On the second and final day of this year’s Sueños Music Festival in Grant Park, fans showed up wearing cowboy hats, boots and Mexican flags. Sunday is all about Mexico, with performances from Becky G, Junior H and headliner Grupo Firme — who will be backed by an ensemble of at least a dozen brass and percussion instruments.
Crowds were already huge early in the day as they waited under partly cloudy skies for the opening performances by Chicagoan DJ Chava and Puerto Rican rapper Chanell.
Fans continued to enjoy food and drinks from Latino spots from all around Chicago while Benny the Bull, the Chicago Bulls mascot, made his rounds around the festival grounds.
Here are highlights from the second day of Sueños Music Festival:
Becky G
Fans packed in from end to end of Grant Park, pushing and shoving each other for a glimpse of one of Latin music’s most versatile artists. Becky G is able to dip into multiple genres, including American pop (see: “Shower”), Latin pop and regional Mexican music. Almost everyone has heard her on the radio, either in English or Spanish.
Introduced by a funky bass guitar, Becky G dove into “Mayores” as she appeared on stage. Backed by a band full of brass and strings, all of the songs performed by the 26-year-old California native were full of guitar riffs.
The singer performed some of her most popular songs, including “Cuando Te Besé,” “Sin Pijama,” and “MAMIII.”
“I feel really proud of being here,” she told the crowd in Spanish. After taking the time to point out all of the Mexican, Colombian and Venezuelan flags (a few of the many countries represented today), Becky G reminded fans that this Latino unity “is what it’s all about.”
Then, she took it back to her roots. Immediately after Becky G gulped a shot of tequila from a red Solo cup, a tuba began pumping out notes to begin “Ya Acabó,” a song she worked on with Marca MP, another regional Mexican group.
The energy was lively as she and her band seamlessly transitioned from the sounds of regional Mexican music into “Arranca,” a song with a merengue sound featuring Dominican singer Omega.
Eladio Carrión
A lot of fans stood around for the Kansas City-born rapper with roots in Humacao, Puerto Rico. Eladio Carrión, 28, has been making music since 2015 — a time when plenty of artists from Latin America were emerging onto the Latin trap and neo-reggaetón scene.
He stepped out on the Sueños stage wearing Gucci from head to toe. While Carrión is well-known in the Caribbean, fans on Sunday seemed to be unaware of his discography. The energy was a bit dull, and the artist had to rely on tracks that were dominated by his peers in the industry, like Karol G and Brytiago, to ramp up the enthusiasm.
The biggest pops Carrión got were when he performed “Coco Chanel” and “Kemba Walker” (an appropriate choice as the Celtics and Heat head into Game 7 on Monday), which are both collaborations with Bad Bunny.
He did, however, show off his vocals by going a capella on “Hola Como Vas.” Carrión held out his microphone to let fans finish the lyrics, but there wasn’t much noise being made.
This performance at Sueños is another stop on Eladio Carrión’s tour, which will culminate in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
He closed out his set with the 4K version of “Sin Condón” with El Alfa (who performed Saturday) to a little bit more energy as DJ Freddy Fresco transitioned back in and began to prime fans for Becky G.
Young Miko
Part of a new wave of Latin trap music, Young Miko is one of the first openly lesbian artists — and certainly one of the most popular — in the genre. The 24-year-old Puerto Rican rapper from Añasco made many of her female fans swoon, some even shouting “Kiss me!” as she sang into a rainbow mic.
Miko teased her fans by winking and flirting with them as she sang, Miko teased her fans by winking and flirting with them as she sang, and happily accepted a bundle of flowers from one affectionate fan. The crowd seemed to know every lyric to every song, especially “Bi,” off last year’s “Trap Kitty” album, and “Lisa,” a single from March about the singer’s affinity for all types of women.
For having a set so early in the day at 1:10 p.m., Young Miko attracted a huge crowd. She’s a great performer and brought the energy by bouncing all over the stage. The artist seems to be the same person she is in her music videos and on social media: DJ Freddy Fresco, the festival’s official DJ, announced that she’d be making her way around the festival to connect with more fans.
She was dressed in an oversized Betty Boop t-shirt, ripped jeans, and a pair of all-wheat Air Force 1s that look similar to Timberland boots — defining her usual tomboyish style. Fans, especially girls, continued to vocalize how weak in the knees she made them feel.
She closed out her set with “Classy 101” while hoisting a pride flag, signaling a new era of acceptance and visibility for LGBTQ+ artists in the scene.
