Some reluctantly forked over the $7 for admission to SombreroFest and winced when they learned that the price for a beer was $3.50 (seven tickets at 50 cents each), but to be in the midst of the crowds and listen to the sounds coming from the main stage and Big Tent made it worth it.
Big name groups like La Mafia and La Sombra got the crowds dancing in front of the stage while rock and rollers and baby boomers tapped their feet and nodded their heads with the likes of Chris Rivera at the Big Tent.
We hadn't seen Chris in many moons and friends told us that he is working out of the city and came down especially to perform in front of his hometown crowd.
I knew Chris when he used to hang out with my younger brother Joe at our home on Weslaco Road. I was attending Texas Southmost College after returning from the military. The sounds and smells from inside the trailer home where we boys stayed separated from the main house soon attracted them. At the time, Joe Vasquez, a longtime friend, was rooming withe me. Frank Bejarano and other friends used to be regulars and we often checked out silent films (Chaplin, etc) at the TSC library and invited friends over to watch. Joe Vasquez was studying classical guitar at the college and we sat entranced watching six chords and 10 fingers create magic as he plucked through Heitor Villalobos' Five Preludes.
Chris and my brother Joe were frequent guests at some of these gatherings and my brother developed a taste for Jimi Hendrix as, apparently, so did Chris.My brother has since passed away and every time I see Chris I feel a poignancy when I remember their friendship.
Chris was at his best Saturday night as he made his way through the old faves, and his Hendrix renditions just get better with time.
The crowds clapped and cheered after every one of the songs and a few yelled out during the guitar leads. As most of us have been, we heard Chris has been beset by some health issues and we all wish him well. He truly is a community asset. Good luck, bro!
For a city this small, in the forgotten corner of the state and country, we have been blessed with artists. One of those was Henry Lee, who grew up in Brownsville and was weaned on Hendrix, the Who, Beatles, of course, but also a lot of other more esoteric rock and roll acts.
Others who come to mind include Joe Lopez and Jimmy Gonzales and Mazz, Freddie Gomez, Kris Krsitofferson,The Rodriguez Boys and the Brew, the Brown Express, and Juan Tovar y Los Pobres. And who can forget that Narciso Martinez, the creator of conjunto from La Paloma, spent most of his adult life in Brownsville?
Emilio Crixell and his Bluzanos and Lee played at George Ramirez and Ben Neece's Half Moon on Friday, and Al Besteiro and his Connectors did the honors Saturday, this time accompanied by saxophone virtuoso Tomas Ramirez. Ramirez now lives in rural Premont. We wonder what the rancheros must think when they hear the wails blasting through the chaparral and sand bluffs out there.
And, of course, with the Democratic elections just around the corner, there were plenty of political candidates on hand to press the flesh and make a last-minute pitch for votes. Joe Kenney and Yolanda Begum (candidate for JP 2-2) were all smiles. Kenney, owner of the fantastically successful Cobbleheads on Central Blvd., always has a food stand at SombreroFest as he does at the Annual Jazz Festival to promote live music in the city. Philly's loss was our gain.
We didn't stay around to hear all the bands, although we wish we had. But at $3.50 a pop and full of some of the bulging fajita tacos that were sold by the firefighters at their stand soon induced a drowsiness that sent us on our way to the casita. There's always next year.
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