With so many things going around Chicago this past weekend, we truly believe that Ruido Fest was where you needed to be. The first edition of this new festival brought top notch talent from all over the Americas. With headliners Zoé, Molotov, and Cafe Tacvba, Ruido Fest could be considered the Spanish Riot Fest, especially since the fan-favorite Punk Rock festival was backing their Spanish counterparts. The three day festival had amazing food, drinks, and three stages properly named Santo Stage, Demon Stage and Mil Mascaras Stage. If you weren’t at Addams/Medill Park this past weekend, don’t worry, we have our favorite acts listed below along with plenty of pictures of everything else we saw throughout the weekend. Check it out below.
See pictures of everything we saw at Ruido Fest 2015:
Los Romanticos De Zacatecas – These guys are the epitome of awesome! They were on our “Acts To See” and proved us right. from the moment that Los Romanticos De Zacatecas started their set, we knew they were going to give the crowd at the Mil Mascaras Stage nothing but dopeness. Their nonchalant style and down to earth personalities made them a popular act not only on the stage, but also back stage. We were lucky enough to make our way to the VIP section and hung out with them for a bit while kicking back a few drinks with them. Los Romanticos De Zacatecas will definitely be on our radar from now on.
Mexican Dubwiser – We really didn’t know who Mexican Dubwiser was before the festival until we stumbled into their performance at the Santo Stage on Saturday afternoon. Imagine cumbia, soul, and edm mashed up together into one performance. Yeah it was amazing! With accompanying acts like Ozomatli and the ever so lovely Mariel Mariel, their set was amazing and incredibly worth visiting. Make sure to check out the Monterrey act if it they’re ever in a town near you.
Los Rakas – We expected Los Rakas to have a pretty good set. We really got a lot more than we expected. Most hip hop acts are hard to watch nowadays, they walk around the stage and yell at the mic while rapping to the actual song being played, no instrumentals being used, just the actual song. We hate it! Thankfully, Los Rakas came with one of the livest sets we saw on Sunday. They kept the audience involved and went through some of our favorite tracks while keeping a pretty good stage presence. An act like this is pretty hard to find in the hip hop world and we were really thankful to catch their set. Los Rakas made themselves available after their set and we were able to have a conversation with them on the side. Big ups to the Panamanian duo!
Rebel Cats – This band was perhaps the biggest surprise of the whole festival for us and if you saw them live too, you would know that it’s hard to argue against our claim now that these guys are contenders for “best act of Ruido Fest 2015.” The Spanish Rockabilly act packed a lot of punch into their set as they took us back to the 50s not only with their outfits and perfectly grease-coiffed hairdos, but also in their perfectly throwback sound. Rock & Roll never felt so alive, and the crowd responded with the most unlikely of songs to lead to moshing.
Kinky – The Monterrey outfit has long been a fan favorite for their mesh of EDM, Techno, Rock, and a variety of Latin sounds including Cumbia, so their eclectic setlist delivered on all of those. Their set drew a crowd that came ready to groove and they jumped around and danced in what was truly one big party. Plus we have to point out that despite the fact that their set was to end just moments before Sunday headliners Café Tacvba took the stage, there was a huge crowd that was willing to sacrifice a closer spot at the next performance for the sake of keeping the jamming going to tune of a funky accordion and Techno beats.
Café Tacvba – It should come to no one’s surprise that the last band to perform at Ruido Fest provided the crowning moment of the whole thing. The reasons why this band has been so legendary is largely due to a consistently strong discography that’s been churning out hits for over 20 years, but it’s their live shows that make the magic come alive. Their set list included iconic fan-favorites like “La Ingrata,” “Chilanga Banda,” “Eo,” “Como Te Extraño,” and so many others. We moshed, we thrashed, we jumped, we swayed, we loved. It was a wonderful and awesome experience from beginning to end with the band delivering a performance that won’t soon be forgotten. If you needed a reason why this festival must become a yearly thing, look no further than this.
