Neida Alcantar 
RGV- With a nice, nostalgic story behind his brand name, Puro Tiger’s Blood.
“Growing up as a kid, the one thing that I always associated as being young and being from south Texas was going to get a raspa. There was this raspa stand that my mom would always take me to. I remember seeing the name on the sticker board and I just remember thinking, ‘man, you know, Tiger’s Blood, what the hell is that.’”
Patrick Garcia started his own boutique booking agency in 2011, and it all began when he first encountered the music scene in the Valley as a teen, specifically with the band ‘The December Drive’.
“They were the ones that really, really made me realize like, ‘oh my god, there’s something here.’ As a teenager, your naive, little world of rock and roll and pop culture and stuff, you think, ‘oh, this sort of stuff just doesn’t happen here.’ And that sort of is what rocked my world, slash, ruined my life,” said Garcia.
Garcia expresses why he decided to start booking shows.
“I love seeing people have a good time and I love organizing. Being an adult I just thought that was so boring. I realize that maintaining shows and booking was a window into realizing that you can still participate in these cultural movements and explore these things responsibly while also growing into yourself.”
Booking local bands was easy for Garcia to do, however, he had the idea of bringing travelling bands to the Valley, which seemed impossible at first.
“People would say, ‘They will never come down here; we’ll never have a band that sounds like this to play in the RGV.’ And I started to think to myself, ‘that’s not fair’. They were right at the time, but in my head, I was like if I wanted to see a band like Cursive, I would have to drive to Austin or San Antonio, and I thought ‘man, that sucks.’ But I said, ‘what if?’ So, I started emailing booking agents and touring managers and begging them and I started to learn through trial and error. So, I started booking smaller bands to build resumes.
And soon after, Garcia had built enough trust and recognition to his brand. He’s had the opportunity to book bigger talents to perform in the Valley, such as The Marias from Los Angeles, Mr. Twin Sister from New York City and Helado Negro from Florida.
Having once been in a band gave Garcia a better look on how to book and treat artists.
“When you’re on the road and you’re that band that’s going up to a strange city and a strange town and a strange venue, you kind of realize how people treat you and how people see you. Offering to pay for touring bands, meals or cooking for them as opposed to bringing them catered food. Little details like that really go a long way to make somebody feel like home in an alien space or a strange town.”
Now, going into Garcia’s history of shows, he says concert-goers and friends still talk about his 2015 Galaxz Fair 4 show he threw at Cine El Rey, making it one of his fondest events.
“When you’re creating a show, you’re creating a narrative, you’re creating a story. And that’s why I love throwing shows because it’s an opportunity for narratives to be created. You know, like, ‘this is what happened that night’. Sometimes it’s not even about the band. It’s about meeting your future girlfriend, or boyfriend, or best friend, or enemy at a show because it’s a social gathering. For whatever reason, there were a lot of narratives that were created of that show. A lot of friendships are still very much alive. A lot of people were being exposed to new ideas,” he continued.
The show not only showcased local bands and artists but also had a panel with the parents of the Missing 43, put together by Eduardo Martinez and Alexis Bay.
“The part that I remember the most was having these Mexican parents of Disappeared 43 go up on the stage at Cine el Rey and talk to everybody in attendance about their children that were basically killed. You know, activism and concerts, that’s nothing new, but for something that hit so close to home, it was surreal to see that.”
Although he’s been booking shows for over ten years, Garcia does not see this as a career. Apart from being a booker, Garcia is an instructor at a community college. He says he’s taking advantage of the current situation by taking a rest from booking shows.
Click on the video below to watch the full story.
