Coachella 2022: Grupo Firme lights up the stage with Mexican banda

It didn't matter if festivalgoers were near or far from the Coachella Stage when Grupo Firme began playing Friday — as if on cue, people grabbed a dancing partner or went at it solo, jumping up and down to the beat. It's a typical side effect of Mexican banda, but I had never seen it in this capacity.

Grupo Firme made history at Coachella this year, becoming the first banda ensemble to ever play the globally-known festival. It's an attestation to not only the different genres Coachella keeps booking every year, but the group's tremendous talent and stage presence.

Quite literally, Grupo Firme lit up the stage on the opening day of Weekend 2, with intermittent fireworks and lights in green, white and red in a nod to the Mexican flag. "Tonight is a special night because we can uplift our beautiful Mexico," said one of the group's singers, Eduin Caz, who hails from the Mexican city of Culiacán.

The crowd kept the party going with "La Cajetosa" and swayed along to the band's hit "El Tóxico." They LOST IT at the first beat of "Cada Vez Te Extra?o Mas" and welcomed the band's cover of Karol G's hit "Tusa."

Seeing some of the members' wild outfits and colorful hair, you'd expect them to incorporate trap or reggaeton sounds at any moment. But although the members of Grupo Firme are young (most of them are in their 20s), they stick to the traditional sounds of banda, belting songs of love, heartbreak and liquor.

The seven-member group arrived to the Coachella stage fresh off of two Latin AMA wins in Las Vegas earlier in the week. In 2021, the band won its first Latin Grammy for Best Banda Album when up against legends in the genre, including Banda El Recodo.

Grupo Firme had also just received a key to the City of Coachella earlier in the day. “The story behind Grupo Firme aligns so closely with our community. They come from very humble origins, but through hard work and determination have been able to soar to incredible levels of success, which resonates with many of our residents,” Mayor Steven Hernandez said of the band.

The group made sure not just Mexican Americans, but all Latinos felt represented at Coachella, bringing out gigantic flags of Venezuela, Argentina and even the singer Becky G, waving the Mexican flag. Halfway through the show, the musicians also proudly presented an LGBTQ flag on the stage.

Unsurprisingly, the band left the viral hit “Ya Supérame" toward the end of the set and closed with "Gracias." But the crowd, myself included, was happy to wait.

Eliana Perez covers the eastern Coachella Valley, including the cities of Indio and Coachella. Reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter @ElianaPress.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Coachella 2022: Grupo Firme lights up stage with Mexican banda