Top Latin bands are putting on a free concert in Phoenix this weekend. Here's how to attend
Four Latino bands are coming to Phoenix to throw a free concert encouraging people to vote in the upcoming midterm elections.
The concert at Ak-Chin Pavilion will feature Chicano Batman, La Santa Cecilia, La Sonora Dinamita and Orkesta Mendoza.
It’s part of Chicanos por la Causa’s Latino Loud voter campaign. A $10 million investment, the campaign has included door-to-door visits, speaking at events, sending direct mail and advertising on digital media.
“We are trying to increase voter participation and voter engagement. The mission of CPLC is to empower lives,” said Max Gonzalez, executive vice president of Chicanos por la Causa.
“There’s no greater way to empower communities than by encouraging them to vote. We are doing everything we can to remind people to get out and vote. As we get closer to the polls we asked, 'What big blowout event can we do?' That’s when the idea came and we said, ‘Let’s do a concert.’”
More: Arizona primary voters set a new turnout record, fueled by early voting
How the free Latino Loud concert came about
The goal of the Latino Loud campaign is to increase voter participation by more than 50,000 votes in Arizona for the 2022 midterm election on Nov. 8.
Voter data released by CPLC showed that more than 156,000 Latinos in Arizona cast a ballot in Arizona’s primary election, an increase of 30,000 voters from the last midterm primary election in 2018.
"Policymakers cannot ignore a large group that is engaged,” Gonzales said. "This is not just an exercise in futility. Voting is something that really adds value to the overall well-being of one's community.”
CPLC started in 1969 with a vision to advocate for Latin American communities across Arizona. Its efforts are far and wide.
Since the start of the pandemic, CPLC has served more than 2.1 million people across the Southwest with offices in Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, California and Texas. The organization helps meet the needs of the Hispanic community in five ways: health and human services, housing, education, economic development and advocacy.
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Using the arts to communicate a message
More recently, the organization invested $1.75 million in the Arizona-created "¡Americano!" musical which opened off-Broadway in New York in April 2021.
The organization has used several traditional avenues for advocacy, Gonzales said. The arts have become its newest way to invest in the Latino communities.
“Reaching the community through the arts is a different avenue," he said. "It allows us to communicate with people in different ways. Our investment in '¡Americano!' is no different than this concert. It’s simply using the arts to be able to communicate a very important message.”
The story behind “¡Americano!”: 'This could be the next 'In the Heights'
Why La Santa Cecilia is performing at Latin Loud
Pepe Carlos is a member of La Santa Cecilia, a Latin Grammy Award-winning band based in Los Angeles. He came to the United States when he was 6. He was undocumented for 27 years.
“As brown people, being on stage shows a lot,” Carlos said. “A lot of people think we aren’t supposed to be doing this music or being on stage. Being present through our music and living our dreams gives power to our community.”
La Santa Cecilia, composed of Carlos, La Marisoul, Alex Bendana and Miguel “Oso” Ramirez, has been together for 15 years. Their music is a blend of cumbia, bolero, jazz, bossa-nova, tango, rumba and klezmer.
They came together to blend their musical backgrounds of traditional bolero, salsa, funk, rock and jazz. The band shared a love for traditional Latin American and Mexican music.
“We united,” Ramirez said. “We got together to make music but we also got together to dream.”
Other bands performing at the event include Chicano Batman, La Sonora Dinamita and Orkesta Mendoza. Their musical styles encompass tropicália, West Coast psychedelia, soul, mambo, ranchera, cumbia and indie rock, among other genres.
'We are stronger and closer than ever'
Since La Santa Cecilia started, its advocacy for the Latino immigrant community has stretched from free concerts in the West to workshops for children in Milwaukee to playing at protests fighting for immigrant rights in Washington, D.C.
“It’s not easy,” La Marisoul said. “It’s a fight that you never see an end to. But, even though I get upset and it’s heartbreaking, we can’t stop, we won’t stop. We can’t stop telling our stories for our brothers and sisters. We are stronger and closer than ever now.
"There’s a saying, ‘te ver da ganas,’ which means, ‘to see is to want.' I hope that we can share that message with people and pump them up to get out there and vote and gather around as a community and decide, “What do we need as a community?” What are we fighting for together?”
More: New poll shows Arizona voters believe in the election system
Chicanos por la Causa Latino Loud concert
When: Saturday, Oct. 29. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. The concert begins at 7.
Where: Ak-Chin Pavilion, 2121 N. 83rd Ave., Phoenix.
Admission: Free. No tickets required.
Details: https://cplc.org/events.php.
Reach the reporter at sofia.krusmark@gannett.com. Follow her on Instagram @sofia.krusmark.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Free concert in Phoenix: Chicano Batman, La Santa Cecilia
