“At the Azkena Rock Festival you will hear raw rock and noisy riffs, at high volume”

the veteran Azkena Rock Festival He will not miss his annual date with rock, and he will make the guitars sound through the Mendizabala space for three days, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, June 15, 16 and 17.

The audience will enjoy big names in guitar music such as El Drogas, Rancid, Monster Magnet (Thursday), The Pretenders, Calexico, Incubus and The Soundtrack of Our Lives (Friday) and Lucinda Williams, Melvins, Iggy Pop and Alter Bridge ( Saturday), but, although they appear on the poster in a smaller size, the Basque groups will also have representation at the festival in the capital of Alava.

On Thursday Liher will play, as well as El Drogas; on Friday, Pasadena, and on Saturday it will be the turn of Ezpalak and Brigade Loco. We have spoken with members of those last three groups.

PASADENA (Friday, 6:00 p.m., Love stage)

The group from Vitoria will play at home on Friday, and will be in charge of entertaining, after Bones of Minerva, the atmosphere for the early risers of the day; his proposal of North American roots combines perfectly with other groups of the night, such as Calexico and The Soundtrack of Our Lives.

They will play songs from the albums “Pasadena” and “Izpia”.

Have you been to the Azkena Rock Festival before? When?

Yes, we go almost every year for a long time, as long as we don’t have a group concert on those days.

What memories do you have related to the festival?

Many groups that we love have played, and, being from Gasteiz, these concerts experienced with friends are special.

What concert seen in Mendizabala has stayed in your memory especially?

Queens of the Stone Age, Patti Smith, The Who, Michael Kiwanuka… There are many!

What do you promise to whoever comes to your concert?

Precious songs! (Hahaha)

What does it mean for the group to participate in such a massive festival?

It is a good opportunity to continue presenting our songs, so that they are spread and people who would otherwise ignore us know something about us.

Conversely, what drawbacks does a gig at a massive festival have, if any?

Regarding the duration, we will have to shorten the concert that we have been offering somewhat. On the other hand, we will not be able to use some instruments that we normally use; some demands are quite severe.

If the schedules allow it, which group or artist on the poster are you not going to miss?

Iggy Pop, Calexico, Incubus, The Soundtrack of Our Lives…

What is the last thing you do before going on stage?

All the members of the group hugged each other.

What is the first thing you do after leaving the stage?

Hug the rest of the group!

What is your favorite festival?

We don’t particularly like festivals, but Azkena is one of our favourites.

What is the first concert you saw?

Oskorri.

What is the last concert you went to?

Anje Duhalde, at this year’s Ibilaldia.

What concert you went to will you never forget?

They are many. The last one, Rosalía’s!

What is that concert that you would have liked to see but that will now be impossible?

Tina Turner.

Do you regret having gone to a concert that is better to forget?

No.

EZPALAK (Saturday, 5:30 p.m., God stage)

The Gipuzkoan quartet will present their album “Hortz aina hots” and a selection of songs from their two powerful previous albums, so you can hear “Itzalak, “Kontran”, “Zu izan”…

We have spoken with Eñaut Gaztañaga, guitarist of the group.

Have you been to the Azkena Rock Festival before? When?

Yes, many years. The last time, last year.

What memories do you have related to the festival?

It is a very comfortable festival with a very good atmosphere.

What concert seen in Mendizabala has stayed in your memory especially?

The Pearl Jam concert (2006). It was tremendous!

What do you promise to whoever comes to your concert?

That you will hear raw rock and loud riffs at high volume, and that the group will give their all on stage.

What will the public always find in a concert of yours?

Energy and emotion.

What does it mean for the group to participate in such a massive festival?

It’s nice to have these kinds of opportunities; It is an unbeatable opportunity to see other groups, share a good atmosphere with the rest of the groups and reach different people.

Conversely, what drawbacks does a gig at a massive festival have, if you think it does?

Normally, you cannot play the repertoire that you would play in a hall. Bands like ours have less time, and you have to think carefully about which songs to include in the concert.

If the schedules allow it, which group or artist on the poster are you not going to miss?

On Saturday I don’t want to miss at least Melvins or Iggy Pop.

What is the last thing you do before going on stage?

A few stretches and pee.

What is the first thing you do after leaving the stage?

Give the beer a drink!

What is your favorite festival?

I like small festivals, like the Canela Party for example; among the greats, perhaps due to proximity, Bilbao BBK Live.

What is the first concert you saw?

It would be from some group from the village, surely Lin Ton Taun.

What is the last concert you went to?

Janus Lester. We played together recently, and we were watching his concert.

What concert you went to will you never forget?

When I was very little, I got to see Metallica, on their “Load” album tour, and that concert had a big influence on me.

What is that concert that you would have liked to see but that will now be impossible?

Nirvana.

Do you regret having gone to a concert that is better to forget?

No!

CRAZY BRIGADE (Saturday, 6:00 p.m., Love stage)

The punk rock group, formed in Bergara in 2017, will play where their idolized Social Distortion did last year.

We have spoken with their guitarist Alex Arteaga Urrutia.

Have you been to the Azkena Rock Festival before? When?

Yes, I was in the ARF for the first time in last year’s edition, but some of the group’s colleagues had already been in previous editions.

What memories do you have related to the festival?

I keep very nice memories of last year, because Social Distortion played, a group that is very special to me and that I hadn’t seen for a long time.

I had the chance to see a lot of bands I didn’t know, and that’s what I like the most about festivals: meeting new bands.

We went in a gang, and we got together with other people from Gasteiz; it was a great weekend.

What concert seen in Mendizabala has stayed in your memory especially?

As I told you, I will always keep in my memory the concert by the Americans Social Distortion, but there are others that I really enjoyed: Mad Sin, The Afghan Whigs and the return of Delirium Tremens.

What do you promise to whoever comes to your concert? What will the public always find in a concert of yours?

Our concerts are full of energy. When we go on stage, our goal is to enjoy and infect people with that force.

The way we link one song to the next and our way of moving make it clear that we’re enjoying ourselves, and that’s what we want to offer: five friends, doing what they love.

In it set list you can find old and newer songs, from the most powerful to the quietest.

What does it mean for the group to participate in such a massive festival?

Playing at a festival like this is an amazing opportunity for the band. We are pleased to share the bill with such mythical and renowned groups.

In addition, we will surely find an audience that would never come to see us, and that will help us reach ears accustomed to other musical styles.

Conversely, what drawbacks does a gig at a massive festival have, if you think it does?

We have not found any limits. It is true that we have had to apply other types of protocols when working, and we are not so used to it.

In concerts like the ones we usually play they are not very frequent, but this shows that the festival organization does a great job and that they take care of the musicians and women.

If the schedules allow it, which group or artist on the poster are you not going to miss?

I will not miss the Iggy Pop concert in any way, nor will I miss the one with my friends from Ezpalak. In any case, as I told you before, I would like to meet new groups.

What is the last thing you do before going on stage?

I untie my shoelaces, and I tie them again tightly, but the most special moment is when all the members of the group get together: the five of us get together, and we review the repertoire. Next, we hug each other and sing a song to clear our nerves.

What is the first thing you do after leaving the stage?

After going downstairs, all of us in the group hug each other, one by one, and ask ourselves how it went: how it sounded, if we were comfortable…

What is your favorite festival?

Among the ones I know, my favorite festival and the most special one for me is Ekinez. It takes place in our town, Bergara, and our bass player is one of the organizers.

What is the first concert you saw?

The first was in the Bergara gaztetxe. She would have been 15 years old, and I remember the nerves, for the first time in a place like this, surrounded by adults… Kaleko Urdangak, Fridays Crew, Cold Revenge and Red District played.

What is the last concert you went to?

The last concert I have seen was that of the other group of our new bandmate Martin: the group Herdoil. And I also saw Oñati Letagin’s group, who played with them and won the Ekinez prize in the Danbaka demo contest, in Debagoiena.

What concert you went to will you never forget?

I will never forget the last concert that Bruce Springsteen gave at the Anoeta soccer field.

What is that concert that you would have liked to see but that will now be impossible?

Nowadays, what saddens me the most is not being able to see bands from another era, like the Ramones, Cicatriz, Creedence Clearwater Revival…

Do you regret having gone to a concert that is better to forget?

The truth is that I have never felt anything like this. There are concerts that you can enjoy less, but in all of them you keep something.

Source: Eitb

Bruce

Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.