Festival Nrmal 2012, Part Two

by Enrique Coyotzi

When Alex Anwandter’s outstanding set was over, I was really looking forward to seeing Javiera Mena own Nrmal stage. I had seen her twice in the past and was already familiar with her commanding live shows. However, Mena’s performance at the festival was underwhelming. She never really clicked with the audience (many didn’t know who she was), and her presentation never seemed to take off to such great heights as what her fellow Chileans had done previously that evening. Despite playing Mena’s favorites such as “Hasta La Verdad” and “Luz de Piedra de Luna,” the songstress appearance at Nrmal left a bunch wondering, “Was that it?” And inviting She’s a Tease’s Pibe as guest vocalist during “Sufrir” didn’t help, like, at all. It turned out to be counterproductive and off-putting. By the time she played “Al SiguienteNivel,” one couldn’t help but think she missed a great chance at a memorable performance. While I did have a good time chanting and jumping to her songs, when she was over it left me a sort of “meh” feeling.

James Ferraro’s set started exactly after Mena’s and I honestly could not get into it, even less so when I had in mind how Dávila 666 would fucking kick ass at Nrmal stage and alter all my senses. I had the chance to talk to the band’s lead bassist, AJ, during Anwandter’s show and he was extremely cool, accessible, and was notably excited by their upcoming performance. And, no shit, this was probably the most energetic presentation out of the whole bunch I had seen. The Dávila 666 guys possess the punk spirit at heart and showcase it mind-blowingly on stage. “Esa Nena Nunca Regresó,” “Obsesionao,” and their Nerves cover, “Hanging on the Telephone,” were all of part of the Puerto Rican’s engrossingly killer show, which was both fun and modestly aggressive.

Photos by Erez Avissar

As the cold kept getting more intense, I moved to Panamérika stage to catch a bit of Daniel Maloso’s show before Girls, who I’d been waiting all evening, finally began. This was a perfect idea. The Cómeme pupil brought warmth with his super hot, banging set, which progressively kept getting better, never stopping, and projecting a noteworthy sense of build up and appreciation for prolonged climaxes. I would’ve loved to stick around for his whole presentation, but the time to see Girls had finally come. A divisive band within our circuit (I’m talking about you, Andrew), the San Francisco duo offered an emotive, top-notch performance. An absolute highlight in every sense and rollercoaster of emotions from beginning to end, Girls brought tears to eyes, sent shivers down the spine, and had devoted fans singing their hearts out to Christopher Owen’s divinely painful lyrics.

I'm not really a fan of witch house, but it was intriguing to see White Ring’s spooky, coked-out show before getting ready to rock with El Columpio Asesino. Even as it got colder and I got more tired, I was thrilled to once again experience the Spanish ensemble. They didn’t fully convince me when I saw them last year at DF’s Corona Capital, when they played like at 3 p.m. or so, but this time around the weather and schedule was in their favor. Out of the whole performances I watched the whole day, El Columpio was the group that portrayed the most perfect synchronization and live qualities, functioning as a whole, as a marvelous rock band does, with each of its members in tune. Since they occupied Nrmal stage, El Columpio perplexed and grabbed audience attention without ever letting go. With a set that mostly consisted of their applauded fourth album, Diamantes, El Columpio Asesino reminded why their transcontinental success has been so huge.

The perfect closer of the night and the festival’s most enjoyable moment came when Tony Gallardo II and DJ Nombre Apellido (Los Macuanos’ Moih) occupied Panamérika stage. It was past midnight and, while most of the public was watching Los Rakas, us Gallardo hardcore fans were eagerly waiting for his smashing party to begin. One of the most notorious qualities Gallardo’s performances possess is that they’re pretty much unpredictable and extremely entertaining. This time around wasn’t the exception. Tony spotted Sonido San Francisco’s vocalist, Sebastián Cárdenas, the Adrianigual guys, and Alex Anwandter, and got them all on stage to dance as he kept doing his thing. Without a doubt, seeing all these artists reunited on one stage while visibly enjoying themselves was one of the festival’s most epic moments. With the assistance of DJ Nombre Apellido, interpreting his whole Líder Juvenil EP in its entirety, Gallardo gave the last essential performance of the festival and one that won’t be forgotten anytime soon by all of us who were there to presence it. When his set was over, after people asked for another tune, the youth leader told us he had one more song prepared, though he wouldn’t sing it, he’d dance to it with us. He pressed play and jumped with all of us to “Violentao" (Sheeqo Beat mix), delivering the ideal final touch to one of the year’s most epic journeys.

Festival Nrmal 2012, Part One

by Enrique Coyotzi

After drooling since the final lineup was announced and anxiously counting the hours, the day the third edition of Festival Nrmal would happen finally arrived. Under a cloudy sky, I made my way to Parque Diego Rivera just in time for Dani Shivers' presentation. Consisting of three stages (Nrmal, MtyMx, and Panamérika), this year’s edition held over 50 international bands, with the MtyMx stage curated by Todd P.

A few minutes after 1:00 p.m, dressed all in black, Tijuana’s favorite femme fatale, Dani Shivers, took the Nrmal stage and opened the festival. While her performance would’ve certainly worked better during the night and in a smaller setting, Shivers managed to deliver a memorable performance that had her few spectators absorbed by it. Just after Greatest Hits’ deliriously funky set, Los Mundos took the Nrmal stage and rocked the hell out of it. I had read about how kick-ass they were live, and, shit, they are. They are one of those rare cases when a band playing live sounds almost exactly like their studio recordings, and it’s pretty much amazing how they seem to effortlessly achieve it.

Afterwards came a holy-shit-fucking-mind-blowing set by AraabMuzik, who absolutely killed it and had the audience nodding heads and stoked by his fingers' dexterity, hammering his drum machine. Next was the turn of the first Chilean act, Adrianigual, whose radiant show began just when the sun started to shine. Lead singer, Diego Adrián, seemed fascinated to be at the festival. Enjoying every single second out of it, Adrianigual gave a splendidly uplifting presentation that, unfortunately, was cut before they properly said goodbye and played the last song they had programmed, “Sudamérica.” Now, I must explain. The Nrmal Stage and the MtyMx stage were right next to each other. Each performance on each stage lasted approximately 30 minutes and, so sound wouldn’t overlap, a presentation had to finish on one stage so the next one on the other could begin, and so on.

photos by Gabriel (Chacalall)

Right after getting something to eat, Juan Cirerol’s set began. Cirerol is one of those artists that make even more sense after seeing him live. The way he gesticulates, his guitar playing skillfullness, aguardientosa voice, instantaneous connectivity with the public, and overall stage presence are truly engaging and should convince those who think he’s only hype (fuck, no!); he’s a town poet. Widowspeak was a total snoozefest so no point getting into details. I missed Mentira Mentira’s performance cause Astro had to play before Unknown Mortal Orchestra, and I had never seen them before. One of the high points of the fest, Astro really know their shit and wonderfully work together as a live ensemble, exuding energy in each note played, and translating their repertoire in a pristine, celebrative manner.

Moving to the Panamérika stage, Andrea Balency demonstrated her gorgeous vocals and unique presence, delivering a hypnotizing performance which showcased her admirable solo abilities; strikingly mesmerizing and profoundly inspiring. Then back to the Nrmal stage for Grimes, where Claire Boucher announced that her gear was missing and that she would play her set with borrowed stuff. She was visibly frustrated but, despite not knowing how to use the equipment, Grimes gave her best to keep her audience entertained and totally nailed it, even though she was afraid it’d turn out to be, in her own words, “a total shit show.”

Just after Boucher’s performance, the finest moment of the festival finally took place at Panamérika stage. Although it was delayed for almost half an hour due to technical problems, Alex Anwandter’s presentation was, by far, the most exciting and beautiful one. Accompanied by Adrianigual’s Nacho Aedo on bass and Astro’s Lego Moustache on keyboards as his band, Anwandter immediately connected with the public. He warned us he had brought the solution for the cold weather, and that it would be dancing. “¿Cómo puedes vivir contigo mismo?” opened his set, which was followed by a favorite of his Odisea project, “Casa Latina.” And, as you might imagine, THOSE dance moves! Anwandter descended to into the the audience, breaking any kind of barrier and, therefore, striking up a direct kind of experience with his public. As the artist himself expressed, one of the highlights was when it began to rain exactly when he started to play “Tormenta”—an unforgettable precious moment that almost seemed prophetic.

Vive Latino 2011: Part Two

Part Two | by Enrique Coyotzi

After spending the whole day all by myself during the second day of Vive Latino, I decided to attend the third and last chapter of this year’s edition with some of my buddies. I spent the last pesos I had left for the ticket and hurried to the entrance because Jessy Bulbo was about to start rocking out. Unlike second day which had been frenetic, on Sunday the environment was pretty relaxed; of course it was early but you could tell already it wouldn’t be as crazy due to the visibly decrease of assistants. Not even booking an international acclaimed act like the British electronic duo The Chemical Brothers as headliners could achieve the same success Caifanes had obtained with their sold-out historic night. But really, none of this mattered cause ahead of the journey awaited wonderful performances.

My friends decided to check out someone else’s show, so I hurried to Escenario Indio and got just in time when Jessy Bulbo was taking off a red-blood colored scarf that revealed her figure wearing a skin-color bodysuit. Visuals were lysergic; I swear there even was a drawing of Top Cat on acid. With probably the most elaborated show of the whole day (masked back-up dancers with inflatable guitars and trapping ribbons), under an assassin sun, Bulbo put the audience into rocking mood with set opener “Mala Respuesta”, some of Telememe’s best songs like “Jaslo Casvie 1” or lead single “La Cruda Moral” and brought the slam (mosh-pit) with cult darlings “Maldito” and “Sexo Sin Amor”.

I would’ve switched the order of presentations; Chikita Violenta is always amazing live and this performance was no exception, but as lead singer Luis Arce suggested, it is indeed very hard to surpass Jessy Bulbo’s explosive show. They also experienced some technical problems; the audio disappeared for a couple seconds but the crowd demonstrated support with unstoppable handclapping. I was super excited with “Laydown” and TRE3S’ standouts “Tired” and “Roni”, this last one accompanied by Rey Pila who would take the stage after their partners. I met my comrades while the crowd was having a fantastic time with Rey Pila; you would’ve imagined first single “No Longer Fun” resonating the most, but Solorzano’s cover of his previous band, Los Dynamite’s “Frenzy” caused a bigger emotion than any of the songs from Rey Pila.

The first rocking third of the day ended; my buddies didn’t care moving to the main stage to catch up Fidel Nadal but I wasn’t going to miss this opportunity. You just had to walk a little into the audience to find tons of joints and long-time supporters of Nadal high as kites. I’m afraid this will sound totally cliché, but honestly, Fidel Nadal’s presentation was a moment of union between all of us assistants who were letting ourselves go with the Peace & Love vibe. Jumping from genre to genre, abruptly interrupting his band after a song started and getting the crowd chaotic constantly when asking them “¡¿seguimos?!”, Fidel Nadal redefined the swag term of reggae in his Vive Latino appearance.

Sacrificing the chance of watching Andrea Balency Trío performance, I moved to Carpa Roja to meet my friends. Bad move because I had to stand Telefunka’s final songs off of their live set. Since their beginnings I’ve always found this group terribly average and this time around was no exception. Thankfully La Mala Rodríguez was next so she would make up for these forgettable ten minutes. We got to Escenario Indio (again!); La Mala’s outfit seemed to be of some dominatrix hipster taken out of a daydream anime. Another one of Vive Latino’s surprise collaborations, Rodríguez was rapping with Kinky’s Gil Cerezo and delivering some verses of Kinky’s “Más” when we arrived. By the time she interpreted “Por La Noche” it was a striking ferocious moment. She closed with one of my favorite ghetto-living pieces “La Niña”.

We then moved up to the stadium stands just when The National was starting. It still seems random to me why they were selected to play in this festival as a headliner and still consider them one of the most boring overrated bands in the current indie landscape. It was enervating watching them and I couldn’t stand their whole performance. It was time to split up roads again and I didn’t have the minimum intention in watching Adanowsky so I opted to move again to Carpa Roja on my own for Disco Ruido’s electropoppy full-of-dance event. All acts had begun on time so far, and although ten minutes late, it probably was the revelation of this third day to me; the only part of the festival that featured heavy resonating beats and a celebration in the vein of a Justice concert.

Considering Disco Ruido had commenced kind of late, I was worried I wouldn’t be in time for Carla Morrison’s triumphant Vive Latino premiere and I was right for being preoccupied This was the first time I’d visited Carpa Intolerante and I had no idea it would be so tiny, even though I already had the feeling it wouldn’t do justice to Carla Morrison persona. I had to push a couple of girls to get a decent place; this was 20 minutes before Morrison began, if I had gotten there later it would’ve been almost impossible obtaining a decent place. The whole tent was full and audience was salivating for her to show up. She was received with the warmest ovation of the whole journey and it was just a matter of minutes before she put tears in the eyes of the assistants, including me. She opened with “Esta Soledad”, then her band that consisted of Juan Manuel Torreblanca, Mariel Mariel, Marian Ruzzi and Andrés Landón (Sonido Landon) joined her to continue breaking hearts with “Compartir”. The singer played the most heart-trenching songs off Mientras Tú Dormías, a breathtaking take of “Lágrimas” and invited Natalia Lafourcade to sing with her “Pajarito del Amor”. The performance was enchanting and it was over very fast, but it left me a tremendous satisfaction on my chest.

Babasónicos were closing their set at main stage where The Chemical Brothers were about to perform, but I didn’t have the chance of catching up the last songs they played. I met with my buddies and we moved to the main stage. After the melancholic mood Carla Morrison had put me into, it was awkward getting into the party with The Chemical Brothers but really, it just took a minute before they kicked off with “Galvanize” to get me dancing. The third day of Vive Latino 2011 was the best of all; I could enjoy a greater number of performances, had the chance of sharing some of them with my friends and finished a long day with an enormous big beat party and hypnotic visuals.

Vive Latino 2011: Part One

Part One | by Enrique Coyotzi

Friday was a disastrous first day at Vive Latino, no point getting into details but let’s just say that a photo pass doesn’t precisely grant you the option of watching a full performance by any band. Having obtained a different type of acreditation, today’s experience at Vive Latino was a completely different and a satisfying one. This is the only day (second out of three) that has sold out of this edition; of course this happened due to the reunion of the legendary rock band Caifanes – you could tell this was their day: most of the merchandise outside Foro Sol was dedicated to them; veteran fans, neophites, even parents with their children wore proudly their idols t-shirts, while the most hardcore fans stood in front of the stage since access was granted.

My arrival at Mexico City was late and unfortunately I missed Vicente Gayo and Joe Volume’s performances, but was just in time before El Guincho began. I catched up the last couple of songs by Bengala which are indeed a mexicanized version of Kings of Leon; people went insane with their popular single “Carretera” and an awfully underwhelming cover of Alaska y Dinarama’s “Ni Tú Ni Nadie” that was their set closer. Their fans quickly left and allowed us El Guincho devotees to get in front of the stage. Accompanied by a bassist and guitarist, Pablo Díaz-Reixa offered a fascinating set that consisted mostly from last year’s magnificent Pop Negro as well as some of the best tracks from his beloved Alegranza; it was amusing watching the audience trying to find out how to move to “Ghetto Fácil” or “Soca de Eclipse”, yet they had no trouble finding the right steps for “Palmitos Park” and “Bombay”, this one especially had everybody dancing.


Like in most festivals, travelling from scenary to scenary is exhausting, but I never thought it’d be that exhausting getting to the stage where Torreblanca would perform. After rounding Foro Sol and running like a roadrunner, I finally arrived to Carpa Roja stage (more like Dust stage) in the middle of Torreblanca’s presentation. Juan Manuel looked spectacular with that long white coat, he’s got a unique elegant presence and is a virtuoso performer. The band was playing an upbeat new song that finished with an extract of Café Tacvba’s “Last Batallas”, this was followed by their new single “Lobo” which if it wasn’t huge enough in mp3 format, live is a mind-blowing flood of energy. “Defensa” was the song that ended the presentation, I was very happy people responded so enthusiatically, they really were craving for more. Luckily Natalia Lafourcade’s show was going to take place in the same stage, so I didn’t have to move. You can tell Lafourcade is already one of Mexico’s most adored chanteuses, you could see people running to the scenary minutes before she began just to get a good view. Featuring a big band with a brass section, Natalia owned the night even though she couldn’t play any instrument due to doctor’s orders, yet she mesmerized us all with Hu Hu Hu’s outstanding gems “Cursis Melodías”, “No Viniste”, “Ella Es Bonita” and “Azul”; Amar te Duele’s soundtrack heartbreaker “Amarte Duele” and Natalia y la Forquetina-era “Casa”, where Lafourcade announced a guest and Meme joined her in the vocals, it was an special moment seeing them on the same stage.


Afterwards I moved to the main stage where Caifanes was going to play, and although I tried to avoid Los Enanitos Verdes show, I managed to catch the last 2 songs they played – of course they predictably closed with “Lamento Boliviano”. When these guys were over, expectative among spectactors grew even bigger. I have never been a big fan of Caifanes but it was exciting sharing the anticipation of the audience before the band came out and how Foro Sol was filled of ovations when the band finally took the stage. Caifanes are responsable of some of the most important rock songs in Mexican rock collective memory. Classics like “Viento”, “Afuera” and “La Célula Que Explota” had practically every mouth at Foro Sol singing them, but pretty much everyone there knew the lyrics to all of the songs. Caifanes performance closed the biggest day at Vive Latino 2011; today promises to be a good day too.

Maria Daniela y Su Sonido Lasser / Silverio Concert Review

THE BLACKOUT PARTY BY NUEVOS RICOS
María Daniela y Su Sonido Lasser / Silverio / Devon Disaster
August 30, 2008 (Phoenix, AZ)

Nuevos Ricos is a growing independent label based in Mexico City on support of the electronic scene and its derivatives (clash, glam, garage etc). They may not be delivering the level of quality releases from MUN or Tercer Piso but that doesn’t stop it from been the most exciting label of modern music made in the Aztec country. Understanding their project means setting the music industry into different disciplines: the visual goodies of their colorful and abstract websites, the exhilarating press releases, the music itself and their code for partying hard and loud. The Blackout Party is a 30-city tour from two of the label’s most popular acts: the unpredictable DJ who wants to be called “your majesty” Silverio, and the very girly but magnetic Maria Daniela y Su Sonido Lasser.

The event was scheduled at 8:00 P.M. at Tio Leo’s Cantina; nature sometimes is bitch and decided to give us a strong monsoon just a day before the party. Electricity was off and so it was decided a few hours before the show to change its location to an open place on downtown Phoenix. Because there was no official announcement (at least not on time) we ended up translating from the old place to the new one, almost looked like a caravan of fluorescent colors. Aside from the uncomfortable but inevitable voyage through the not very exciting phoenix night life, things looked promising as many lights waited for us. Also awaiting audience was Cidade dos Homens, the follow-up series to the Oscar nominated film Cidade de Deus directed by Fernando Mierelles projected on a two-story building next to the hosting party house. Presumably shown in there for visual pleasure, but meaningless until the music kicked off.

The improvised stage welcomed the opening act Devon Disaster, an exciting electro/club act from Germany. It is led by an attractive girl with strong attitude. The performance suffered from all the technical problems one can think of. At one point she even joked about them making honor to their name through this disaster. Nonetheless it proved to be in the right place with potential followers in blowing attendance. Next up was Silverio, a one of a kind character hard to resist. In my review of a couple of months I mentioned that his albums are incomplete offerings, he is a showman by all means and brings one of the most unprecedented “styles” of reaching the audience. I’ll just say that like his music, he lets it all hang out.

Silverio is releasing his latest EP titled Superacion Personal, which I initially found annoying but after getting that other half at his performance grew on me. Still, an inferior sophomore production that is just too safe for its own good. Those of us following Silverio knew what we were getting into; those people that were brought to the event by friends or just stopped by showed shocking reactions from their first encounter with Silverio. Anthem track “Yepa Yepa Yepa” was a stunner opener, followed by songs he dedicated to himself such as “El Idolo” and “Superacion Personal.”

Headliner Maria Daniela y Su Sonido Lasser reached the stage at very ‘late’ hours; people were waiting for that peculiar voice of hers and the talents of electric guru Emilio Ecevedo. Maria Daniela is simply charming, a petite body doing its thing at very high energy. The track “Pecadora normal” opened the act’s performance, while first single “Pobre Estupida” exploded the wild audience, which was followed by some of her best songs from her latest album Juventud en Extasis. Electro pop acts in Latin America seem to embrace Daniela Romo, a telenovela actress that made a quick career in music during the 80s but apparently left her influences in the most radical kitsch sound of Maria Daniela or the down tempo electrifying music of Javiera Mena. Maria Daniela does a fine job at making homage to the actress with a cover of “Mentiras.”

The finest moment of the night arrived with the performance of “Carita de Angel”, a cover included in the Rigo es Amor compilation, a collection of some of Rigo Tovar’s most popular songs on altered versions by Nortec, Plastilina Mosh, Cabas, Los Amigos Invisibles, Austin TV among other artists. As we were waiting for “Miedo”, the first and most popular hit by the duet the volume was shut down and the Phoenix Police interrupted the ‘healthy’ session of electropop in the dance halls. It appears that the event was taken as a loud party, but it’s understandable since the organizers probably didn’t have time to put everything in order, again nature sometimes is a bitch. The event was actually awesome considering the circumstances, and we had enough Maria Daniela y Su Sonido Lasser to reaffirm her status as the leading electropop act in the Mexican indie scene, which includes among others Sussie 4, Quiero Club, Faca and Electrica Miami.

Next concert in Phoenix
THE MARS VOLTA, October 1, 2008