Watcha Bill To Feature Café Tacuba, Molotov, Ozomotli

Cafe Tacuba, Molotov and Ozomotli will be among the bands to join this year's edition of Watcha, a Latin rock event that first took to the road in 1999. The 18-city tour is tentatively scheduled to open on Aug. 11 near Los Angeles and to run through Labor Day weekend.

A.N.I.M.A.L., Enanitos Verdes and Aterciopelados will also be among the rock en español bands on the Watcha bill. ("Watcha" is a Spanglish term that essentially translates as "check it out.") Though most of the dates on the itinerary are in the U.S., stops in Puerto Rico and in the Dominican Republic are also planned.

The first Watcha tour, which was co-produced by the organizers of the Warped tour, took place last year and visited 11 cities.

The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities will receive 50 cents from each ticket sold, and the organization will award scholarships to students in each of the markets the tour visits.

Watcha did not have a title sponsor in 1999, and organizers admitted that the event lost money. This year, Coors Light has signed on as the tour's national sponsor, a development that is expected to put the event on a more solid financial footing.