Tecate P’al Norte 2018 Preview

We all know about big music festivals in the U.S.A. & U.K., not to mention Canada (for the short time that it’s warm there), Australia (if the acts can make it Down Under), and draws from Iceland to Japan. But the rising star is Mexico, with great weather year-round, close but foreign for Yanks, and with its own great national music scene.

A leading light is Tecate P’al Norte, in northern Mexico’s wonderful Monterrey. Bringing acts from around the world & right at home, it’s a perfect chance to catch not just music but do the tourist thing in Monterrey (plus it’s sponsored by Mexican beer…), Friday & Saturday, April 20th & 21st:

FRIDAY, APRIL 20th

Tecate Light Stage Muse, 00:30 – 01:50 Devon’s Muse (QRO photos at a festival) is now established as full-fledged mega-stars. The trio reached for true stadium glory with 2009’s The Resistance (QRO review), as their electric bombast, which had already conquered Europe, set its sights on the States, playing Saturday Night Live and headlining Madison Square Garden (QRO photos). Yet 2012 was in even bigger, with the gigantic (in every sense of the word) The 2nd Law (QRO review) – not to mention making the official song for the London Olympics, “Survival”. 2015 saw Drones top charts in U.K. & America, and win the Grammy for Best Rock Album, and are currently at work on the follow-up, so look for brand-new material in Monterrey. They’re completely suitable to headline Tecate P’al Norte (QRO photos headlining a festival).
Zoé, 22:15 – 23:30 Born in response to such nineties movements and Brit-pop & Seattle grunge, Zoé have been essential in establishing Mexico City alt-rock, the Latin side of Meet Me In the Bathroom. The band has continued to be successful both at home & abroad, with new album Aztlán out this year, and this will be their third time at P’al Norte.
Fobia, 20:35 – 21:35 Last year, Mexico City’s alt-rock icons Fobia celebrated their thirtieth year as part of the eighties ‘Rock en tu idioma’ (‘Rock in your language’) movement, and look to keep it going in their fourth decade, as they return to P’al Norte. Have no fear!
Natalia LaFourcade, 18:55 – 19:55 One of the most successful pop/rock singers in Latin America (and well known north of the border as well), lyric soprano Natalia LaFourcade comes back to P’al Norte for a third time, behind her recently released second volume of Musas: Un Homenaje al Folclore Latinoamericano en Manos de Los Macorinos.
Also: Camilo VII, 17:40 – 18:15 Jonaz, 16:45 – 17:15 Rey Pila, 15:55 – 16:25 – QRO photos at a festival
Tecate Original Stage Los Auténticos Decadentes, 23:50 – 01:05 From the southern end of Latin America, Argentina, comes Los Auténticos Decadentes, who fuse Latin American rhythms with ska, as they come back to northern Mexico’s P’al Norte.
Franz Ferdinand, 21:45 – 22:45 Playing Tonight: Franz Ferdinand (QRO review). The Scottish band broke out of their native Glasgow in 2005 with Franz Ferdinand and killer single “Take Me Out”, and even if their studio output since then hasn’t matched up, they’re still a great band live (QRO live review), and come to Tecate P’al Norte (QRO photos at a festival) after 2013’s Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action (QRO review), 2015’s team-up (QRO photos) with art-rock new wave greats Sparks, FFS, and this year’s Always Ascending (QRO review), with great material all their own (QRO recent live review).
Cheat Codes, 19:30 – 20:25 Electronic trio Cheat Codes (QRO photos at a festival) come to Tecate P’al Norte off the international success of hit single “Sex” (which samples Salt-n-Pepa’s 1991 classic “Let’s Talk About Sex”).
DLD, 17:45 – 18:30 Mexico City alt-rock act DLD (it’s pronounced “dildo”) celebrate their twentieth year as they return to P’al Norte.
Also: Costera, 16:35 – 17:05
Escenario AT&T Stage Gondwana, 01:05 – 02:00 You know that reggae from Chile, like Gondwana, is going to be extra spicy, as they return to P’al Norte.
Sebastián Yatra, 22:45 – 23:45 Sebastián Yatra brings his Colombian reggaeton Latin pop to P’al Norte, behind hit single “Traicionera”.
Band of Horses, 20:35 – 21:35 Before the current, unceasing wave of alt-country, there was Seattle’s Band of Horses (QRO live review), who broke through with debut Everything All the Time and “Funeral” in 2006. While guitarist/co-founder Matt Brooke left after that for Grand Archives, singer/guitarist Ben Bridwell kept on the trail, with the following year’s Cease to Begin (QRO review). Band of Horses (QRO photos at a festival) dropped a little off the radar following that, but came back (QRO live review) in 2010 with Infinite Arms (QRO review), a more polished record in ways good & bad, but picked it up in 2012 with Mirage Rock (QRO review) and 2016’s Why Are You OK (QRO review), and are riding (QRO live review) from festival (QRO photos at a festival) to festival (QRO photos at a festival).
Richard Ashcroft, 18:30 – 19:30 One of the most important, and best-selling, British rock acts of the nineties was The Verve, and its frontman was Richard Ashcroft (QRO photos in the U.K.). While the group dissolved at the height of their fame, Ashcroft (QRO photos) and his impressive voice kept going (even after losing a lawsuit over Verve hit “Bittersweet Symphony” to the aged Rolling Stones). The Verve reunited a decade ago for Forth (QRO review), but split again. Ashcroft (QRO photos) has returned to his solo work, most recently with 2016’s These People.
The Last Internationale, 17:05 – 17:45 New Yorkers The Last Internationale (QRO photos) bring their politically charged rock to this international festival. Also: La Toma, 16:05 – 16:35
Club Social Gryffin, 01:00 – 02:30 Remix master Dan Griffith comes to Tecate P’al Norte as Gryffin.
Mike Perry, 23:30 – 01:00 From cold Sweden to hot Mexico comes hit DJ Mike Perry, with his tropical house, as he heads across “The Ocean”.
SNBRN, 22:15 – 23:30 Future House EDM hits Monterrey with Kevin Andrew Chapman, a.k.a. SNBRN.
Also: Lauren Lane, 21:15 – 22:15 Ghetto Kids, 20:15 – 21:15 Gil Montiel, 19:25 – 20:15 Noise Cans, 18:35 – 19:25 Israel Torres, 17:50 – 18:35 MAWBB, 17:10 – 17:50 Nurrydog, 16:35 – 17:10 Leon Leiden, 16:00 – 16:35
Escenario Acústico Stage Javier Blake, 21:45 – 22:15 Volován, 19:45 – 20:25

SATURDAY, APRIL 21st

Tecate Light Stage Molotov, 00:35 – 01:50 Mixing rap and rock, Spanish and English, is Mexico’s Molotov, who bring their rhymes & riffs back to P’al Norte for a third time.
Queens of the Stone Age, 22:20 – 23:35 After the dissolution of the hard rock Kyuss, singer/guitarist Josh Homme formed what today might be the biggest ‘stoner rock’ band in the world, The Queens of the Stone Age (QRO photos at a festival). This is the kind of band that can put Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl back on skins, get contributions from Screaming Trees’ Mark Lanegan & Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, and more. Maybe no record has matched Songs For the Deaf, but 2013’s …Like Clockwork (QRO review) has come the closest. They come to headline Tecate P’al Norte after recovering from injury – and the release of their latest, Villains (QRO review).
Bunbury, 20:20 – 21:30 The most international star of Rock en Español, Spain’s Enrique Bunbury first came up fronting Héroes del Silencio in the nineties, then his own solo career in this century/millennium, incorporating everything from electronics to Middle Eastern music into his Latin rock. He returns to P’al Norte for a third time, behind last year’s Expectativas.
Don Diablo, 18:30 – 19:30 From Coevorden in the Netherlands comes progressive house DJ Don Diablo.
Enjambre, 16:50 – 17:50 Cali-Mex alt-rock group Enjambre head south as they play P’al Norte for a third time, behind last year’s Imperfecto Extraño.
El Gran Silencio, 15:10 – 16:10 Mixing rock, reggae, dance hall, hip-hop, cumbia, valienato, Norteño & more, Monterrey’s own El Gran Silencio give voice to the barrios, as they return to P’al Norte.
La Vida Bohéme, 13:55 – 14:40 Caracas post-punk revival artists La Vida Bohéme are a hit in Venezuela – as well as on video games like FIFA and Grand Theft Auto.
Elsa y Elmar, 12:55 – 13:25 Winner of the 2014 John Lennon Songwriting Contest, Columbia’s Elsa y Elmar heads north to Mexico.
Tecate Original Stage Justice, 23:50 – 01:10 One of the biggest breakouts in the dance-rock craze of last decade has been France’s Justice (QRO photos at a festival), who followed up smash 2007 debut † with 2011’s Audio, Video, Disco and 2016’s Woman, as well as expanding their live show (QRO photos), including at festivals (QRO photos at a festival).
Panteón Rococó, 21:40 – 22:50 Get some salsa ska in Mexico City’s Panteon Rococo, who’ve been at it since the ska boom of the nineties.
Also: Farruko, 19:40 – 20:40 Morat, 17:30 – 18:30 Nothing But Thieves, 16:00 – 16:45 Comisario Pantera, 14:40 – 15:20 Los De Abajo, 13:30 – 14:05 CHDKF, 12:30 – 12:55
Escenario AT&T Stage Bersuit Vergarabat, 01:10 – 02:00 Bersuit Vergarabat bring Buenos Aires Rock en Español to Monterrey – including their signature mental institution pajamas.
Zona Ganjah, 22:50 – 23:45 La ZG bring Caribbean ganjah with Chilean spice.
Miranda!, 20:40 – 21:30 Argentine electro-pop comes to Monterrey in the form of Miranda! – don’t forget that exclamation point!
División Minúscula, 18:30 – 19:30 From Mexico’s northeast corner, just south of the tip of Texas in Matamoros, División Minúscula return with their desert rock back to P’al Norte.
Monsieur Periné, 16:45 – 17:30 The Afro-Colombian, French-influenced, Spanish/English/French/Portuguese singing ensemble Monsieur Periné have their own worldly “gypsy-swing” style.
Also: Paté De Fua, 15:20 – 16:00 Izal, 14:05 – 14:40 Sabino, 13:00 – 13:30
Club Social Stage Autograf, 01:15 – 02:30 Chicago remix experts Autograf come to Monterrey.
Jillionaire, 00:00 – 01:15 While probably best known for his work with Diplo in Major Lazer (QRO photos at a festival), Trinidad’s Jillionaire can spin all on his own.
The Knocks, 23:00 – 00:00 Electronic duo Ben ‘B-Roc’ Ruttner and James ‘JPatt’ Patterson form The Knocks (QRO photos at a festival).
Also: Win & Woo, 22:00 – 23:00 MADDS, 21:00 – 22:00 Future Feelings, 20:05 – 21:00 Lujavo, 19:15 – 20:05 Isle Hendrix, 18:25 – 19:15 Marcelo Gamboa, 17:35 – 18:25 BRONCOWAVE, 17:05 – 17:35 Fancy Folks, 16:15 – 17:05 Ambroz, 15:25 – 16:15 Chelsea Leyland, 14:40 – 15:25 Armi Diamonds, 14:00 – 14:40 Anthon Dunix, 13:20 – 14:00

For festival website, go here: https://www.palnorte.com.mx/