Place: Spain, Burgos Province, Aranda de Duero, Escenario Carson Camping
Almost an year ago I was standing on the edge of Plaza del Trigo stage when Javier Ajenjo, the director of Sonorama, unexpectedly brought me in front right before the eyes of all these happy young men and women around and introduced me to the crowd, and I was thinking: What could be better than this? What in my fucking stupid boring life could ever be greater than this? Or most likely this would be the greatest moment for me to recall when I die? Will there be the other beautiful moments worth waiting for? (The answer for the last question is: definitely yes!)
This time we came to Aranda a day before the start of the festival - just to breathe this air, to walk the empty streets, to have a night to drink the wine sitting on the Plaza Mayor... Generally speaking, we wanted to adjust our souls to the atmosphere of the town before the fiesta starts. Our arrival was preceded by 9 days-long travel across the north of Spain from Galicia to Pais Vasco. Initially we had plans to meet some local musicians on our route - the plans that have partially come true (Hugo Babarro from Bestlife (Under Your Seat) and Julian Rodriguez (Igloo), and partially not (Edu Ugarte, Joe La Reina). In addition to that, our visit to Ferrol coincided with the acoustic set of La Habitacion Roja in a pretty small venue called Sala Super 8. Happily we managed to attend the concert and, moreover, to take a couple of photos with Jorge Marti and Pau Roca.
12th of August surprisingly the sky got cloudy after the lunch time. It was the first time when we saw the clouds in Aranda. The official opening of Sonorama was set at 9 p.m. in camping. When we came there at the time, it started raining. Needless to say, we weren't prepared for this and quickly started to get soaked with the raindrops. But the first ever performance of Sonorama Ribera 2015 was not painfully spoiled by the weather, and the band of Jimmy Barnatan (old-school country "redneck'n'roll" rock) led us through their r-r-r-roaring show without any serious obstacles on the way. But the next band to appear before or eyes and ears - Club del Rio - was compelled to postpone the show for almost an hour cos the rain got harder. There was something in the air that made the atmosphere around full of lightweight craziness and surrealism. Somewhere in between of the performances the costumes contest was scheduled for this night (first prize - lifelong access to all the future Sonoramas. Yes, lifelong!) So we were looking at the men dressed like women and the women dressed like men, and all these freaky styley dudes and chicks walking around us. There was a semi-naked guy with the painting saying "Fuck Canada!" across his waist, for instance. "You can't take that stuff to Canada", I recalled the line from the old Low track "Canada". Anyway, the most winning costume this night was that one of jellyfish as it was built upon the see-through umbrellas, and not only looked cool but also effectively prevented its owners from getting wet. Unfortunately, we didn't have one. So at the moment when Club del Rio finally came onstage not only to move their gear back and forth but also to play some music we made the definitive decision to return to hotel. Club del Rio were none of our interest with their mix of reggae, acid jazz and indie folk, and to wait for Aerolineas Federales and secret concert was a bit too embarassing for us, taking in mind that the rain showed no signs of stopping in the close future.
As my report of the first night of Sonorama 2015 is limited due to the poor weather conditions I have the time and the space to express my simpathy and adoration to the persons we got acquainted with during this travel. Hugo, Julian and JuanMa, the time that we spent together makes me and Tanya dream about spending much more time with you!
Text: Mikhail
Photos: Tatiana
