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"Turn it up!"
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Alba Molina
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Chambao
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The temperatures are already in the nineties in Jerez, and the clock has yet
to strike twelve. The city center shows no trace of a festival, but venture into
the outskirts and there are tell-tale signs everywhere you look. Young guys and
girls dozing under any inert object which provides the smallest spot of shade,
fleeing from the heat and the cramped conditions of the camping area provided
by the organizers. It's a miracle they all survived and many of them were waiting
faithfully in front of the flamenco stage at six in the afternoon. Their reward
will be in heaven. Las Niñas opened, a new female trio from Seville who
offer "Rhythm and blues in Andaluz", with a flamenco twist provided
by Alba Molina (who's changed styles after her recent solo project), daughter
of Lole y Manuel. Their vocal performance, the quality of their live act and the
originality of the fusion work to their advantage, and their catchy, rebellious
bad-girl lyrics also serve them well. They make a space for the trio's flamenco
jondo representative to rescue some of her parents' material, justifying their
position on the bill. "If I could move the hands of time I'd be by your side
right now." And all this dressed in a miniskirt complete with tribute to
Pelé and motorcycle boots.
"Can't see many people ready to chill out here!" The guitarist from
Chambao is dead right. Too early, too hot, too calm to get the small crowd going.
The 'flamenco chill' group - more style than content - filled the asphalt with
their monotonous sounds, layering guitars, keyboard, percussion, computers and
vocals. The single taken from their first release and their version of Triana's
'Tu frialdad' delight their fans. But Chambao's live set, too solemn and lacking
in both depth and detail, can't keep pace with the hyperactive Macaco, who whips
the audience at the next stage into a frenzy. The crowd wants to warm up, not
chill out…
For over an hour the flamenco stage - a sorry affair by any standards - remained
empty. When Mártires
del Compás came out to greet their faithful band of disciples - the
largest of all the concerts on that stage - Amparanoia was in full swing and technical
problems overshadowed the start of the Mártires set. After a while it's
hard to even hear them. "The delay wasn't down to us... and turn it up, for
Christ's sake!" yells Chico. The tracks from the band's now plentiful discography
are interspersed with occasional new tracks, as the vocalist leads the show with
his inimitable style and magical ability to reach the audience. 'Tiritirrap',
'Para ser flamenco', 'El tangao'... A saeta here, alegrías there... a dash
of Chayanne, a little Nino Bravo, Raphael, Prince... and a little sociopolitical
critique which isn't out of place. The Cuban group Orishas start playing on the
next stage... And the band from Seville, in Jerez for the first time (incredible
but true) take it light-heartedly. "I'm gonna have to dance to their tune."
They're martyrs alright, but only of compás, so they have to ask the audience
to make some noise to compete with the next stage… and amidst the roar of
the crowd they continue to preach their street philosophy. The flamenco guitar
is David, battling against the Goliath of Cuban hip-hop. And David came out on
top - by the time they'd finished the encore the crowd were on their knees.
Navajita
Plateá doesn't have to battle against the stage on the right, but does
suffer with the amplification (the organizers later offered an apology). With
a more pop-rock stance, the group from Jerez wastes no time diving into popular
numbers like 'Noches de Bohemia' and 'Entre la luna y el río'. Guitars,
drums, percussion and backing vocals support the vocalist who, in spite of his
efforts, is unable to hold the audience's attention. "Do we know how to clap
to bulerías? Give us a break, we're in Jerez!". Zucco 103 strike up
behind with no mercy and no frills. The audience dwindles, at this hour there's
a lot on offer: Amaral, O'Funquillo, The Wailers, Fangoria... and maybe the order
of the line-up on the flamenco fusion stage could've been better.
Chico Ocaña
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Navajita Plateá
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Rights and wrongs. The 2003 Festival Espárrago had its share of both
on this its 15th anniversary... more wrongs than rights, some have said. As far
as flamenco is concerned, the very fact that there's a festival which brings together
some of the biggest names in fusion on the same stage over two days is commendable
in itself. And that this is offered alongside a selection of Spanish and international
rock, pop, electronic music and hip-hop is also praiseworthy. The main criticism
has to be leveled at the poor conditions most acts had to perform under, at times
going just a little too far. A stage which according to backstage gossip has done
the rounds at more than one local street party, which had almost no lighting,
no access, no curtains, without decent amplification, and which was squeezed in
between two others… Hats off to the artists for their professional attitude
- they had reason enough to walk off stage. And hats off to the crowds for their
ability to keep the festival's fun loving carefree vibe alive in the face of the
string of adversities. Their reward will be in heaven.
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A slave to subsidy
The wrongs of the festival have a lot to do with the financial
difficulties of Munster Tourin. The firm which organizes the festival has suspended
payments as a result of the losses it accumulated in the 2000 edition, which had
to be canceled due to bad weather. Add to that the Andalusian regional government's
decision to withdraw its subsidy of 195,000 euros. While the future looks uncertain,
there is some hope. During a press conference held in Jerez on Tuesday July 29th
2003, the city council (which contributes 132,000 euros) reassured the public
that the city will host a rock festival next year, though it will have to be under
a different name. According to the 'Diario de Jerez' newspaper, the festival director,
Francis Cuberos, intends to initiate negotiations with companies willing to invest
in the festival, which also receives a 60,000 euro grant from the Cadiz provincial
council. On balance, as far as numbers of festival-goers are concerned (around
18,000) it was the third best turnout of the fifteen editions of the festival
(or the twelfth worst, depends how you look at it). If we might be permitted an
opinion, the fact that a business venture isn't commercially viable, cultural
or not, means Andalusian companies continue to be slaves to public subsidy, and
that this slavery is sometimes self-imposed. And that weighs down the development
of business in general in this part of the world, and in particular the cultural
sector, in bad need of viable projects which are independent of political influences.
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