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Huichica Music Festival 2021

   


        I was fortunate enough to attend Huichica, a yearly music festival that takes place at Gundlach Bundschu winery in Sonoma, California. Gundlach Bundschu is the oldest family owned winery in California, dating back to the mid 19th century. The venue provided a diverse offering of views of the horizon and the vineyard. It was a warm weekend and I was perpetually trying to find shade when I wasn’t at one of the stages. At night time the trees were lit up with multicolor lights and various vendors would set up selling food or locally made goods.

The trees by the Red Barn Stage lit up at sunset. 

    There were three stages at the event, an amphitheater, a barn and a small outdoor stage. I preferred the barn due to the warm tones that reverberated off of the wood walls. There was also a light show that perpetually shone on the walls and the ceiling. Four projectors, each focused on a glass platter filled with colorful paints shone on the walls and created a psychedelic atmosphere. Colors gyrated around the room, filling it with vibrant hues of the visible spectrum. Rumor has it that the operator of this light show used to work for the Grateful Dead at one point. The two bands I enjoyed most in this barn were Whitney and The Entrance Band. Whitney is a soft folk-indie group that sang melancholic tunes for the crowd. They delved into their discography, playing older classics as well as unreleased songs. Nevertheless I was impressed and after the festival I found myself listening to their album Light Upon a Lake every day for a week. I caught a few minutes of LA based folk-rock band Mapache in the Red Barn as well. They played an unreleased track titled “I Love My Dog” and gave a terrific performance to a thoroughly engaged crowd.

    The Entrance Band was a true psychedelic rock experience. Warbled guitar and long solos permeated throughout the barn, and a healthy amount of natural reverb made the experience all the more enjoyable. The guitarist frequently noodled notes and spun around in a circle, yelling lyrics. The three member band felt large, and the instruments felt like they filled the room with sound as an orchestra would.  



Whitney performing at the Red Barn Stage



Mapache performing at the Red Barn Stage

     Many of the sets I caught were only partial as I bounced from stage to stage to the wine bar back to the stage. But my experience was complete. I had a plethora of conversations about life and music, meeting Sonoma socialites and booth workers attending to concertgoers.  My time between sets was spent fraternizing with passersby and indulging in the cuisines the festival had to offer, and a fair amount of wine. The gewurztraminer was my favorite, a white wine that served as hydration for the weekend. The tin cup that the festival provided to all wristband holders was always filled with the gold liquid.


Not gewurztraminer, craft beer also filled our cups 

    Mac DeMarco rounded out the festival, adorning a green poncho to perform at the amphitheater. He played his hits as well as cuts from his 2019 album Here Comes the Cowboy. His goofy persona came out frequently during performance, the crowd laughing along with him between songs.  The crowd sang softly along with Mac, and the smell of cigarettes and clandestine cannabis smoke wafted through the air.  


Mac DeMarco performing at the ampitheater

    Huichica was unlike any festival I had gone to. It felt like a festival, large crowds gathering and moving in unison toward each stage before each set. But it was also extremely intimate, I was able to be close to the stage for almost every performance. Everyone was friendly and wanted to talk about their experience and their favorite songs by each artist.  The two day festival quickly passed, and my camera roll remained mostly empty except for a few sparse pictures shared here. I enjoyed each concert through my own lense, storing my experiences in a bank of hazy memories. I am looking forward to Huichica 2022.