Tag Archives: Barcelona

Summer in (and around) the city: Checking out Barcelona’s summer music festivals

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So far it has been an eventful summer for the concert goers of Barcelona. From the plethora of music festivals and events that take place every year in and around the Catalan capital, one can only check out so many; it is simply impossible to be everywhere at the same time, so -sometimes tough- choices have to be made.

This summer I decide to skip some of the major (and typically over-crowded) events such as Primavera Sound or Sónar, and I head out to Vida Festival at the port city of Vilanova i la Geltrú, just outside of Barcelona. Although I certainly enjoy the likes of Venezuelan American singer-songwriter Devendra Banhart and American psych-rockers Flaming Lips (the festival seems to attract increasingly bigger names each year), I am mostly drawn to the the overall relaxed vibe, scenic surroundings, and holiday/summer camp mood that emanates throughout. I think I’ll be also coming back next year.

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A week later I find myself back back in Barcelona’s boiling-hot Forum for this year’s edition of Cruïlla Summer Festival. I arrive early in order to see the charismatic Benjamin Clementine, one of the most promising singers-songwriters that have emerged in recent years. His performance is indeed exhilarating and his stage presence memorable – there’s little doubt we will be hearing more about him in times to come. Next up is Ryan Adams whose performance is lit by an incredible moon, followed by a lively and groovy set by Parov Stelar and his excellent live band.

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Last one on my list for this summer’s musical events is Pedralbes Festival, which takes place at the lush gardens of the Pedralbes Palace along Barcelona’s Diagonal avenue. I am there to see Yann Tiersen’s solo concert, a sort of mini retrospective of his remarkable career. Tiersen gets on the stage quietly, sits on the piano, and proceeds to reconstruct his intimate minimalist musical universe he’s become well-known for. Accompanied only by pre-recorded ambient sounds reproduced on stage on reel-to-reel tape, he gives a solemn, reflective performance that seems to sit well with the venue’s elegant character and stately environment, further enhancing the beautiful, moonlit summer night.

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Bach Brazil Barcelona

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Johann Sebastian Bach and Brazilian music have always enjoyed an intimate relationship. This is evident from the towering figure of Heitor Villa-Lobos and his magnificent Bachianas Brasileiras to subsequent Brazilian musicians (such as guitarist Baden Powell) who also found inspiration in Bach’s music and combined it with their own distinctive style.

Originally scored for soprano and an orchestra of cellos, the Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 suite is probably Villa-Lobos’s best-known work. A special rendition of the suite’s famous Aria (which has been also arranged for soprano and guitar by the composer) was recently made by singer Ilona Schneider and guitarist Diego Caicedo. Based in Barcelona, the duo delivers an emotionally charged and delicate performance, which is further enhanced by the atmosphere of the  accompanying video.

In fact, Barcelona claims a very special connection to Bach. This is largely due to legendary Catalan cellist Pablo Casals: In 1890, when he was still 13 years old, Casals chanced upon a copy of Bach’s six Cello Suites in a second-hand sheet music store in Barcelona. Several years later, after having studied them laboriously, Casals would perform Bach’s suites  in public and record them between 1936 and 1939.  They have since been performed and recorded extensively, and are now considered to be among Bach’s most important works.

A highly original take on Bach’s famous Prelude from Cello Suite No.1 can be heard from Armonipiano, a duo formed by harmonicist Rodrigo G Pahlen and pianist Gilles Estoppey. Also based in Barcelona, the two musicians perform a fresh and eclectic blend of jazz, tango, and Brazilian music. And a little bit of Bach, that is.

As shown by such brilliant and novel approaches, the mix of Bach, Brazil and Barcelona makes indeed for an exciting musical cocktail: A sort of baroque-flavored caipirinha, served in the music bars of the Catalan capital.

Gil Shaham, Greece and an old Chinese legend

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I recently had the chance to meet and talk with American violinist Gil Shaham in Barcelona, on the occasion of his performance of Alban Berg’s Violin Concerto in L’Auditori (you can read the full interview here).

Towards the end of our conversation we talked a bit about Greece and the soloist’s only visit there so far, which he seemed to remember very vividly:

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Gil Shaham with his ‘Countess Polignac’ Stradivarius, backstage in L’Auditori

“I have never been in Athens, but I’ve been in Thessaloniki. I performed there around 10 years ago with a very good Greek orchestra. We played a piece called the Butterfly Lovers’ Violin Concerto. I love this piece. It’s a sort of tone poem, and it tells a traditional story from the Chinese opera, very similar to Romeo and Juliet but in ancient Chinese style.

According to the story, the heroine, Zhu Yingtai, is forced to marry a noble man and she agrees to do so only if the wedding procession passes by the grave of her true love, Liang Shanbo. As the traditional Chinese wedding procession goes by the grave of young Shanbo, the earth shakes and lightning strikes and the earth shallows her up, and she throws herself into the grave of Shanbo. And in the end they are both resurrected as butterflies.

The piece is a symphonic version of a traditional Chinese opera, and it was composed in 1959 by two students at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Chen Gang and He Zhanhao. It became extremely successful; it is the single most often performed symphonic work ever!”

It appears Shaham’s Greek visit was quite special, and he still has fond memories of it:

“So we played this piece in Thessaloniki. It was a very nice experience and and I have a beautiful memory of it. My whole family was with me, including my daughter who was just one year old at the time.”

We also talked about Greek violinist Leonidas Kavakos, for whom Shaham has a deep appreciation. The two artists also share some common experiences:

“We went to the same music school with Leonidas in New York. He was a little bit older. We live parallel lives so we never see each other, but then around 2 years ago we were in Munich at the same time and we had dinner together. That was very nice. I love his playing.”

Shaham, like Kavakos, has been one of the foremost violinists of his generation and it would be quite an occasion if their parallel routes also intersected in the concert hall – and it would be hard to think of a more fitting location for such a meeting to take place than Greece.

Whole lotta shakin’ – A day at Barcelona’s Cruïlla Festival

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Following the incredible experience of Primavera Sound, I find myself heading back to Barcelona’s Parc del Fòrum for the high point of this summer’s Cruïlla Festival. Robert Plant, Alabama Shakes, James, and many more feature in this year’s diverse and promising lineup. 

For the s(h)ake of music

First up come Snarky Puppy, a Brooklyn-based jazz-fusion collective led by bassist Michael League. Their funky tunes get everyone groovin’ as the band’s eclectic mix of styles takes us to a musical trip with such diverse references as Balkan and African sounds to Stevie Wonder and Radiohead.

English rockers James are next, and they start right away with Getting Away with It (All Messed Up) as I am still rushing toward the stage. Singer Tim Booth proceeds with stage diving and as he mingles with the audience I suddenly realize he is literally in front of me, so I keep cool and take the opportunity for an extreme close-up shot!

The evening sky is getting dark and the Cruïlla stage is graced with the presence of Alabama Shakes and their charismatic lead singer and guitarist Brittany Howard. Howard’s distinctive vocal style and guitar playing make for a truly captivating and emotionally charged performance. Along with other talented upcoming artists such as Leon Bridges, Alabama Shakes are no doubt one of the most original bands in the current revival of American gospel, blues, and soul music.

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Whole lotta shakin’ goin’ on

Robert Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters are about to take the stage, and the atmosphere is electrified. A living rock legend, Plant has shown time and again his restless nature and tendency for experimentation. His remarkable last album is another stop in his constant musical exploration and a highly seductive mix of classic rock with African, bluegrass, and Celtic elements.

Even though he is surrounded by a group of excellent instrumentalists and highly accomplished musicians, it is nevertheless Plant’s imposing, majestic stage presence that immediately grasps everyone’s attention. His voice has matured gracefully and, together with the Sensational Space Shifters, he delivers a fascinating set comprising of both new and old numbers, including classics such as Whole Lotta Love, Babe I’m Gonna Leave You, and no less than three songs from Led Zeppelin’s classic fourth album (Black Dog, Rock and Roll, Going to California).

Still under the spell of Plant’s mesmerizing performance, I stick around to check some more of the festival’s acts, such as Fermin Muguruza & New Orleans Basque Orkestra, Shantel, and Skunk Anansie. It has been a full day and a whole lotta shakin’ with groovy, soulful, and exhilarating music.

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The Sound of Primavera

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Sure enough, this year’s Primavera Sound included all the necessary ingredients of a grand festival: ping pong between stages, losing friends along the way, rushing for beer, fighting for a good spot, finding your friends only to lose them again. But the most important ingredient of all came in abundance:  an overdose of uplifting, inspiring music, much more that one man alone can handle (I still tried my best!).

But let’s take it one day at a time…

Day 1: Taking off

It’s only fitting that the music journey about to begin kicks off with names such as Explosions In The Sky and Air. As the Barcelona sky is gradually being painted in shades of purple, the air is filled with the sound of miniature instrumental symphonies and electronic art pop from the Texas post-rock band and the French duo respectively.

Once everyone’s mood and spirits are lifted, Australian psychedelic rockers Tame Impala take the stage. With a set comprising mostly of tunes from their excellent last two albums Lonerism and Currents, they give a dynamic performance marked by colorful, trippy visuals and Parker’s precise delivery of the vocal and guitar parts (almost identical to the actual recordings – perhaps a more relaxed take would be even more effective).

The night goes on with LCD Soundsystem and smaller electronic/dance acts that keep the audience going until the early morning hours. But not me: I feel like I only want to go backwards (toward the exit, that is) and charge my batteries for the following days.

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Day 2: Losing one’s self

I arrive in time for Beirut, whose Balkan folk feel and sound gets the blood flowing. It’s already getting dark and I rush to the main stage to secure a decent spot and get a glimpse of Radiohead, the festival’s biggest name and arguably the most important rock group of our times.

The experience is thrilling. It’s been almost a decade since I had last watched them in Amsterdam, and their sound has evolved significantly in the meantime. I know it’s not just me who waits in great anticipation: a deafening silence hovers over the huge crowd that has gahered to watch the revered band from Oxfordshire. And mind you, silence here in Barcelona is not exactly normal during rock concerts.

The first notes of Burn the Witch finally break through, followed by the first half of the band’s  acclaimed new album A Moon Shaped Pool. Radiohead proceed to cover their entire catalogue, including tracks from Kid A, The King of Limbs, and In Rainbows. But it’s with the opening melody of No Surprises that the audience’s silent, reflective mood suddenly changes to open endorsement and unrestrained excitemet. And it’s the spontaneous reaction to Karma Police, another track from OK Computer, that marks the concert’s perhaps most memorable moment, as a sea of people keeps singing “for a minute there… I lost myself, I lost myself…” well after the song is over.

Impossible as it seems to follow such an act, the show must go on and The Last Shadow Puppets are next on the bill. Not knowing quite what to expect,  I am delighted to see the band accompanied by a string quartet on stage. Alex Turner takes the lead and together with Miles Kane, they give a quite remarkable performance which ends with nothing less than a lengthy jam over the Beatles guitar-heavy dynamite I Want You (She’s So Heavy). That’s a good time to call it a night, and by this point I am pretty exhausted anyway.

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Day 3: The witching hour

Today I have a date with pop history: Songwriting genius Brian Wilson performs the entire Pet Sounds album together with a band of seasoned veteran musicians. His voice has lost its old sparkle (and much of its range) and his stage presence can only be described as ‘static’, but somehow the brilliance of his music makes up for all this. And when Good Vibrations comes up as an encore, I just don’t need I could ask for anything more.

But of course there’s more. I pass by indie rockers Deerhunter before moving on to another stage to catch English singer-songwriter PJ Harvey. Her presence is captivating and she delivers an atmospheric performance that blends well with the surroundings as the Barcelona sky turns dark.

The clock strikes midnight and instead of demons and witches, a different kind of supernatural beings appear on stage. It is the Icelandic post-rockers Sigur Rós with their otherwordly, transcendental sound. It seems impossible to grasp how this kind of music is made by human beings; frontman Jónsi Birgisson’s hunting falsetto, ethereal bowed guitar, and the bewitching background visuals resemble more some strange magic ritual than a music show.

Still mesmerized, I stick around for a little longer to explore some more of the festival’s vast territory. As dawn breaks, I am on my way home full of images, impressions and a music playing constantly in my head: I cannot quite pin it down, but I know it is the sound of Primavera.

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