2004 Verizon Music Festival

Latin Beat Magazine, Sept, 2004 by Rudy Mangual

Once again, summertime in Los Angeles was the perfect season for numerous outdoor festivals, concerts and tour stops for some of the hottest musical acts in the business. Industry news is reporting that high-ticket prices for concerts have caused many artists to cancel festivals and concerts due to lackluster sales, but there are still some events that come through with reasonably priced tickets.

This year's 2004 Verizon Music Festival brought us the salsa talents of Victor Manuelle plus local favorites Son Mayor. The salsa heartthrob performed selections from his latest productions, making use of the full spectrum of Latin rhythms such as the bolero, danzón, mambo, guaguancó and of course, his fiery salsa. The sold-out audience of about a thousand salsa aficionados at the world famous Queen Mary in Long Beach put on a show themselves with a dance frenzy that Manuelle kept feeding off of and giving back. The day before, as part of this year's Verizon Music Festival, superstar sensation Jewel gave a solo acoustic concert at Disney's Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles, also to a full house.