#SonoramaRibera2014. The Report. Day 3, 15.08.2014. Minutes of glory

The program of the third day should start again on Plaza del Trigo with the set of The Handicaps. We saw The Handicaps last year on Red Bull Tour Bus and they caught our attention by their energy, good pack of melodies and unconventional use of stage railings and mic stands as the tools to play their guitars. So The Handicaps were 'must see' for us.

The Handicaps

Their set was as energetic and melodic as it had been a year ago, and we were standing right before the stage at its middle, but for us the performance was a bit spoiled by the fact that we hardly could hear the vocals (I suppose that the stage monitors were tuned this way to provide the far-standing persons with the wall of sound cos it seemed like for those behind us everything was OK). In terms of stage presence The Handicaps rocked as hell. Would like to see them again.

They were folowed by the four-piece Perro - the band from Murcia who play loud rock that has strong ties to hardcore but is not hardcore itself. Their uncommon feature is doubled drum section - yes, with two drummers. Additionally, the guitarist and the bass players shared the vocal duties and switched their instruments. We moved to the left (for us) corner of Plaza del Trigo to hide from the scorching sunlight - and there vocals were OK. Perro were bold, cocky and perky. The people on Plaza raved for them.

Perro

The next band were Correos, another alternative rock band. I was not familiar with them at all, never heard anything of them before. But they were equally cool, loud and melodic. One more band to follow or even to fall for.

Correos

After their set we met again with Javier Ajenjo. And what followed next almost drove me absolutely mad. Javier took me onstage right in front of the crowd and then introduced me to all of the people there, to all of these happy faces on the square and nearby streets. it was only for 30 seconds max but it was definitely the most heartwrenching moment of my life. The crowd even chanted my name! I'm a shy person but it was fantastic. If it was unbelievable for me to met a person who knows about the mere existence of my blog, or to hug with the fest director/musician from the band that I adore - then what was THIS? It was... I don't know. Maybe if I'm dying at 70 there wouldn't be any comparable moment for the rest of my life (unfortunately, I can't find any foto documenting this moment).

And after that the 'secret show' of Ninos Mutantes started. Plaza del Trigo stage is famous for such the surprises. Last year there was the secret show of Supersubmarina where the band played their own songs but finished them with somebody else's tunes. Now Ninos Mutantes made a set of covers that included Pixies, Depeche Mode and, again, Raphael's "Como Yo Te Amo". The only song of their own was "Errante".We were standing backstage 10 feet behind the musicians so I didn't dare to shout out the words of "Where Is My Mind" or "Errante" staying so close.

Ninos Mutantes from backstage

The opening act of the evening/night set were The Three Generations. I'd been listening to their album "Pillage" pretty regularly a couple of years ago. Live they were driving and cohesive but we left them in favor of Jack Knife. We missed this band last year on Plaza del Trigo - and as far as I knew from the reports and chronicles they set the Plaza on fire. So I would like to see them on much larger venue. And I'd rather consider this a loss. No, the band was OK - but Ribera stage seemed too large for them, and the audience seemed not to be so numerous. On the closed space of Plaza del Trigo surrounded by buildings the sound is more narrowly directed than on wide area of recinto ferial, and the spectators are so close one to another that they can almost strike the sparks by the collisions of their bodies. Maybe now they gathered the same amount of people - but here before the main stage it seemed like the lack of people.

The Three Generations

Jack Knife

Later we went to Castilla stage to see El Hombre Gancho. Before Sonorama I've checked them on youtube and found them good enough to go and see them. I made no mistake - El Hombre Gancho were fine. The band members looked like the old school latino-rockers but their music had nothing in common with old school latino-rock.

El Hombre Gancho

We stayed with them for 6 or 7 songs and we'd like to stay more but we should leave to win ourselves a better place before Ribera to see Second. Second are on tour with the last year's album "Montana Rusa", and now they're touring with the tiny classic orchestra. The participation of the orchestra is limited, it does not prevail on sound but makes the songs more colourful and bright. Second were in the perfect form. The band did not concentrate on the songs from "Montana Rusa" and played almost all the best songs from the last three albums. Overall, it was an astonishing show. "No, THAT was the best concert in my life", said I when it was over.

Second with the orchestra

After Second we came to VIP zone to drink wine and stayed there for awhile listening to DePedro from afar.

The whole show of Amaral we were watching from 'zona privado' of the VIP zone. Eva Amaral is another controversial person of this edition of Sonorama. She was one of the first headliners penned for the fest, and it was met with mixed reaction from fans due to Amaral and her band are on the far pop wing of Spanish rock music. Despite this fact she has good connections within the indie world, and her performance was much lauded anyway.

Amaral

If the performance of Leon Benavente that we say a year ago was absolutely outrageous, the new one seemed to be more controlled. All this year me and Tanya were listening to Leon Benavente's releases (self-titled LP and EP "Todos Contra Todos") so their set took no surprises for us in itself. But every performance of the band is a must by default - so great they are.

Leon Benavente

On the song "Ser Brigada" we started to break out of the crowd to run for Izal, but there was no place to run because another crowd was already there. We stuck somewhere in the middle without clean perspective to get closer to Tanya's favourite band. It was the first time for us when we could not manage to get to the security bars right at the stage - the good planning did not work well when the target shows were going back to back.

Mikel was bright and spectacular as always. We knew all the songs by heart and were just dancing and shouting the lyrics in the air. Needless to say that we were absolutely happy.

Izal from afar

At 2 a.m. we started to pave our way back home but before we walked away we listened to a couple of songs by Reptile Youth. It was enough to consider Reptile Youth not our piece of pie.

Summarizing the emotions, it was a great day for us. The greatest day. But it could be even better if we would attend the set of Cosmen Adelaida that was impossible due to coincidence with Izal.

#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.

#SonoramaRibera2014. The Report. Day 1, 13.08.2014. How to kickstart the event correctly

First of all, we had an intention not to repeat the past mistakes. The last year we came to Aranda right at the day when Sonorama started and we were late, and what was more important, after that crazy run of "full working day - then long sleepless nigt flight from Moscow to Madrid - then travel by car from Madrid to Milagros - then run to old Aranda - then to recinto ferial" from the start of the fest we were as full of life as mashed potato and as energetic as yesterday's beer. This year we came to Aranda beforehand so we had almost full day to watch the ducks swimming in the Bañuelos river, to walk the narrow streets of perfect Aranda and to drink cold white wine from the melting glasses in the tiny cafeterias making the day flowing slowly into the night.

Este año somos VIP

The next morning we also had the activities hardly related to music, but as the day had crossed its middle line our thoughts were leaning to what was waiting for us this night more and more. The first day of Sonorama 2014 was limited in terms of quantity of musicians to perform but in the same time absolutely unlimited in terms of impression due to the names of these musicians. I don't have much words about Hermanos Cubero - the acoustic folk duet of the most conservative pop tradition, but the brothers should be followed by two legendary names: Automatics and, most of all, Los Planetas. 

Automatics is the band from Jaen that appeared in the first half of 90's and formerly derived in equal parts from Madchester and psychedelic indie bands from the both sides of the ocean like Spacemen 3 or Mercury Rev. They dissolved in the early 2000's and their appearance in Sonorama was a big surprise to me as I have never heard about they are active again. And waht to say about Los Planetas? There is no other band in Spain that could be on par with them in terms of influence, and if there is the band to whom you may apply the sentence 'without them it all wouldn't be possible' than it's them. This year Los Planetas had returned to activity and the first day of Sonorama should be one of the first performances of the legendary band after 3 years of hiatus. So this promised to be the glorious night.

Los Hermanos Cubero from afar

And it really was the one.

The Automatics were great. They played almost one hour long set of songs that covered most of their past career. As long as the musicians never quit on making music (with the one part including the singer Jose Lozano to form the equally cool Universal Circus, and the second part playing in the band named Husband) they appeared to us in the near-perfect form. Their songs were always cool and catchy, and time haven't made them worse.

Automatics

Los Planetas

Los Planetas decided to show us their meditative side for the most part of the performance, with the main hits like "Mi Hermana Pequeña" or "Que Puedo Hacer?" and other driving songs being grouped close to the final of the show. The centerpiece of the performance was almost 8 minutes long song named "Toxicosmos" originally from the album "Una Semana En El Motor De Un Autobus" that many sources considered the best disc in their back catalogue. The audience raved full throttle, and I was absolutely stunned throughout the show feeling like losing my breath there at the stage right before Jota playing. Really, I never had an intention to see them live just because I never dared to believe I could have the opportunity to. 

The band walked out for the encore twice prolonging for us the majesty of this night.

On our 40 minutes long way back to hotel I shivered like hell and I did not know why - was it because the night weather in Aranda is relatively cold, too cold for my t-shirt, or was it because of some kind of the nervous disorder I got at that moment.

#CaminoAlSonorama #SonoramaRibera2014 - Horarios

Las Resenas Casuales. Bel Bee Bee "Still Unstirred"

Bel Bee Bee "Still Unstirred" (p)2014 The Note Company

As you cam clearly see, I have a bent to Canarian indie rock. Bel Bee Bee is another Canarian-born act with one young girl named Belen Alvarez Doreste behind this moniker.

"Haven't you ever had a burning shower, and when you try to see yourself in the mirror, you need to reach out your finger and draw until you discover yourself again? That's it." - it's written on the band's Facebook profile to describe the modus operandi. A gifted singer, Belen has chosen the path of trip-hop to share her vision with the listeners. So, musically "Still Unstirred" derives from such the sources as her Canarian semi-compatriotas Fuel Fandango or British female-fronted trip-hop combo Kosheen, with the rhythmical patterns more convoluted then ones ever created by both of the aforementioned. Belen plays with her voice masterfully, adding the tracks of backing vocals in their right places. Additionally, the track "Balai Lama" resembles the avant garde pop experiments of Anni B Sweet.

Generally speaking, Bel Bee Bee sounds on this album like a full-fledged international act that seems to be more mature than the girl who in fact has created it.

FYI: The last track - and probably the best - on the album is named after the Sakha-Yakutia (Russia) based village which is known as the Northern Hemisphere Pole of Cold.

The best tracks: Astrays Sculpture, Trust (Serendipity), Oymyakon, I'll Stop This Role Playing

Las Canciones Ocasionales. We Are Standard "Jesus In Her Eyes"

#CaminoAlSonorama. Sonorama Ribera 2014

It's only 3 weeks remaining before the next edition of Sonorama Ribera fest in Aranda de Duero, province of Burgos. 10 months ago I started this blog with the report on Sonorama 2013. The previous edition was my first experience of travelling to a foreign music festival, and it was so nice one! This year we're gonna return to Aranda (in fact, we are already in the 'ready/steady/go' position) and our expectations are to achieve even higher level of pleasure there - especially if taking into account that last week we were granted two VIP tickets to the fest. 

Yani Como (#25 in my 'Los Treinta Principales' thread) is probably the best and most well-known rock band of Aranda origin. The band's leader Javier Ajenjo is the 'showrunner' of Sonorama as well. A couple of weeks ago Yani Como started a crowdfunding campaign to produce and issue their next album "Tu Nunca Te Aburres". I've contacted them on certain details of the campaign, and than received the message from Cesar Quero Garcia, band's guitar player who was really surprised of how far their music might go. Cesar was so kind offering me to upgrade my tickets to VIP - that proposal I accepted sin duda.

Yani Como crowdfunding project

This year Sonorama would be much larger venue than the previous years, with over 80 participants and the lifecycle of 4 days. The main point of attention would be, arguably, Los Planetas - the definitive Spanish indie rock band recently has returned to concert activity after almost 3 years hiatus. Also, there would be the huge number of other great bands and musicians. I'm looking forward to it!