La Onda‘s first year was the best festival of 2024, so I have high expectations for 2025. As the younger sister to BottleRock, La Onda offers two days of Latin music – from Spotify’s Billions Club members to legacy acts my mother-in-law adores. And my personal favorite, up & comers.
I dug through the 50+ musicians performing and picked six to spotlight. At the top of the list is Edgar Alejandro, who I met at SXSW this year. He was beyond the best singer there. I’ve also been waiting to see Reyna Tropical live. She keeps popping up on playlists the past two years. The four others I’ve only discovered over the past few months, but I’m looking forward to seeing them in person as much.
My two favorite live performances of 2024 were Mon Laferte at Festival La Onda (BottleRock’s sister festival) and Jalen Ngonda at The Swedish American Music Hall. This year both are playing BottleRock.
BottleRock’s lineup is very well spread out through the three-day weekend. I’m only going Friday, so if you caught my hint in the previous sentence, I’ll only get to see one of them. Fortunately, I’m all in on Mon Laferte. Jalen Ngonda, you will be missed (by me).
Make sure to catch some of my favorite fellow Fridayers: BALTHVS, Remi Wolf, Spiritual Cramp, Sublime and 18 other acts below. Hope to see you there!
Mill Valley Music Festival has been a go-to for its intimate charm and consistent selection of soul. 2025 marked its fifth year running and my fourth time going. My top three shows have been Thee Sacred Souls in 2024, La Doña in 2022, and Durand Jones in 2023, but they had some hefty competition this year.
Sunday was packed with soul— Thee Sinseers & Monoponics with their retro style, Sister Nancy with her dancehall reggae, and Nile Rodgers hit melody after hit melody with Chic and beyond. Still, the weekend’s best performance came the day before.
It took 13 years to hear Gary Clark Jr from when I first posted about him. It was well worth the wait. His voice topped the weekend, and his guitar playing rivaled Nile’s. Watch my favorite song from his set below, particularly starting @ 3:44!