we’re based here. Plus, Lolla’s here. But we can’t believe there isn’t one Latin rock event like this already. When the genre first hit its prime, in late ’90s, it didn’t happen.”
In the meantime, as Latin rock continued to grow in popularity, the mainstream festivals mostly ignored the genre. Of the 130-plus acts on this year’s Lollapalooza lineup, only two appear to have a Latin connection (roots rockers Jessica Hernandez & the Deltas, and singer-songwriter Gabriel Garzon-Montano).
“There’s still not enough Latin talent in the Lolla lineup,” Calvillo said. “Cafe Tacuba has played Lolla in the past, but in a noontime slot and on a smaller stage.”
Although Lolla has expanded to South America, with events in Argentina, Brazil and Chile, Calvillo points out that “it presents the same lineup of mostly Anglo rock as it does in the U.S., which I find insulting. So I said I’m going to have to do my own thing.”
Cafe Tacuba’s del Real agrees that mainstream rock events like Lolla and California’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival need to be more diverse.
“There are some important festivals that should have more Latin representation,” he said. “At Coachella, they are more sensitive about that. But I don’t see that in other festivals, like Lollapalooza. Lolla is full of Latin concertgoers but no Latin acts. I would love to see more mixing of genres at festivals. This festival (Ruido) is a response to that.”
Once Cafe Tacuba signed on, most of the lineup fell into place. “I wanted a mix of what I liked,” Calvillo said. “Luckily, most were available.”
Initially, though, some artists hesitated. “When we started to contact bands, we told them we’re just a small festival in Chicago, and some said they weren’t sure about committing.” After the official announcement for Ruido Fest went out in May, however, “all those bands came back to us, and we had to say now it’s too late,” Calvillo said. “We were already booked up.”
Cafe Tacuba never wavered in its commitment, though it’s spending most of 2015 off the road to work on its next album. Last year, the band celebrated its 25th anniversary by performing its landmark album “Re” (1994) in its entirety onstage.
“That show was more for hard-core fans who know the album,” del Real said. “Festival crowds want to hear the hits. Since we are going to be the last act at Ruido, we want to go out with a bang. We want to deliver that last punch of energy that will send the fans home (spent) but satisfied.”
For his part, Calvillo agrees that Ruido represents a watershed moment in Latin rock: “Similar events, like Vive Latino, took years to take off, and we’re already getting the same level of support. I’m not going to say this genre depends on Ruido’s success, but it will be a key factor for the future.”
A list of Ruido must-sees
Aside from headliners such as Cafe Tacuba, Zoe (from Mexico, psychedelic rock, Kinky (Mexico, electro-pop/rock) and Molotov (Mexico, rap-rock), here are some other best bets:
Ceci Bastida: Socially conscious singer-songwriter, now based in Los Angeles, she’s a former member of the pioneering alt-Latin/ska band Tijuana No!
Natalia Clavier: Born in Argentina, this singer-songwriter leans to jazz-soul and has served as a vocalist for American trip-hoppers the Thievery Corporation.
Porter: From Guadalajara, Mexico, electro-acoustic post-rock, steeped in the cauldrons of Euro rockers Air, Sigur Ros and Royksopp.
Los Rakas: Panamanian-born cousins, now based in Oakland, Calif., mix dancehall with hip-hop and reggaeton. They appeared on new-wave icon Blondie’s most recent disc, “Ghosts of a Download.”
La Vida Boheme: From Venezuela, this post-punk quartet tips its artistic cap to the Clash, the Cure and legendary Mexican rockers Caifanes.
When: Friday-Sunday
Where: Addams/Medill Park, 1301 W. 14th St.
Tickets: Single-day passes, $54.99-$75; VIP single-day passes, $99.99, $150 (in-and-out access only with VIP tickets); ruidofest.com
Laura Emerick is a freelancer.
