#SonoramaRibera2014. The Report. Day 2, 14.08.2014. The good vibrations and everything like that

The second day of the festival had much to offer us. The Plaza del Trigo stage was fully dedicated to Subterfuge's 25th anniversary showing the present day of this definitive indie label. The band that was chosen to open the program of the day was The Bright. Built around the creative forces of Miryam Gutierrez (she) and Anibal Sanchez (he) the band plays tight and catchy songs within the spectre from alternative country tracks in the vein of Amy MacDonald to more rocking songs which have less in common with the 'classic' country sound. Their show was impressive and very positive. An hour later I met Miryam and Anibal backstage and asked them for a foto - they didn't decline my request. Nice people.

Me and The Bright

Right after the show of The Bright we successfuly managed to move our bodies through the crowd to Red Bull stage where the band Bestlife (Under Your Seat) was playing at that moment. The end of their set was interesting enough, I'd like to see their full performance if there'd be a chance. Then we decided to return to Plaza del Trigo but to drink a cup of calimocho before. In the bar where we intended to buy us a drink named "Tapas Copas Bar" Tanya asked a girl behind the counter for a permission to take a photo of her cos she was really nice and colourul. I mentioned that we're from Russia. Then it's revealed that this girl knows about my blog. It's unbelievable - to occasionally run into a person who knows about my blog! The only thing that still makes me worry: it seems like I didn't pay for the drinks correctly and underpaid to her 1 Euro or so. I'm sorry for that, really.

After such the pleasant encounter we finally returned to Plaza del Trigo being a bit high on calimocho and catched the second half of Bravo Fisher!'s show. This electronica-based dance rock band really made the whole squareful of people jump and dance to their songs, and were welcomed with the great enthusiasm. After Bravo Fisher! finalized their actuacion we stayed on the square waiting for the Joe La Reina. 

The Donostian band spearheaded by somber-looking vocalist/guitarist Lucas Malcorra issued their debut longplay called "Bailamos Por Miedo" earlier this year. I've purchased it via iTunes and now wanted to see how these songs would sound on live. Their stylistics I'd describe as art-folk. The songs of Joe la Reina are more like tales - with all these twists and turns and changes in dynamics and tempos. The band looked and sounded great. Especially their drummer catched our attention cos he was very into what he was doing.

The band

The drummer

After the band started to disconnect the gear I noticed backstage Javier Ajenjo, a director of Sonorama and simultaneously the leader of the cool band Yani Como. 

Again we moved to Red Bull Tour Bus. The punk band Margot were playing there. Margot did not impress us so we stayed there to think it over where to move our feet, when my mobile phone told me that Facebook chat message just arrived. I should say that there was free access to wi-fi in the central part of Aranda. The message was from Javier Ajenjo. My legs almost refused to function. "Hi Mikhail", he said, "Do you have a mobile number to call you?" "Yes, I got one but it crushed" replied I - yes, earlier in the morning my mobile provider had disconnected me unexpectedly - "I saw you 5 minutes ago on the Plaza del Trigo backstage", I told to him. "Come here, I'm still here", he said.
I should put it clear - it was not some kind of an usual situation for me. Rather it was some kind of unbelievable. We met with Javier and all the cool nice people around him. It was visible that these guys really felt good about some strange bloke from hell knows where likes what they're doing. Now being in Moscow deeply drowned into post-fiesta depression I should say to all of you: my friends, I love you and everything you're doing!

Finally Javier asked us to be there again tomorrow by 2 p.m.

Meantime, back on Red Bull six-piece Proyecto Solaz played. They sounded cool, and I've ticked a checkbox against their name in my mind.

La M.O.D.A

In the evening we were a bit late and run like hell to catch La Maravillosa Orquestra del Alcohol (or simply La M.O.D.A), the band rom Burgos. They make music in the vein of Mumford & Sons but their version of bluegrass-based pop-rock is more driving and humorous. They were furious and funny onstage, and have shown the ability to catch the attention of anybody who even wasn't much into that kind of music.
After them we came to Future Stars stage to see Baden Bah! (I reviewed their new album called "Aleph" earlier). The show of this Salamancan indie (true indie) band was painfully underattended by the audience. The lack of people before the stage visually did not disturb the musicians, and they were playing for 15 of us like they're doing this for 200+ crowd. You may read in the review of "Aleph" what I think of their songs. To put it short: they're great.

Baden Bah!

When Baden Bah! ended up we started to float over recinto ferial between David Fonseca, Refree and the VIP zone where we were offered with good red wine (1 cup for 1 Euro) waiting for Ninos Mutantes. 20 minutes before their show we placed our bodies right at the security bars at Ribera del Duero stage. Right after we came here the mature women with the blue t-shirts saying "RAPHAEL" started gathering there. Yes, this year the organizers of Sonorama invited traditional pop crooner Raphael to the fest. Some said it was great business idea that could attract a lot of new attenders, some said it was a betrayal. I didn't lean myself to either of these rivaling camps - I just didn't know who Raphael was/is. Anyway, Ninos Mutantes made a performance that I described as "It was the best concert in my whole life". On my favourite song "Errante (Cancion Mutante)" (yes, deep inside my self I'm a good pop song loving guy) I almost broke my voice. The band was more rocky then on DVD "15 anos mutando" where they sounded like the Spanish Travis. The songs from new album "El Futuro" were cool on par with the earlier hit singles like aforementioned "Errante" or "Naufragos". The band finalized the show with the cover version of Raphael's "Como Yo Te Amo" making the bridge to what would come next.

Ninos Mutantes

We had no intention to see Raphael so to kill some time before Ivan Ferreiro we looked at Elefantes (another heroes of the past who returned to activity last year) and drank more wine in VIP zone.
Meantime Raphael came onstage.
It was a torment. Or fury. Or... I dunno. I'm not talking about his appearance onstage or his singing. No, I'm talking about the sea of people before the stage. I thought that the crowd of Xoel Lopez one year ago was huge. No - THAT was huge. Young people, mature people, old people - they all were mixed in one swirl of adoration. Me and Tanya were just sitting aside drinking wine and looking at that. To put it honestly, Raphael made a couple of steps from pop tradition towards indie rock world: he was supported by Miss Caffeina musicians, he sung with Alberto from Miss Caffeina, Juan Alberto from Ninos Mutantes... He even crashed a mirror with the chair.
Regarding the prolonged performance of Raphael the set of Ivan Ferreiro was delayed for almost a half of an hour. The occasional damage of this time shift was our inability to attend the Doble Pletina show in the Future Stars.
Ivan Ferreiro presented to us the same song set as it was on Contempopranea. But most of the songs were played a bit louder with more energy. So Ivan is one of my all time favourite musicians and for me he is always great. Especially having in mind that 14th of August it was his birthday - his band congratulated him in the end of the last song of the set.

Ivan Ferreiro

Under the bottom line, this day of Sonorama 2014 was absolute winner for us. The only disappointment for me was the missing show of Doble Pletina. All the rest was great.

#Contempopranillo. Contempopránea 2014 en Badajoz, 6-7 of June. Day One

Contempopranea (pronounced with the emphasis on the 1st ‘a’) is one of the longest-running indie festivals in Spain. This year marks the considerable change in the concept of the fest. Historically, it always took its place in the town of Alburquerque, Extremadura province. But within the 19th edition of festival it was divided onto two legs: 1st to take part in the town of Badajoz (with such the renowned acts as Russian Red, Love Of Lesbian and Fuel Fandango as the headliners), and 2nd in Alburquerque (with La Habitacion Roja, Ninos Mutantes, etc.) As the 1st leg would a) coincide with my birthday, and b) present my favorite band Love Of Lesbian along with my wife Tanya’s favorite band Izal, we have decided to attend it anyway. Later it was announced that Russian Red would left the lineup due to her obligations with the Asian mini-tour and would be replaced by Ivan Ferreiro. It was nice news for me cos Ivan is one of my favorite musicians as well.

To get there we should take a pretty long trip: by plane from Moscow to Madrid, and then by car from Madrid airport Barajas 415 km to Badajoz. In sum it should take about 9 hours of pure travelling from point A to point B, in fact it took over 14 hours of our lives so we entered the old town of Badajoz at 05:00 pm of 6th of June being a bit exhausted. Having no time to rest, we run to the historical site of Alcazaba – an ancient castle on the hill by the river Guadiana (that gave the name to vine region DO Ribera del Guadiana - and this is why there is hashtag "contempopranillo" in the heading of my report) shore, where, inside the castle, the Contempopranea fest should take its place. We received our wrist braces in taquilla and then were approached by a woman who tried to ask us about something we were not in touch really. She spoke bad English, we spoke bad Spanish.

Then we had a small amount of time to walk around and see the surroundings.

Burgim

At 8.00 pm we came to Alcazaba to see the 1st band of Contempopranea 2014 - Burgim. Burgim were not great but they were good enough. They have pack of really good songs, and while their appearance onstage still wasn’t one of their strengths their abilities are quite promising and the potential of their music is visible.

Mikel Izal

The next band that should appear before our eyes were Izal. Izal is by all means one of the greatest Spanish bands in terms of stage presence. We missed them last year on Sonorama (in fact, we missed them there even two times – taking in mind their secret concert on the Carson stage) where their show was much lauded. Now we were prepared and successfully moved our bodies right at the security bars before the stage while the audience was not overwhelmingly numerous at that moment. Mikel Izal is the great showman. Not only because he has really great voice but also because onstage is the place where he lives his life. All his stage behavior speaks on this. The band played all the songs that we wanted them to (“Prueba Y Error”, “La Mujer De Verde”, “Panico Practico”, “Magia Y Efectos Especiales” amongst others) and left the place followed by the thunder-like applause.

Sidonie

Earlier this year Sidonie have put to release their new album “Sierra Y Canada” which marked their stylistic move from psychedelic retro-rock of their previous LP “El Fluido Garcia” to electronica-based future pop. I expected them to be play electronica here but otherwise Marc, Jes y Axel, backed up by the live members Marcel (guitar) and Edu (keyboards), were rocking out like a solid rock band. They used MIDI-sequensors and other ‘digital noise generators’ but only for supporting role, not as the main part of the sound palette. Their live program covered all the second part of the band’s career starting from the breakthrough album “La Costa Azul” though the main focus of attention was, for instance, “Sierra Y Canada”. The songs from the album being played with rock instrumentation sounded much better for my taste than they were on the album. When it was all over I considered the show of Sidonie absolutely astonishing on par (or even a bit better) with Izal’s one. 

Ivan Ferreiro

Then we came back to hotel to put our tired bodies to rest before the late night show of Ivan Ferreiro cos The Horrors and Maximo Park were none of our interest and it was better for us to sleep a couple of hours than to see these bands. 2.45 am we woke up and without any preparations or make-up or any we walked to Alcazaba again to see Ivan Ferreiro. Like Sidonie before him, Ivan was not concentrated fully on his last record “Val Minor - Madrid” and started the show with “Turnedo” from his first solo album “Las Canciones Del Tiempo Y La Distancia”. Then “Abrazame” from “Las Siete Y La Media” followed. So the show was more like the career-spun tour than the new album presentation. To my surprise, no songs from my favorite Ivan’s album “Picnic Extraterrestre” were played, and there was only one song from “Mentiroso Mentiroso” – “NYC” on which I cried like a child. In his three-piece suit Ivan looked like an alternative version of middle-aged Frank Sinatra. Periodically he played the pianola but mostly he walked over the scene with the strange birdish walk and heroic poses. Under the bottom line, for me as a fan it was great. For Tanya who is not a fan of him, it was some kind of The Great White Spot - something that one could never understand.

En el Camino A Contempopranea

The Best Of 2013. Albums 10 - 4

10. Cyan “Delapso” (p) Sony/BMG

Under the wing of the international major label the Barcelonians Cyan have perfected their sound for the 3rd album, having now all the components in the right proportion and delivering the stark guitar/piano-pop melodies (both easily sing-alongable, as "Philippe Petit", and not so easily distinguishable, as "Solo Es Una Herida") brushed with ethereal strings and translucent electronica.

09. Maryland “Los Anos Muertos” (p) Ernie Producciones

From the very beginning of their 3rd album the band do it full-throttle: the drums are banging, the guitars are ringing and buzzing, and overall picture makes me recalling the international punk-rock acts such as Alkaline Trio, for instance, or the 1st album of the fellow countrymen Mi Pequena Radio. 

It seems to me that the Galician indie-label Ernie Producciones, who are also the home of such the renowned musicians as Julio De La Rosa or Ninos Mutantes, make no faults at all in selection of the artists they promote. Really, I haven't ever listened to the bad album with the 'balancing man' stamp on it.

08. Dorian “La Velocidad Del Vacio” (p) PIAS

The first impression: Dorian started to move towards the Great Britain islands, so it's no surprise that "La Velocidad Del Vacio" was recorded with Phil Vinall (the british producer who worked with Elastica, Black Box Recorder and Placebo, to name a few) behind the dashboard. But the experience of the band prevented them from being another Bastille or someone like that, and Marc Gil and his companeros got no problems with self-determination. The sound of the album is a bit colder in comparison with the previous effort "La Ciudad Subterrania" but their electronica truly have the heart. And the small amount of guitar noise.

07. Igloo “04. El Conjunto Vacio” (p) Ernie Producciones

The previous album of the Galicians (yes, they're also on Ernie Producciones) Igloo was much more straightforward rock, but the band is inclined to improve the sound with every subsequent release, and in terms of the sound palette "El Conjunto Vacio" is the major step forward. This album isn't easy, it doesn't wear all its insides on its sleeves. You should listen to it deeper and deeper, and then even much deeper to reach the comprehension of what Beni Ferreiro ans his pals have created for us. Gone is the sheer post-punk of the previous releases, let's meet the best rock band of Gattaca.

And don't forget the best cover of the year!

06. Mucho “El Apocalipsis Segun Mucho” (p) Marxophone

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away there was the band who almost reached international success, and the band was The Sunday Drivers. After the dismissal of the band in 2009 the leader Jero Romero launched successful solo career, and the other members teamed up with Martin Perarnau from Underwater Tea Party and started Mucho. “El Apocalipsis Segun Mucho” is the second full lenght work of the band. It's the concept album dedicated, as you might see from the title, to the end of the world. 'The end of the world according to Mucho' is accompanied by the pleasant melodies you can easily sing along with. What really makes this album so good is the Mucho's ability to create the song that is lightbodied enough to attract listeners while being not too conventional at the same time - in the wide pallette of rhythms, tempos, dynamics etc.

05. Ivan Ferreiro “Val-Miñor – Madrid. Historia Y Cronologia Del Mundo” (p) Warner Music Spain

“Val-Miñor – Madrid. Historia Y Cronologia Del Mundo” is also the concept album of sorts. It was conceived as the vehicle to transfer the solipsist vision of its auteur to the grateful listeners. So it is probably the most personal album of Ivan Ferreiro. The good thing about "Val-Minor..." is that Ivan rejected the sound and rhythms of cheap cabaret ballroom which was usual on two of his previous works: "Mentiroso Mentiroso" and "Picnic Extraterrestre". The bad thing - the album doesn't contain the direct hit of "Cancion Humeda" or "Fahrenheit 451"-like grandeur. Despite this fact, the album has shown that creative form of today's Ivan Ferreiro is somewhere between 'mighty' and 'omnipotent'. You can't resist to the atmosphere of his travel, and you simply fall into - and it doesn't matter whether or not (or how) you relate to the world named 'Ivan Ferreiro'.

04. Miss Caffeina “De Polvo Y Flores” (p) Warner Music Spain

Luckily I can just repeat something I have said previously: "With the new album "De Polvo Y Flores" ("Of Dust And Flowers") Miss Caffeina distinguished almost unbelievable level of melodicism. The songs 'Gigantes', 'Venimos', 'San Francisco', 'MM' and especially 'Hielo T' got such the armour-crashing choruses that it seemed like the band had written them for the pan-universal song contest where Miss Caffeina would be the only contestant from planet Earth". 

Vertigo, sparkles and the pack of melodies any given renowned hitmaker would kill for.