On June 30, Mexican rock bands Café Tacvba and Caifanes concluded their 2024 North America tour in Indianapolis with a concert at Everwise Amphitheater at White River State Park.
With costume changes referencing the many eras of Café Tacvba — including the most recent monarch butterfly orange suit and the breast t-shirt from the 1995 MTV Unplugged album — lead singer Rubén Albarrán sang, blessed the water of Indianapolis and its animals and burned sage onstage. The band also performed “La Bas(e),” an anthem for immigrants that was released in May 2024.
As the sun set and the crowd grew, Caifanes played a set that covered hits from its four studio albums and included a cover of a song by Mexican music legend Juan Gabriel, who died in 2016.
After the encore, when concertgoers thought the show was over, both bands came back out to the stage and performed “Pachuco,” a song that pays homage to youth rebellion as a rite of passage, originally played by Mexican rock band La Maldita Vecindad in the ‘90s. The song proved its endurance and relevance in a crowd made up of Latines of various origins and generations.
While both bands gained their popularity in Mexico and Latin America in the late ‘80s and ‘90s, Café Tacvba has continued to release studio albums. This was the first time they toured together in Indianapolis.
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