The Latin music festival, billed as the largest in Northern California, was organized by the same producers of Napa’s massively successful BottleRock.|
PAULINA PINEDA
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Veteran balladeer and pop singer Alejandro Fernández closed out the first night of Napa’s inaugural Festival La Onda with a set that spanned decades, thrilling the crowd with ballads, rancheras and pop hits.
Fernández's mariachi took the Verizon Stage first, as the sun began setting on the crowd, before the 53-year-old Latin Grammy winner from Guadalajara, Mexico, emerged in a black traditional charro outfit.
He began the show with “El Rey,” leading the audience in a singalong and into a Mexican grito — or cry.
“I am very happy to be here with you,” he told the crowd. “What a beautiful audience.”
The performance included rancheras “Es La Mujer,” “Estos Celos,” “Por Tu Maldito Amor,” “Mujeres Divinas,” many of which were first popularized by his late father, Vicente Fernández. He also sang pop hits “Hoy Tengo Ganas De Ti” and “Me Dedique a Perderte” over an hour and a half.
Jessica Lopez, 31, who drove eight hours from Indio to attend with her family, belted out each song with her mother Enedina Guevara Lopez.
The younger Lopez said it was her parents’ first music festival. It was emotional to stand beside them as they listened to artists that they grew up with, she said.
Guevara Lopez, 58, who was most excited to see Fernández perform, said her first festival experience was thrilling.
“I’ve enjoyed it to the fullest,” she said.
Fernández closed out the show with two of his most popular songs, “Volver, Volver” and “Como Quien Pierde Una Estrella,” electrifying the crowd, which launched into wild cheers and sang along to every note.
The Latin music festival, billed as the largest in Northern California, was organized by the same producers of Napa’s massively successful BottleRock.
About 70,000 people were expected Saturday and Sunday at the Napa Valley Expo in downtown Napa for a lineup of some 30 acts that spanned multiple genres performing on three stages — just a week after BottleRock had wowed audiences over Memorial Day weekend.
The draw of that diversity — from Mexican rapper Gera MX to regional Mexican music by Eden Munoz — was reflected in the crowd, which, while it appeared to skew younger, also included older fans.
That eclectic experience is what organizers said they wanted to provide for attendees.
General admission tickets were still available at a cost of $219 through La Onda’s official site or $240 at the door.
Food booths featured Mexican food and drinks from local restaurants and wines from Latino-owned wineries. Long lines formed at the agua frescas stands as people sought out the refreshing fruit drink to beat the afternoon heat as temperatures reached into the high-70s.
Lucha libre — or Mexican wrestling — performances wowed the crowd throughout the day.
“Are you guys ready for some lucha libre?” yelled the announcer, trying to fire up the crowd ahead of several matches between wrestlers wearing elaborate Indigenous head gear, Mexican-inspired outfits and U.S. flags.
The luchadores took to the corners of the ring, looked out at the crowd and threw jeers at their opponents before jumping off the ropes and into the center of the stage where they flung each other over their shoulders.
DJs spun tracks inside the Club Stage, mixing rap, cumbia, reggaeton and salsa hits, though a special guest scheduled to perform at 5 p.m. didn’t take the booth.
Mexican singer-songwriter Ximena Sariñana, a familiar face on the festival circuit, delighted the crowd at the Verizon Stage in the afternoon as she set aside her signature keyboard for an electric guitar to perform a new song off her upcoming album titled “Cuando” for the first time on tour.
Nerves got the best of her as she prepared to sing the first note, the 38-year-old telling the crowd she’d forgotten the lyrics and needed to restart. The fans, endeared by her honesty, cheered her on.
It was the finale of her North American tour with Mon Laferte, who will be performing at La Onda on Sunday.
Wearing a black halter dress and knee-high black socks, Sariñana sang popular songs, including “Mediocre” from her 2008 debut studio album and one of the first songs she wrote, along with “Una Vez Más.”
Later in the night, Junior H hyped up the crowd with songs “Las Noches” and “Rockstar" on the La Onda stage.
He easily transitioned from regional Mexican songs to faster-paced rhythms.
The 23-year-old, whose real name is Antonio Herrera Perez, has helped popularize corridos tumbados, a genre that mixes the traditional corrido that has long recounted the exploits of lawbreakers with trap and rap music.
La Arrolladora drew thousands of spectators to the Verizon Stage where they sang hits like “El Ruido De Tus Zapatos,” “La Llamada De Mi Ex” and “La Suata,” an unfiltered song about heartbreak and rage.
One of their new vocalists, Julio Haro, jumped off the stage serenading the crowd from the pit below with “Sobre Mis Pies.”
During a press conference earlier in the afternoon, vocalist Esaul Garcia said they were happy to be part of the festival lineup — the only banda group to perform — and play for long-time fans.
But Garcia noted the band has had to evolve as musical tastes and genres change and new music emerges in recent years in the hopes of attracting a new generation of fans.
He promised the group’s performance would include something for fans new and old and that it would get everyone on their feet.
They delivered with a performance that included older hits and new material, effortlessly switching from slower romantics to fast-paced banda music that launched the crowd into a frenzy, proving their staying power nearly 60 years since the band first formed.
You can reach Staff Writer Paulina Pineda at 707-521-5268 or paulina.pineda@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @paulinapineda22.
