GatoFest 2018 HUGE success!

Gato Fest is an annual festival put on by Felix y Los Gatos featuring some of NM’s hottest local bands with many guest appearances as well as some of NM’s hottest vendors. A more eclectic crowd than the previous years, 2018 ‘s festival opened with singer, songwriter & rustic rogue Gary Blackchild

Blackchild, a solo musician brought a soulful and sincere kick off to this year’s festival followed by the CW Ayon Duo.

CW, who also played as a Duo for the Durango Blues Train in June, is making big waves in the Southwest with his interpretation of deep hill country Blues coupled with razor precision upright bass chops, this duo made for a truly solid stage performance, building up to the 3rd act,

Moonshine Blind

Now this is a band that lives up to its name! If you like your music with an edge, make it a point to go see Moonshine Blind. The Shine boys were the Outlaws of the stage this year with their brand of Irish rockabilly punk which they refer to as “Boozegrass”. Their heavy grit and high energy made for a super fun performance,giving way to the evening’s benefactors,

Felix y Los Gatos.

This year, the Gatos were humbled

to share the evenings stage with Chris Dracup, myself, Chessa Peak,

Darin Goldston of The Memphis P-Tails, Noah Martinez of Lone Pinon, Vicente “The Harp”, Steve Whittman and Joe Coriz to name a few.

The evening was a brutally hot Albuquerque night with a supercharged barrage of eclectic characters and local legends.

In a sea of familiar faces, the evening gifted us the presence of Rudy Boy Jaramillo and percussion maniac Ricardo Sanchez of the Rudy Boy Experiment along with fellow percussionists Arnoldo Acosta & Alfred Alaniz, Christian of Concepto Tambo, Bluegrass man Ridgerunner Fred sporting his legendary hat, JD Sipe & Charlie Brown of the Blues powerhouse The Memphis P-Tails and recently returned home guitar monster Mikey Wright all in the mix of who’s who in the Duke City music scene. The award winning & dear sweet friends Two Stoned Betties decorated the evening along with the hardworking lovelies from Theater Noir, the sharp burque threads of All Chola, as well as Lula Bows, Creations by Coleen, & Duke City Creative representing the interests of the community, event, and evening. All the evenings moments and magic, captured through the photography of Gringo Suave

& videos by Keith Langerman whose artistic eye and dedication to the arts in our community would not have been otherwise captured so gracefully. Our sincerest gratitude for the hard work and amazing space hosted by Rio Bravo Brewery and lastly, to all of you. To every one of you who have followed the Gato’s through out the years. To everyone who we’ve all been high and low with. To everyone who’s been knocked down and keeps getting back up for more. Thank you, for all your love and support, your encouragement and dedication. Thank you for making it all worth it. Keep struttin strong Burque cats, we can’t wait to see you next year! Meow!