Maná puts Festival La Onda on the map
EDITOR’S NOTE: SFMusica’s Julio Lara contributed to the San Francisco Chronicle’s coverage of Festival La Onda. Below is his full review of Sunday’s performance.
Maná, the iconic Mexican pop rock band, has roots dating back to 1981 when they were known as Sombrero Verde before officially becoming Maná in 1987.
They’ve sold out arenas and stadiums. Headlining festivals isn’t new to them. They’ve set domestic and international capacity records. Every time the band hits the road, you can read stories of them accomplishing feats no other Latino band ever has. They’ve been rolling this way for more than 40 years.
And yet, after successful showings in Napa during the BottleRock Festival and Festival La Onda, they’ve yet again done something no other Latin band has ever done — headline an anglo-booked card and a latino-booked one in back-to-back weeks.
Forty years in and the quartet from Guadalajara, Mexico continues to operate in a whole other stratosphere.
Because there is a world where, when the lineup for the inaugural Festival La Onda dropped and people saw Maná at the top of the billing, some people thought “eh, I’ve seen them once, I’ve seen them a thousand times,” or “weren’t they just at BottleRock? Why would I see them again?”
But credit the organizers of Festival La Onda who blocked out that noise and instead knew one very important thing about creating their inaugural lineup: If you want to be considered a serious Latino music festival, you have to book a serious band to headline.
And judging by the size of the crowd at the La Onda stage, Maná is still, 40 years into their careers, the most serious band out there.
It was a watershed weekend for the legends of pop rock as they culminated a two-week festival stay in Napa. They performed near the top of the billing for last weekend’s BottleRock festival and by most accounts gave a transcendent performance on Day 2.
But unlike their 5:45 p.m. booking for BottleRock that was followed by Pearl Jam, there was no question who the masses had come to see at La Onda, with the spotlight and crowd the biggest for Maná on the festival’s final day despite some more modern, ultra popular acts at the top of the bill in Fuerza Regida and Junior H and other legends of Latin music like Alejandro Fernandez sharing the same sized-font on the poster.
The true beauty of it all is that there were no surprises to the Maná set to close out the festival. There never are any surprises. The formula Maná used at La Onda is the same they’ve been using for decades — simply play smash hit after smash hit that crashes like waves of nostalgia for the sea of adoring fans.
“Manda una señal?” Check.
“Corazón Espinado?” Check.
“Oye Mi Amor.” Of course.
“Mariposa Traicionera” sung by thousands to fill the night sky? Absolutely.
And there lies Maná’s super power, their gift: their music transcends time like no Latin band in history. Maná hasn’t dropped new music since 2015’s “Cama Incendiada” and the songs mentioned above date back to 1992. On Sunday, Maná even dipped into songs from 1990’s “Falta Amor” — their second studio album.
Yet somehow, the old feels brand new. It’s not that Maná hits different every time. But they hit like the first time every time. There is no other way to explain it.
While the crowd filled about half of the grounds at the La Onda stage to begin their set, some 20 minutes in, the mass of people flocking over from the Verizon Stage where the more hip, more modern, Fuerza Regida was performing to catch Maná perform was noticeable. It didn’t take very long after that for the entire field to fill to capacity.
By the time the bass riff for “Me Vale” hit, the crowd was shoulder-to-shoulder. It stayed that way until 9:35 p.m. when Maná stopped playing.
Maná’s successful run in back-to-back weeks, but especially at Festival La Onda, must have been music to Latitude 38’s ears. So much so that no more than 30 minutes after Maná finished their set, tickets went on sale for Festival La Onda in 2025.
Talk about accomplishing feats never done before by other Latino bands. You can now add “put Festival La Onda firmly on the map” to Maná’s resume.
Yahritza y Su Esencia shines bright at La Onda
By Natalie Garcia
In a genre saturated with male voices in the compa culture corrido scene, it is refreshing to see and hear a young woman with excellent vocals, who doesn't shy away from her own compa shout outs, singing corridos.
On Sunday afternoon at La Onda’s Verizon Stage, Yahritza y Su Esencia put together a beautiful set and experience for festivalgoers.
Yahritza’s brothers as guitarists played simple yet crisp notes that complemented her powerful voice, punching the scene with her effortless soprano notes. Yaritzia's youthful energy was contagious — throughout her set, she was dancing and bouncing around the stage, creating a baile atmosphere, zapateado and all, at La Onda.
Yahritza’s confidence and maturity left many seasoned concert goers impressed. At just 16 years old, she has music writing, instrument playing, and awards under her belt.
Yahritza leads with humility despite her band’s quick rise to fame — this humility is apparent when twice during her performance she shouted out her family, specifically her "Ma and Pa" in the audience who came out to see her.
Yahritza reminds us that this new generation of artists wants to continue the beautiful legacy that is our música by sharing their moments on stage with Los clásicos. Her rendition of "Tu Cárcel" by Los Bukis and "Asi Fue" by the late Juan Gabriel got the crowd singing in unison, reminding us of the songs we grew up listening with our parents.
Her presence in the corrido scene is significant for representation as she belts out in a love song: "Hoy pierdo a la reina de mis fantasías." She is unapologetically her and her fans were there to dance in this inclusivity.
At the peak of her set, Yahritza was presented with a plaque on stage for selling a million records for the song “Frágil” with Grupo Frontera and she immediately dedicated the recognition to her fans.
Not too long ago, the band was discovered on Tik Tok, simply jamming in their home and fast forward a year later, they were now singing in front of thousands.
We are excited to see where this young group goes and how they will trailblaze for other young artists. They are authentically Mexicano — regardless of their birth place, because la música y el corazón no ve ni siente fronteras.
Festival La Onda: Day 2
We’re super excited to be attending La Onda in Napa California. The list of artists is impressive for a first time festival, with Mana, Alejandro Fernandez, Fuerza Regida and Junior H getting top billing. Follow us for updates throughout Sunday.
4:45 pm
Yartiza y Su Esencia
In a genre that is saturated with male voices in the compa culture, it is refreshing to dee and hear a woman with excellent vocals, who doesn't scantily dress nor shy away from her own compa shout outs, to be seen, singing corridos. Her male guitarists' crisp notes complement her voice and energy. She invited her audience to dance un zapateado and was seen bouncing around the stage energizing her audience with a good old baile.
She punched the scene with her effortless soprano notes. Her humbleness was very apparent--At two distinct points she shouted out to her family, especially her "Ma and pa" who came out to see her. Her rendition of "Mi Cárcel" by Los Bukis and "Asi Fue" by Juan Gabriel got the crowd all singing, reminding us of the songs we grew up listening to with our parents. Her set was a perfect example of how the new generation can continue old music traditions by bringing them to life on stage and sharing their limelight with Los clásicos. Her presence in the corrido scene is significant to representation as she belts out in a love song: "Hoy pierdo a la reina de mis fantasías." She is unapologetically her and the audience is here to dance with her in this energy.
At the peak of her set, she was presented with a plaque on stage for selling a million records of the song Frágil with Grupo Firme and she immediately dedicated the recognition to her fans. She followed after her acknowledgment with singingFrágil alongside her fans.
La Maldita Vecindad
(More to come)
Festival La Onda: Day 1
La Onda is finally here! Follow SFMusica.com for updates throughout the weekend.
We’re super excited to be attending La Onda in Napa California. The list of artists is impressive for a first time festival, with Mana, Alejandro Fernandez, Fuerza Regida and Junior H getting top billing. Follow us for updates throughout Saturday.
SFMusica’s Top 5 La Onda sets (Saturday):
Eden Muñoz
La Arrolladora de Limón
Farruko
Alejandro Fernández
Junior H
7:45 pm
La Arrolladora Banda El Limón was not afraid to be one with the crowd -- the lead singers not only singing on the sides and in the crowd but on the railings to give their fans more access points to pictures and waves. The whole set felt more like a Despedida de Solteras as the leads continuously shouted out the full spectrum of ladies present--princesas, mujeres más hermonsas, las que Mandan en sus casas, y a las tóxicas. Included in the "Magic Mike" moments were a handful of hip gyrations, kisses and hearts to the camera that kept the fans cheering.
But what stole the limelight aside from the lightheartedness were the dynamic vocals and the talented musicianship. La Arrolladora Banda El Limón had the whole package.
4:30 pm
Ximena and Yvng Lvcas
We were enthusiastic about listening to Ximena but her lack of energy on stage spilled over on the crowd. Some calling her "la novelera," slowly many left and others were heard saying "I just want to hear that one song." We gave her three songs worth but the the lackluster vibe was not enough to keep us under the heat so we went to catch the end of yvng lvcas and caught his infamous song "baile hasta abajo la bebe" there the crowd was hyped and having a good time. We got the boost of energy we needed!
Eden Munoz was what La Onda needed to start the party in Napa! The banda sounded excellent and all we could see was bouncing hats throughout the crowd in sync with the music. His band was energetic and live, was a nice treat to help us through the sweltering heat. Eden reminded the crowd this was a safe space to have fun and that there would be no bullying here. He played a roulette game that would direct him to what song he would sing from other artists. He ended this sampling of other artists with a Selena's "Amor Prohibido" that reminded us all how much music unites us.
12:10 am
Here’s a look at who we’ll be watching when we get into the festival.
12:55 Josh Favela (Verizon Stage)
02:15 Yng Lvcas (La Onda Stage)
03:55 Eden Muñoz (Verizon Stage)
05:25 La Arrolladora (Verizon Stage)
06:45 Farruko (La Onda Stage)
08:15 Junior H (La Onda Stage)
… and if we get lucky, we’ll catch the tail end of …
08:45 Alejandro Fernandez (Verizon Stage)