The 2025 edition once again took place at the fabulous High Noon in East Austin. 48 bands and artists graced our three stages this year, from veteran acts like Sunflower Bean, Baths, and Five Eight, to rising acts like Kat Cunning, fantasy of a broken heart, and Monobloc.
Party highlights also included live chainstitching by Jada & Jon, flash tattoos by Lindley Weaver, and Ilegal Mezcal tastings, neat pours, and signature cocktails crafted by Global Brand Ambassador Gilbert Marquez.
Opened by Ilegal founder John Rexer around 2004, Café No Sé has become the beating heart of an international music scene in Antigua, Guatemala. This is the original home of Ilegal Mezcal + the first mezcal bar opened outside of Mexico.
This year, we are thrilled to be celebrating Café No Sé’s notorious history by bringing music, mezcal, and tattoos to bars, music venues, festivals, and trade shows across the U.S., beginning February in Phoenix for Arizona Cocktail Weekend.
We’re coming soon to a bar new you — check back or follow Ilegal for more dates!
2025 TOUR DATES
FEB 13-19 – Arizona Cocktail Week, Phoenix [link]
MAR 12-14 – Paste Magazine Showcase @ SXSW, Austin
MAY-OCT – Forest Hills Stadium, New York, NY [link]
MAY-AUG – Rockaway Summer Concert Series, New York, NY [link]
MAY-DEC – Hotel Vegas, Austin, TX [link]
JUN 25 – Pappy and Harriet’s, Pioneertown, CA
JUL-OCT – Fogg Street Live, Nashville, TN [link]
JUL 22 – Tales of the Cocktail, New Orleans
SEP 9-12: Americana Fest, Nashville, TN
Watch the entire segment above.
The Hernandez brothers, Armando and Alvaro – are fourth-generation mezcaleros from an indigenous Zapotec family. They learned the craft from their father, Silverio. Today they run Mal de Amor, one of Matatlán’s largest distilleries, or palenques.
Sharing the story of Ilegal and the Hernandez brothers to the 60 Minutes audience is a humbling reminder of how far we have come, and our heightened responsibility to preserve the traditions of handcrafted mezcal in Oaxaca.
Opened by John Rexer in the early 2000s, Café No Sé has become the beating heart of an international music scene in Antigua, Guatemala. This is the original home of Ilegal Mezcal + the first mezcal bar opened outside of Mexico.
Bar Ilegal is an experiential outpost of Café No Sé, and Ilegal’s 2023 tour celebrated 20(ish) years since the opening of our legendary home. In 2024, Bar Ilegal has activated across Arte Agave, Forest Hills Stadium, Anti Social Camp in NYC, and the Rockaway Hotel. In July, the Bar Ilegal team descended on to New Orleans for Tales of the Cocktail.
The party was among the most attended at Tales, and had people talking the remainder of the week. Ilegal set a new event record at Jolie for the most cocktails served in a night, SUSU blew the doors off, 54 guests walked away with fresh flash tattoos, and the evening ended in essential New Orleans fashion, with — what else — a burlesque show.
All photos by the fabulous Taylor Hunter.
Opened by John Rexer in the early 2000s, Café No Sé has become the beating heart of an international music scene in Antigua, Guatemala. This is the original home of Ilegal Mezcal + the first mezcal bar opened outside of Mexico.
Bar Ilegal is an experiential outpost of Café No Sé, and Ilegal’s 2023 tour celebrated 20(ish) years since the opening of our legendary home. After an amazing year circling North America, beginning in Oaxaca and ending in New York City, the Ilegal team snuck in one more celebration in January, a few weeks behind schedule, in the always welcoming Mexico City.
DJ Paurro set the mood for a very stylish crowd, as they tried our Mezcal Margaritas, Spicy Palomas, Negronis, and neat mezcal pours. In the room just off the bar, we were honored to have our talented friends Lapiztola join us from Oaxaca to screen print custom t-shirts for our fans. At 9PM, SUSU took to the stage, and all bets were off. Liza and Kia prowled across the pricy furniture and its inhabitants, whipping the crowd into a frenzy.
Announcements for our 2024 Bar Ilegal Tour are coming soon. Next up for our team is the Paste Magazine East Austin Block Party, showcasing 60+ bands across four stages, March 13-15. RSVP here for more information.
Opened by John Rexer in the early 2000s, Café No Sé has become the beating heart of an international music scene in Antigua, Guatemala. This is the original home of Ilegal Mezcal + the first mezcal bar opened outside of Mexico.
Bar Ilegal is an experiential outpost of Café No Sé, and the 2023 tour celebrated 20(ish) years since the opening of our legendary home. After stops in Oaxaca, Miami, Chicago, New Orleans, Atlanta, Austin, and Los Angeles, Ilegal Mezcal made its final stop at Public Records in Brooklyn, and the vibes were off the charts.
The party was expansive, covering the entirety of the property. It held three separate bars, with classic mezcal cocktails featured downstairs, the Musician’s Breakfast outside (complete with Ilegal bottle ice sculpture), and pitch perfect aged mezcal cocktails upstairs in the not-so-secret Reposado Room.
Guest artist Jimmy doled out 42 flash tattoos in the front room, while Classy Screens executed screenprinted t-shirts to the masses in the garden. Watson Soundsystem kept things fun and dancey in the main room, SUSU blew the doors off at 9pm, and then most guests ventured up to the Repo Room, where vinyl DJ Mickey Perez was expertly spinning a playlist of diaspora-spanning dance tracks to finish out the evening.
Pics by Nico Malvaldi ~
Opened by John Rexer in the early 2000s, Café No Sé has become the beating heart of an international music scene in Antigua, Guatemala. This is the original home of Ilegal Mezcal + the first mezcal bar opened outside of Mexico.
Bar Ilegal is an experiential outpost of Café No Sé, and the Bar Ilegal 2023 tour celebrates 20(ish) years since the opening of our legendary home. Following stops in Oaxaca, Miami, Chicago, New Orleans, Atlanta, and Austin, the Ilegal Mezcal team made its way out to the Arts District of LA, and our friends at Everson Royce Bar.
Seemingly every one of our 550 RSVPs showed out, grabbed swag, ordered mezcal cocktails with Gilbert Marquez, and enjoyed a killer set from SUSU on the packed outdoor patio.
See how it went down in the gallery below, all pics by Sarah Craig.
2023 REMAINING DATES
DEC 6 [NEW DATE!] – Brooklyn, NY
Click HERE to RSVP to Bar Ilegal
Opened by John Rexer in the early 2000s, Café No Sé has become the beating heart of an international music scene in Antigua, Guatemala. This is the original home of Ilegal Mezcal + the first mezcal bar opened outside of Mexico.
Bar Ilegal is an experiential outpost of Café No Sé, and the Bar Ilegal 2023 tour celebrates 20(ish) years since the opening of our legendary home. After stops in Oaxaca, Miami, Chicago, New Orleans, and Atlanta, the tour hit its stride in Austin on the incredible rooftop at El Cockfight. A rowdy performance from SUSU, mezcal cocktails and education with Gilbert Marquez, and flash tattoos from George Miller.
Pics from a wild night by Sarah Craig in the gallery below ~
2023 REMAINING DATES
NOV 8 – Los Angeles, CA
DEC 6 [NEW DATE!] – Brooklyn, NY
Click HERE to RSVP to Bar Ilegal
Opened by John Rexer in the early 2000s, Café No Sé has become the beating heart of an international music scene in Antigua, Guatemala. This is the original home of Ilegal Mezcal + the first mezcal bar opened outside of Mexico.
Bar Ilegal is an experiential outpost of Café No Sé. With dates in nine cities, the Bar Ilegal 2023 tour celebrates around 20(ish) years since the opening of our legendary home, bringing mezcal cocktails and education, flash tattoos, and live performances from our dear friends SUSU. After stopping in Oaxaca in April, Miami and Chicago in May, and New Orleans in July, we paid a sweet September visit to Sister Louisa’s Church in Atlanta.
Old friends stopped by, new ones were made over mezcal cocktails, and Black Cat Tattoo Shop handed out a whopping 42 Ilegal flash tats. Special thanks to them, DJ La Superior, and the wonderful team at Sister Louisa’s Church.
More pics by Sarah Craig in the gallery below!
Ilegal Mezcal is proud to represent our brand at this historic stadium, and we look forward to expanding visibility by adding more diverse activations and building a stronger beverage program.
See the 2024 Schedule
ACTIVATIONS
The fan-favorite tattoo activation enhances the guest experience by delivering a unique and lasting memento. Guests pick from a flash sheet and get a free tattoo while watching their favorite band perform a stone’s throw away. The pop-up is active at every show throughout the season at Forest Hills; participants must be 21+. The 2024 season will feature a new activation: a tasting station, featuring free samples of all three Ilegal marks, will be open on the Concourse near Section 4.
BEVERAGE PROGRAM
Ilegal Mezcal maintains mezcal exclusivity at the concessions on the property, an indication of Ilegal’s leadership and continued progress within the mezcal category. We will continue to carry all marks around the stadium, with Joven represented, Reposado being available at the concession stands as a markup feature (to Cadillac your margarita), and Añejo featured in the private speakeasy suites and tasting station. All three marks will also be available for sampling at our new tasting station.
CLIMATE NEUTRALITY
For the 2024 season, Forest Hills Stadium will operate climate neutral, with a goal of being climate positive. For the past three years, Forest Hills Stadium has supported a carbon sequestration, biodiversity, and wildlife protection project at Medford Spring Grassland Conservation in Colorado to neutralize significantly more carbon than is generated each season.
Photo credit: Herminio Torres
