POP MUSIC REVIEW : Little Joe Stages a Festive Familia Reunion at the Coach House : The audience becomes part of the concert, joining the party onstage and off, with almost every number becoming a sing-along.

Judging from Little Joe Y La Familia’s return to the Coach House, it must be true that the family that plays together stays together. The show was more like a family reunion than a formal concert.

Throughout the group’s joyous, festive one-hour, 45-minute set Friday, Little Joe Hernandez made it clear that La Familia included not only his six-piece band but all the audience, too. From his opening song “Redneck Mexican Boy,” a humorous declaration of his stylistic diversity, Hernandez embraced the audience with all the warmth and fervor of a jovial uncle greeting a pack of beloved nieces and nephews. The fans, most of them veterans of Hernandez’s previous Orange County shows, responded in kind.

Virtually every number was a sing-along, and the crowd knew all the words. At times, Hernandez would stop singing and let the audience take the vocals. On one number he even brought three folks on stage and handed each of them the microphone.

Between songs Hernandez bantered with the crowd like a relative catching up on all the news. Several people sent him shots of tequila which made the show seem even more like a party than a concert. Hernandez adroitly fielded numerous requests for old favorites, resisted calls from women to take his shirt off, and introduced several of his friends who were in the audience. Among these was Jessie Lopez, a local talent who has followed Hernandez to his home base in Temple, Tex., to pursue Tejano music.

Augmented by the claps, cries and singing of the audience as well as guests including Lopez on one song and trumpeter Luis Gasca on several numbers, La Familia sounded more like a full orchestra than just six players.

Keyboardist Steve (Rat) Silva contributed greatly to the richness of the music by making his keyboards sound like a variety of different instruments that ran the gamut from a honky-tonk piano to a full string section. During “Little Joe’s Golden Oldies Mix,” a medley of Hernandez’s most requested numbers, Silva even picked up an accordion.

In the infectious brand of Tejano music which he has pioneered, Hernandez has mined much of the rich musical heritage of his native Texas.

The music of Little Joe Y La Familia blends the Latino styles, rhythm and blues, and country music that have all developed in the vast melting pot of Texas.

In his 18-song set Friday, Hernandez drew most heavily from his Mexican roots singing most songs in Spanish including several numbers from his 1992 Spanish language album “Que Paso.” He did include a few nods to country. Little Joe Y La Familia’s rollicking version of Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings’ “Good Hearted Woman” was among the night’s highlights.

Hernandez was a bundle of energy. Even his trademark soulful love ballads like “Por Un Armor” were surprisingly upbeat. “I Love Paaaiiiinnn!” Hernandez shouted at one point, and he made heartbreak sound so positive and life-affirming that even tragic romance seemed like an experience to savor.

Although he was always a powerful presence onstage, Hernandez shared the spotlight with his band. Guitarist David Martinez took over lead vocals on the Beatles’ “I Saw Her Standing There,” and Gasca stepped to the front with his trumpet to lead the group in an instrumental “The World Is a Ghetto.”

Local heroes, the Honky Tonk Hellcats, demonstrated some family values of a different kind in their searing 40-minute opening set.

With core members that include two brothers (singer-guitarist Frank Jenkins and drummer David) and a cousin (bassist Ben Arrington), the Hellcats bring to mind other family-based groups such as the Kentucky Headhunters, Alabama and the Allman Brothers.

The Hellcats knocked out a tight nine songs that consisted of several Frank Jenkins’ originals, including “Raging Wind” and “King Cotton,” as well as some rocked-up country classics like “Ring of Fire” and “Whiskey River.”

Jenkins traded lead vocals with acoustic guitarist George Koen, and the two united for some soaring harmonies on “Will the Circle Be Unbroken.”