Festival Plaça Odissea, music & attitudes

Pegasvs, Klaus & Kinski, Cloud Nothings, Maxïmo Park. 
Festival Plaça Odissea, Barcelona, May 12th

Back to the Maremagnum for the main day of the free Festival at the Port of Barcelona. The line-up was, in principle, quite eclectic and diverse, so its no surprise the impressions of each gig were so different.

Pegasvs

Pegasvs at Plaça Odissea.
Photo: Bloodbuzzed

It was our second time seeing Sergio Pérez and Luciana della Villa and we couldn't dispel the doubts we had regarding their live performances. They have a great album, and the songs evolve in a nice, pleasant way live. But nothing more aside to highlight from that. Songs sounding very similar to the LP versions, but  a flat show again: little interaction with the audience, quite a cold and lineal feeling while performing. These factors, and an excessively loud sound, in particular several "effects", didn't help enjoying their gig fully.

Klaus & Kinski

Klaus & Kinski.
Photo: Pablo Rodríguez-Aguilera

I was curious to see Klaus & Kinski, as they are a unique band in Spain, with an extremely diverse palette of styles in their songs. Which Klaus & Kinski would predominate live? I can't clearly say, but the result was a bit indigestible for me. I have read somewhere that they recreate some sort of a "Village Fair" spirit in their gigs. I agree. Hearing various older members of the audience, ages away from the indie stereotype, mentioning "Paquito Chocolatero" or younger ones commenting "this are the sort of tunes that my parents danced" confirms it. But anyway, to me, the dance moments were the worst ones. Sad, because when they embrace a more defined indie-pop path, they show talent, with a very remarkable violinist and guitar section.

Cloud Nothings. Photo: Pablo Rodríguez-Aguilera

Cloud Nothings
After two national acts, it was time for the Ohio band Cloud Nothings, who radically changed the music direction of the day, while the premonitory rain showed up. Blame me for just disliking this sort of music, but their very heavy, dense noise pop tunes, somewhere between post-rock and hardcore, with many neo-grunge tics was just awful for me. 

 

Mäximo Park

Paul Smith, thunderous frontman
Photo: Pablo Rodríguez-Aguilera

And finally it was time for headliners, the brits Mäximo Park. After years being pushed to a discreet second place, the Newcastle band returns with the new album "The National Health" of which they presented several songs in Barcelona. A couple of them sounded promising, but in all honesty, the whole show was stolen by Paul Smith, restless, hyperactive, even euphoric. He brought his uncontrollable passion to the stage, and with the help of the remarkable presence of compatriots among the audience, the gig was quite a rush of adrenaline, addictive, engaging and indie-rock hits. Again the sound wasn't perfect, but Maxïmo Park was ready for fighting... and winning. What a difference attitude can make...

Dum Dum Girls in Barcelona: sound matters

Dum Dum Girls (+ Arponera). La [2] de Apolo, Barcelona, April 5th
 

Dum Dum's style. Photo: Bloodbuzzed

I was really looking forward to see the Dum Dum Girls for the first time live. Their music is highly addictive and the chance of seeing them very close, as La [2] de Apolo is a small place, was also appealing. Pretty soon the venue revealed their pros and cons.

Before Dum Dum Girls took the stage, the support act Arponera tried to warm up the (pretty cold) night. But they couldn't. I'm pretty sorry to say it, but what was that? Someone should change that tendency of Spanish indie of lyrics that for the sake of being supposedly funny or odd makes the group relevant. There's only one Manos de Topo, and besides unusual lyrics and an eccentric lead singer, they have some (quite a lot, as a matter of fact) talent and tunes. Arponera doesn't have any of these two qualities yet, so their set was quite annoying.

Dee Dee in action
Photo: Bloodbuzzed

Time for the Dum Dum Girls, finally. Yes, the first impression can't be better. Four attractive women playing guitars (and drums), all dressed for the occasion, with drinks and bottles strategically located. Pure rock'n'roll style, despite the bassist looking a bit lost (something that would continue during the whole gig). Guitars kicked in... but not the voice. Again, the "curse" of La [2] de Apolo, swallowing Dee Dee's voice. Once more on the first row. Once more incapable of hearing the lead singer. The first part of the gig, with "He Gets Me High", "Catholicked", "I Will Be", "Wasting Away" ruined by the sound. I don't know if this fact is the decision of the bands that play here or just a matter of a bad performance from sound engineers, but I have been at this venue dozens of times, have enjoyed fantastic concerts, but suffered as well some disappointing ones. 

More Dee Dee in BCN
Photo: Bloodbuzzed

With that femme fatale attitude there was little interaction with the audience, so the fear of being a wasted occasion was present. Luckily, things started to improve, after "Rest of Our Lives" and the lovely "Bedroom Eyes". Dee Dee, who turned to be a relentless frontwoman, battling against the (excessive) noise, was able to show, slowly, her vocal range. Hits "Bhang Bhang, I'm a Burnout" and "Jail La La" preceded the super-catchy "Always Looking". And the best was yet to come.

Gig's setlist.
Photo: Bloodbuzzed

Because finally, sound "became" decent. It was Dee who asked the engineers to low down her guitar before starting a couple of songs, but the final tunes of the setlist sounded superb, showing the amazing mixture of these sharp guitars and noise backgrounds with their trademark effervescent pop melodies. "Heartbeat", "Hold Your Hand", before newbies "I Got Nothing" and "Lavender Haze", both excellent (next release sounds really promising with tunes like that), raised the level of the gig. "Sight of You", their Pale Saints' cover followed in a stunning performance. Afterwards, they left the stage for a very short while, returning with "Coming Down", Mazzy Star's close sister, and one of their best songs to date.

With that fantastic end, I left the venue with mixed emotions, half-frustrated, half-satisfied. This band rocks, we were able to hear it for a while, so this concert could (should) have been spectacular.  

Shoegazing storm with The Ravonettes in Barcelona

The Raveonettes (+ Versatile). Sala Bikini, Barcelona, June 3rd

Among the posts pending there was the review of The Ravonettes gig at Sala Bikini in Barcelona. The Danish duo was presenting their latest album, the gloomy and moody "Raven in the Grave", and the expectations were high, due to the quality of the album, and because of the chance of seeing the group in a small venue, usually with a great acoustic.

After a local support act, named Versatile, that won't go down in history, The Raveonettes took the stage to trigger the shoegazing storm the night was destined to be. The opening trio of "Recharge and Revolt", the wonderful "War in Heaven" and "Let Me On Out" was the warm-up of the night and gave the public the first taste of how the concert would develop: intensity, a desired prevalence of guitars and percussion among the voices, close to noise sometines, full of reverb and feedback, where the subtleties of their latest album were replaced by the vibrations of the small but full venue.

That Sharin Foo and Sune Rose Wagner chose their darkest material was clear after they combined "Dead Sound", "Noisy Summer" and the always addictive "Love in a Trashcan". By then, for me at least, as much as the guitars and double drumming were exciting, losing the vocals and their intertwining (and I was on the first row) was a bit disappointing, being one of the highlights that make The Raveonettes special.

As I said, the whole night was prolific on their garage/shoegazing classics, giving the band the opportunity of inserting almost all of "Raven in the Grave" (8 of the 9 songs from the album), that flowed smoothly with the old material, with special mention of the terrific combo "Evil Seeds"-"Ignite". In terms of cohesion, the gig was superb, making the people move with the noisier tunes and keep their breath with the paused ones. But for the ones that were expecting some more "In and Out of Control" songs (still hoping one day I'ill hear "Bang!" live), the night only rewarded us with a sublime "Heart of Stone".

Overall a good concert, with many songs to remember (was great to hear some oldies like "Attack of the Ghost Riders" or "The Love Gang") and a band in perfect form and total control of what and how they want to do things, although I would have preferred a different setlist (you can check it fully below) and a lesser garage sounding.

1. Recharge and Revolt
2. War in Heaven
3. Let Me On Out
4. Dead Sound
5. Noisy Summer
6. Love in a Trashcan
7. Lust
8. Apparitions
9. Evil Seeds
10. Ignite
11. The Love Gang
12. My Tornado
13. Attack of the Ghost Riders
14. Heart of Stone
15. My Time’s Up
16. Forget That You're Young (encore)
17. Aly, Walk With Me (encore)

Discoverer Special: Primavera Sound new findings

For today's round of new findings I propose you bands that are playing at Primavera Sound Festival  2011. Some more excellent options among to choose to see live this coming week!

The Tallest Man On Earth. Among the bands discovered by now, there's a special place for Kristian Matsson, aka The Tallest Man on Earth. Hailing from Dalarna, Sweden, he's a young (just 28), modern era folkie troubadour, but not just one more to add to the bunch. His songwriting skills, his fingerpicking guitar style and his mesmerizing voice will translate you directly to another time, another place and another name: yes, Bob Dylan. But vocal similarities aside, I'm just using the comparison to highlight how big the talents of Matsson are. Best thing you can do is to judge yourself, checking his two albums and EPs. Eagerly awaiting to see him live on Saturday afternoon.
The Tallest Man on Earth - King of Spain
The Tallest Man On Earth - The Dreamer

Deep Sea Arcade. This Australian (from Sidney) five-piece band will make you think immediately on the 60s and another mythical name: The Beatles. Luckily, there's a more adventurous music here, closer to the power-pop classicism and The Zombies psychedelia, but also to Bristol's sound or Air's ambient pop. What matters, though, is that whatever their approach is, the band always seems capable of transform it into an addictive pill of perfect indie-pop, with an unforgettable melody. Their debut album will be out on September, but I already guarantee you won't regret listen them now.

Las Robertas. This ridiculously young (the four members are well under 25) all-girl band comes from San José, Costa Rica, a place that you won't usually relate with the actual melodic lo-fi punk explosion. But they don't have anything to envy to Vivian Girls, Best Coast or the Dum Dum Girls. In fact, they have pretty distinctive sound, a bit darker (full of death references) and noisier, despite the mixture of wistful vocals harmonies and crunchier guitar riffs, reminiscent of Black Tambourine or Sonic Youth. Their debut album,"Cry Out Loud", was released last year, gaining the recognition such a collection of hits deserves.


Las Robertas - V for you