Haim and Wolf Alice, that thing called indie
If on Thursday the festival became a dance floor, this Friday it was time to take the wraps off and return to the festival's original identity, that thing called indie, which yesterday featured traces of rock and folk without turning up its nose at all the electronic music that has been added in recent decades, nor looking back for inspiration.
The offering was generous to the point of overlapping, from the opening act with the garage acts Amor Líquido and the post-punk thrash unleashed by the Dutch band Tramhaus - a notable physical display by vocalist Lucas Jansen as the lively act of the crowd - until after midnight, when Carolina Durante and The Jesus Lizard had their concerts scheduled as an alternative to Sabrina Carpenter.
Wolf Alice
Alex GarciaThe same thing happened mid-afternoon, when Wolf Alice coincided with The Hard Quartet, competing on the festival's main stages, the Estrella Damm and the Amazon. When in doubt, opportunity called for HQ, a superband where Stephen Malkmus, vocalist of Pavement, shares the lead with Matt Sweeny (Iggy Pop, Dixie Chicks), Jim White (PJ Harvey, Cat Power), and Emmet Kelly (Ty Segall). Longtime colleagues, live they sounded like a bunch of friends getting together to play. With that lightheartedness of things done with taste, they explored their only self-titled album, between the ballad-driven Earth Hater , the Californian folk of Our Hometown Boy , the punk influences of Renegade , and the primitive sound of Action for Military Boys .
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At the same time, the British Wolf Alice left us with Bloom Baby Bloom , a preview of their next album, in an energetic performance where their more punk and guitar-driven side was muffled by the voice of Ellie Roswell, which rose in screams to attract the audience and applied a mute when convenient. That did not take away from the power of the English quartet, who already know what it is to win a Mercury or play at Glastonbury, and who this Friday took over the stage with garage hits to the chin like Yuk Foo or the initial Formidable cool that coexisted with more complex elaborations, such as The last man on earth or the quilted Silk .
Stephen Malkmus of The Hard Quartet
Alex GarciaThe Haim sisters had more space, taking advantage of their visit to Barcelona to present their new album. It was in a session where they burned their bridges right from the start with "The Wire ," one of the songs that launched them to fame just over 10 years ago. The three sisters, who were compared to Fleetwood Mac in their early days (they are currently working on a single with Stevie Nicks), displayed a sound that links them to the American rock of Alanis Morrissette and Sheryl Crow.
With Danielle on guitar, Este on bass and rhythm guitar in the hands of Alana –also known for her role in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Licorice Pizza– Haim reviewed their discography without forgetting the diaphanous Gasoline , recorded with Taylor Swift, as well as the aforementioned new songs such as Relationships , with a rhythm that could easily be placed in any of the last decades. Or Everybody is tryin to figure me out , with Danielle on drums showing the multi-instrumentalist side that she shares with her sisters.
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Along the same lines and from the same Anglo-Saxon origins came Waxahatchee, another exponent of the new folk rock scene, incorporating country influences and filling the stands of the Cupra stage before 7 p.m. The singer-songwriter from Alabama coincided—without really being a competitor—with Yoasobi, the J-Pop duo formed by Ayase and Ikura who, accompanied by four other musicians, turned the Revolut stage into an amusement park filled with colorful figures worthy of any Valencian falla. Their songs could have accompanied any 90s manga, fast-paced with drum beats and anxious keyboards, pleasantly surprising the Friday's early risers.
At the other end of the spectrum was Zaho de Sagazan, a hot voice in France and around the world, who took advantage of the last light of day to present his debut album, La symphonie des éclairs, defined as a cross between chanson and electronica, which this Friday was performed by a percussion and keyboard quartet. Meanwhile, Sagazan moved around the stage, taking it over as he took over the audience, with the elegant mezzo gravity of his voice and the ability to incite dancing of songs like Hab sex . A collection of dance and French songs contrasted with the Anglo-Saxon—and this Friday, the guitar-driven—domination of the festival.
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