One El Paso block party will be bringing in groups from San Francisco, Austin and Brooklyn as well as local artists such as Chuy Vuitton and Rico Ferri.
Mother of Pearl, a vinyl record store located at 4935 Mesa, will be having their block party event on Saturday, Sept. 12 from noon to midnight at Union Plaza in downtown El Paso.
The event will feature live performances from Neon Indian, Part Time and Mike Jones. Eddie Cepeda, owner of Mother of Pearl, said they got the inspiration to do an event like this after having success in Austin.
“The block party was something we thought about after having our extremely successfully South by Southwest party in Austin,” Cepeda said. “We wanted to do something free, like the best parties at South by Southwest, but in El Paso, and we wanted to have legitimate national headliners, but also showcase local artists who are just as professional and amazing.”
In the future, Cepeda hopes the block party will continue to grow and become an event similar to music festivals like South by Southwest.
“We want this to grow into a weeklong type of event, which will include music seminars, film and will encompass all of downtown, kind of like El Paso’s unique version of South by Southwest,” Cepeda said. “We want families to be welcomed as well.”
Dereck Neyland, junior marketing major, is attending the event to experience something new in El Paso’s music scene.
“The event sounds interesting and new for El Paso,” Neyland said. “It’s a new atmosphere that I don’t think El Paso has really experienced.”
Neyland said he believes events like this strengthen El Paso’s music scene by bringing in people from out of town and giving El Paso a new taste of music it may not experience otherwise.
“It’ll improve the variety of music and places to listen to it,” Neyland said. “Also it pushes the good local music we have out there.”
Davida Loca, member of the San Francisco-based band Part Time said audiences can expect different things from their music.
“Audiences can expect mixed feelings as to whether or not there might be more to life than drinking Monster energy drinks and smoking vaporized cigarettes,” Loca said.
In addition to the block party, the owners of Mother of Pearl have had a lot of on their plate. Recently, they opened a bar to expand their music horizons.
“The bar is really great. We opened the kind of bar you would expect from a vinyl record store,” Cepeda said. “It’s called Love Buzz and has a ‘60s and midcentury modern aesthetic with a giant patio, vintage jukebox that only plays records and two permanent food trucks, which are coming soon and will sell tacos and authentic Texas-style slow-smoked brisket.”
The owners of Mother of Pearl plan to continue expanding their horizons by hosting other events and participating in South by Southwest again.
“The future holds a lot of amazing stuff for the store and record label,” Cepeda said. “South by Southwest is around the corner and of course we are going to do that again, with free Chico’s Tacos like last time.”
To attend the Mother of Pearl Block Party, RSVP for free through Eventbrite. Walkups are welcome, but may have to wait in line if the event is at full capacity. VIP tickets are for sale for $45, which allows for avoiding the entrance lines, in-and-out access, access to two main-stage viewing areas and The Garden’s Sunburst VIP Party and five complimentary drinks. For more information about Mother of Pearl, call 915-803-9580.
Julia Hettiger may be reached at [email protected]
