More than one person will have woken up today with their insides still stirred by the depth of the bass that Massive Attack launched yesterday from the main stage of Kobetamendi; many brains will still be working at full capacity, spurred on by the mental stimuli proposed last night by the precursors of trip hop; and others will have woken up with their hearts in their mouths, moved by the feelings awakened last night by the primary language of music.

Massive Attack merged into one showy and vibrant artistic and political ceremony (all art is political, by action or omission) and musical of just over an hour and a half of rhythmic evasion (sometimes darker and deeper bases, sometimes lighter and livelier) and political awareness. The musical base, with a variable formation of bass, guitars, two drums, keyboard, electronic bases and synthesizers, was backed by an exquisite visual montage in which there was no shortage, printed almost entirely in Basque, of anti-war messages, against the annihilation of the Palestinian people –”failure will be unforgivable,” they proclaimed– or ironic in the face of conspiracies –”susmoa beste kontrol era bat da”–.

Photo: David Recio

The British band started off at 11:00 pm, on time, with a dynamic performance in which the Jamaican airs of Horace Andy (“Angel” …) alternated on the microphone, the emotional crystalline voice of Elizabeth Fraser, ex-Cocteau Twins, (in the exciting version of “Song to the siren” by Tim Buckley, also adapted in its day by John Frusciante, and, for example, in a fabulous “Teadrop” in the final section to which even the rain added epicness) and Deborah Miller, who was more than enough in “Unifinished symphathy”. Also noteworthy was the powerful collaboration, in the first third of the concert, of the Scottish hip hop group Young Fathers.

Satisfied with the band’s stylistically sophisticated but earthly and lucid in its ideology artistic exercise (little more can be asked of someone who reads his time, interprets it under the filter of his conception of beauty and shares the result), we began our return home, afraid of the rain, without seeing Los Planetas, who celebrated three decades of their album. Super 8 and The Prodigy. You have to pace yourself and save your energy for three days of festival.

Of course, before that we had also enjoyed another of the great concerts of the day, that of the French AIR on the San Miguel stage, who recovered their album for the occasion Moon safarireleased in 1998, with which the French duo gave new meaning to the electronic scene.

AIR. Photo: David Recio.

Dressed in white and with a very visually effective plastic structure, the trio (Jean-Benoît Dunckel and Nicolas Godin on keyboards, synthesizers, bass and guitar, with the support of a skilled drummer) released, in the same order of their release, a collection of songs in which pop appears, guided by the bass, over slow rhythms for a delicate and elegant result.

The proposal, more oriented to savoring than to biting, was a winner despite the fact that it went from less to more, surely because it is impossible to maintain the rhythm of a concert that offers in its first half songs of the caliber of “Sexy boy”, “Kelly watch the stars” or “La femme d’argent”, the first of the album and, therefore, of yesterday’s concert. Who wouldn’t stay to live in that bass line?

The day started quite early, at 17:30, half an hour before the announced time due to the delay in opening doors due to technical problems. This unforeseen event hampered the initial concerts of Neska DJ, an electronic musician from Vitoria based in Amsterdam, in the Basoa space, and the Zarautz group Martin of Mars in the Beefeater tent, who nevertheless defended their energetic, vital pop with soul and funk touches. We look forward to their new album, Hey there!which will arrive in September.

Martin of Mars. Photo: Silvia Maidagan.

The Madrid quintet The Good Son was another of the early risers of the day. With Alicia Ros (bass and vocals, also in the trio Cariño) and Marco Frías alternating on vocals, the group displayed one after another their pleasant songs guided by a highly developed melodic instinct in 35 minutes. Songs like “En un lago”, a well-rounded pop single, and the new “Antes era campo todo esto” contributed to putting the festival in a higher gear.

The Good Son. Photo: Aliron Studio.

From the good son we move without interruption to the father, the Irish band Newdadcovering the barely 30 metres that separate the Firestone stage from the Txiki, a charming corner with artificial grass and a spectacular backdrop overlooking Mount Arraiz. The band from Galway also offered pop, with a darker touch than their bright predecessors and a clear influence from The Cure, including a version of Robert Smith’s band.

Newdad. Photo: Silvia Maidagan.

The first day of the festival also served for the Biscayans Shinova They will debut at the Bilbao BBK Live. Supported by their new and successful album The present –the concert started with “Alas” and “Gloria”–, the quintet proposed, supported by a carefully designed stage design, their winning formula for festivals (just this spring they have already been in SanSan Festival, Warm Up, Toledo Beat, Sonoramex de México, Palencia Sonora…): verses with contained rhythms and choruses to sing along to with delicate electronic touches. They promised “emotion and intensity” and they delivered.

Shinova. Photo: David Recio

There are two days of music ahead in Kobetamendi, in which the headliners already face a great challenge: to match the magical concert of Massive Attack.

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.