Summer has already ended in Barcelona, ??but there is still time for festivals at the Parc del Fòrum, which this Friday welcomed 8,000 people on the first day of Festival B with its offer of new trends and sounds from the independent scenes. In its ninth edition, the event born in La Fabra
The poster, ordered by the time of performance and not by the importance of the artist, reflects respect for all music such as those that this Friday evening featured top names such as Alizzz, Carolina Durante or Los Planetas, who with 30 years of experience, volunteers signed up for the evening, starring the sound of guitars.
And the 6-string instruments were present in almost all the performances from the beginning of the festival, at 6 in the afternoon, starting with the female duo Adiós Amores, or the young woman from Alicante Irene Garrido, who under the nom de guerre Irenegarry She accompanied the relaxed early atmosphere with her soft pop recipe that, electric guitar in hand, she performed accompanied by Hanna on drums.
A young, local audience gathered in front of the stages, in a relaxed atmosphere where they could see Carolina Durante, Cala Vento or Ginebras t-shirts, proof that people knew what they were coming for, a kilometer zero festival with few lines, quick access between the two scenarios and a slow pace that, instead of overwhelming with a multitude of names, opts for proposing a thoughtful selection.
Among these chosen ones, the presence of Israel Fernández and Diego del Morao could surprise at first glance, a duo that has become known with its somewhat uninhibited flamenco proposal, suitable for audiences like the one yesterday, which hosted the show among ‘oles’ to sometimes hairpieces and unskeptical looks of curiosity, as demonstrated by the fact that practically no one in the audience left the concert until its end. Israel Fernández, who appeared alone to deliver a fiery vocal flow to the audience, received his partner Diego with the Copla de Pedro el Morato to celebrate a performance in which they were accompanied by two cajons, and in which a heartfelt version of Camarón’s I am a gypsy.
Night fell around 8 p.m. with the Jägermusic stage already full of people to attend the concert of Sound Depression, the musical project of Marcos Crespo who, among the smoke and the flashing green and red lights, poured his dark voice matching the lyrics of his post-punk songs, which he performed based on rhythmic bases. The young Vallecano had the collaboration of Mario, Carolina Durante, on guitar in a version of the famous Cayetano from the Madrid group.
Five minutes before 9 o’clock it was the turn of Cristian Quirante, better known as Alizzz, who demonstrated his behind-the-scenes work savoir faire with a musically impeccable concert. Acclaimed by his audience, the former producer of C.Tangana started with Always the same a forceful performance in which he combined the songs from his last two works with the songs that he has written in collaboration with other artists, as well as some versions.
“Palmes Barcelona” called for Castelldefels while performing the rhythmic Superficial, light and danceable pop as well as Fatal, a funky rhythm that he performed supported by a band made up of drums, guitar, bass and keyboards. Dressed in a black sweater, white pants and sunglasses, Alizzz let himself be helped by the audience, who would no sooner chant songs like Todo me knows a little or Amanecer, than would suddenly go silent, in an apparent disconnection from the show. This was not the case when Sexo en la playa or El Encuentro were played, written with Amaia Romero. And the same thing happened with Before I Die, by C. Tangana and Rosalía, a reaction that the artist did not achieve so easily with his solo songs with the exception of Que Pasa Nen, a powerful tribute to Castelldefels and Baix Llobregat with criticism included for those who They despise the culture of the popular classes and the charnegos, the children of immigration.
The evening included surprises such as the performance of a new song, Despertar, for which she had the presence of “my favorite artist from Barcelona”, Maria Arnal, who also collaborated on the fast-paced Toro, by the Pamploneses El columpio assassin, a punk stroke that managed to animate the audience, as Alizzz had requested moments before. Marcus, from Sound Depression, also joined the party, collaborating in the performance of Ya no vales and later joining the audience as another spectator of the concerts.
While La Plazuela developed its effective funky flamenco show to the delight of the spectators on the Jägermusic stage, Los Planetas appeared punctually at the other end of the festival, and it was soon seen that the people of Granada had the favor of the public, who received the priests of the national indie with a shout consistent with the desire to see the band, which in 2023 has barely performed concerts while its members are immersed in personal projects.
They began the performance with Second Prize to review the band’s musical history, including Alegrías de graná and El negacionista review of their latest album, Las Canciones del Agua. There was also no shortage of fixtures from their live repertoire such as Islamabad, Joys of the Fire, Circular Currents in Time or the acclaimed Santos que yo te painte. Jota performed the songs with his eyes closed much of the time, hieratic and impassive, without problems leaving the stage for a moment in search of a cigarette that he smoked while singing Devuélveme la pasta. Everything was fine for the audience, mostly in their thirties although with exceptions such as a child who slept the sleep of the righteous in the stroller while his parents did not miss a note of the concert, part of those faithful followers who fill the people of Granada so much with pride.
The songs were played with hardly any interruptions during the hour and a quarter of the concert, which the quintet performed without forgetting songs like Lady of the Heights or Olympic Spirit, to close with A Good Day and, already in the encores, Toxicosmos and Pesadilla, ending a evening of reunion between these planets and their thousands of satellites, which scattered to continue the party with Carolina Durante and Cariño.