By Brian Argabright
The 830 Times
Under a clear Texas sky and a soothing evening breeze, the annual Noches Musicales returned to Del Rio, greeted by more than a hundred live music aficionados.
The annual summer music series, hosted by La Casa de la Cultura, kicked off its 12th year of live performances Friday with a show by San Antonio’s Bandango de Rick Vasquez. The free concert welcomed folks of all ages to the historic Brown Plaza in South Del Rio as lawn chairs of every size encircled the red-tiled public square and still left plenty of room for people who wanted to get out of their seats and dance the night away.
And that’s just what several couples did as the band’s mix of Tejano, funk, country and pop songs kept everyone entertained for nearly three hours. The music varied from Johnny Lee’s “Lookin’ for Love” to the Commodores’ “Easy” to the Vicente Fernandez classic “Volver Volver,” as well as many other songs.
Bandango’s performance was the first of 10 scheduled for the Noches Musicales series, which was created under the direction of the Casa and funded through a variety of grants and donations from the Texas Commission on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, Art Works, the United Way of Val Verde county, Southern Powered, Val Verde County, the City of Del Rio and Friends of the Casa.
This Friday, local band Conjunto Mi Rey takes center stage. A longtime part of Del Rio’s music scene, the band is powered by the sound of an enthusiastic and emphatic accordion that helps drive a variety of traditional Spanish language songs as well as some original takes on classic songs.
The performance is slated to begin at 8:30 p.m. and continue until around 11 p.m. Attendees can bring their own chairs and beverages, but there will also be a limited number of seats available as well as vendors lined around the plaza selling food and drinks.
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