Sonorama 2018. Day 3

Days 1-2

Friday, 10th

By the morning before walking to Castilla Y Leon (Santa Catalina) stage for Nat Simons we made a brief stop at our favourite Plaza la Sal’s Heineken stage where Duque were performing at the time. The band looked a bit elder being compared to average Heineken stage residents but was alive, kicking and undeniably pleasant. 

Nat Simons’ music is quite close to that of Joana Serrat but Nat managed to perform her program with much more diversity. She interchanged fast rock and roll songs with slower ones and did a couple of cover versions as well. I never thought I would dance to a Tom Petty song one day but she made me to do so.

Then we returned to the old town of Aranda to see the way louder Basque band Kometa. We never heard a single song of them before, but it quickly became apparent that we should count +1 up to our list of discoveries.

After we took a break to have ourselves a cup of cold white wine at Plaza Mayor we came again to Santa Catalina place just in time to see Pet Fennec but the band onstage apparently was not Pet Fennec. The fast glance at Sonorama app (by the way, this year this app was really useful) – hey, that’s Jorge Marazu! Somehow the schedule was shifted pushing Jorge Marazu and Pet Fennec to perform later than it was planned initially.

Pet Fennec. This was the performance no one really attended to. Right after Jorge Marazu finalized his set the spectators started slipping away, so at the moment the band began to play there was literally no one before the stage. Only a dozen of persons were hiding their bodies into the thin strip of shadow at the far right side of the stage. We stepped into the shadow as well but quickly came off thinking: ‘What the fuck? If we are going to be the only ones to support the cool band why can’t we keep staying in the sun?” Pet Fennec were really cool. I liked their album, and their live performance made me like them even more.

Due to the aforementioned schedule shift along with our subsequent visit to a restaurant* (being invited by Javier Ajenjo) our spare time between ‘morning’ and ’night’ sections was diminished so we were late to attend the Angel Stanich gig at the main stage Ribera del Duero. However, we came in time to catch the very beginning of Luis Alberto Segura’s show.

L.A. was amazing as always. He’s got a lot of great tunes spread over his last 4 albums starting from “Heavenly Hell” (as he never plays the songs from three albums independently released prior to his breakthrough record) so he could play three hours in a row without losing the certain level of quality.

Right after L.A. covered up Nada Surf began to play on the main stage. This was the special moment for me. I was stunned as Nada Surf were my all-time favs and I could proclaim myself being a fan since I first listened to “Inside Of Love” back in 2003. I sang along and shouted out to every song with the tears in my eyes almost breaking my voice…

As the magic couldn’t have been prolonged beyond the timing of the standard festival set we were forced to find us new entertainment, and we found it in El Ultimo Vecino. I always thought El Ultimo Vecino was an one-man synth-driven project but it appeared to be the full band. Moreover, the band spearheaded by Gerard Alegre Doria behaved like if they ain’t no strangers to the indie rock vocabulary. 

Regarding La Plata, I expected more, to put it frankly. All the songs of their set explored the same sound and almost the same dynamics.

New Day have blown me away, and I went completely mad. That was pretty strange as I don’t like their debut album that much to go nuts, but onstage Amparo Llanos and her tiny band sounded ferocious. Their songs being performed live managed to express much more energy and melody. Not all of their songs were perfect but the most of them knocked me off.

* In the restaurant we were seated next table to a company of four. One of them was Eric Jimenez, the drummer of Lagartija Nick and Los Planetas. He was so friendly and gave off such great charisma that I can only admit we've never met a person like him before.

Day 4

Sonorama 2018. 10 ‘minimal font size’ bands whose shows you surely should attend

Some bands from the lower lines of the new Sonorama poster have apparently outgrown the minimal font size (Tulsa, Modelo De Respuesta Polar, Villanueva, etc) so please find below the short list of the bands and personalities who deserve it to an equal extent.

Disco Las Palmeras!

With the new effort “Calida” ((p)2018 Sonido Muchacho) the Galician power trio spearheaded by Diego Castro abandoned both the scratching noise of “Asfixia” and the ever-buzzing wall of sound of “Ultra” leaving the core of their songs peeled off almost completely. And I’m curious how it would sound live.

Floridablanca

The re-branded and re-named madrilenos Sin Rumbo switched to the sunshine balearic disco-pop. Despite they stepped aside quite far from what they were before, if you’re a fan of Sin Rumbo it’s time to convert yourself into a fan of Floridablanca.

Joana Serrat

The best Americana singer-songwriter the Iberian Peninsula ever gave birth to.

La Plata

While most eyes are set at their equally promising labelmates Carolina Durante you shouldn’t overlook young post punk band from Valencia. They have released this year their debut album “Desorden” that created considerable splash amongst the music press and, additionally, have found its place in my own record collection.

Pet Fennec

The Basque band that draw comparisons to such North American indie legends as Band Of Horses, Built To Spill and Nada Surf. As for me, kinda perfect reference points.

Burrito Panza

This year Burrito Panza have released “Un Nuevo Frente Frio” – by all means the best album in their career – and one of the best to-date. You shouldn’t miss the chance to watch at the band on the creative peak.

Cosmen Adelaida

They may look like The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart’s young followers but this metropolitan combo has 3 full lengths along with 2 EPs (all on El Genio Equivocado) of high quality dreampop-meets-post punk in their back catalogue. They have already experienced performances on FIB, Primavera Sound and ContemPOPranea – so this year they’re gonna tick the box at Sonorama’s name.

Nocturnos

Covering the vast specter of genres from dizzy synth groove of “Rey Absolutista” to the guitar-driven rock club singalongs of “Fantasia Liberal” Nocturnos are stylistically polymorphous and amusing in every turn. Year ago they were set to perform at Sunday that made attending their show completely impossible for me. This time I’m ready to fix this honest mistake.

Ladilla Rusa

As funny as kinky this drag queen fashioned duo is going to kick asses with their trashcan aesthetics, ‘death on the dancefloor’ electropop and quirky sense of humor (“Whitney Houston, tenemos un problema”).

Cala Vento

The Catalan duo is the only band out of my wishlist that finally made it to the festival’s line up. Unfortunately, I’m forced to leave Aranda by the Sunday morning, so there’s no chance for me to catch them. You should do it for me.

Pet Fennec "Mount Pleasant"

Pet Fennec "Mount Pleasant" (p)2017 Milagros A LOUR

The first longplay by the Basque band Pet Fennec takes a lot of influences in itself. The reviewers have already marked The Posies, Built To Spill, Pavement and other 90's american indie milestones as the main impact makers but there are also the distinct Fleet Foxes and Band Of Horses' flavours in there. For my ear the most pleasant taste in this plate is that one of Nada Surf as evidenced by the track "Vishal News". At the end of the day, the band have managed to create very versatile album - though not so original but highly enjoyable anyway.

The best tracks: Under The Sun, Vishal News, Richmond

BNDCMP

FCBK