If you’re a shopper in New Castle, a city in the US state of Delaware, there’s a chance your weekly grocery shopping has been complemented by some live music.
Inspired by the likes of NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts series, the Fiesta Fresh Market recently launched their own Mercadito Sessions, bringing local acts into the shores to perform on the shop floor.
The family-run Mexican grocery store has long held a love for music, with this passion extending down to their children. One of those children, José Luis Aguilar-Garcia, is a label executive, whose focus on Mexican-American artists has seen the worlds music and groceries collide.
“For the longest time, it was hard to find a place that would remind you of home,” Aguilar-Garcia explained in an interview. “The idea is to highlight independent artists and singer songwriters.
“The first time we did it, it was really funny because the customers were very shy to kind of get in, in the way, they looked almost annoyed that we were doing this at the store. But now, because it’s getting more attention online, people are excited. They’ll ask us when we’re doing the next one.”
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The casual, intimate nature of these performances has since gone viral, with acts like Ilusión, WARPHOLE, Operativo JT, Dead Love Triangle, and Community Chapstick taking part in the series. Its success has led to widespread attention, with the store sharing updates about upcoming gigs on their Instagram page – which boasts close to 13k followers.
Of course, the pressing question is, should Australia get behind such an event?
While the notion might sound ridiculous on paper, it wouldn’t be without precedent.
Last year, UK producer Fatboy Slim preceded his appearance at Melbourne’s Revolver Upstairs with a DJ set at St Kilda's Northern Soul fish and chip shop.
In 2024, we also saw Bunnings host a rave with What So Not and Peking Duk, while CYRIL hit up a Melbourne 7/11 for another rave (with tickets costing $7.11), and there’s since been a petition to get KFC in on the action.
While it might be one thing to step around Peking Duk while you’re trying to pick up a Phillips head, or navigate your way to the Slurpee machine while CYRIL drops Stumblin’ In, seeing rising local acts playing a stripped-back set at your local IGA during your Sunday morning shop is an entirely different ballgame.
While we wait for local supermarkets to take up the challenge of hosting local acts in the fruit and veg section, you can stay up to date with Fiesta Fresh Market’s Mercadito Sessions via their Instagram page.
