{"id":5668,"date":"2019-07-02T14:34:21","date_gmt":"2019-07-02T12:34:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elgarajedefrank.es\/?p=5668"},"modified":"2024-05-29T16:05:03","modified_gmt":"2024-05-29T14:05:03","slug":"paraiso-festival-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/elgarajedefrank.es\/en\/paraiso-festival-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Para\u00edso Festival 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Para\u00edso festival, which took place during the 14th and the 15th of June in the Campus de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, has been a great critic and public success, with a total of 25 000 assistants. The festival offered an almost full day of music between Friday and Saturday. We were really hungry for good music and attended 22 of the 23 hours of the festival. We are really sorry for that first hour of Saturday that we missed.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Friday<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"We started at the Nido stage, which focused on artists from Madrid’s scene. Opening the edition, we had Pedro D. <\/b>and Suso Saiz<\/b> with their project Bcosof Live Remixes. For those who don\u2019t know it, Bcosof is a platform dedicated to music and art where it\u2019s possible to find some works of the artist mentioned before. We were only a few those who were sitting down <\/span>under the sun of Madrid, <\/span>listening to this peculiar session. Steve Reich<\/b> was the protagonist of the first half and we could listen to some versions of his work like \u201cPulse-Sections I-X-Pulse\u201d and \u201cMusic for 18 Musicians\u201d. They continued with The Buddhist Monks\u2019<\/b> <\/span>\u201cAmitaba<\/span>\u201d and among others, Catalynx\u2019s<\/b> <\/span>\u201cLights\u201d and the very hypnotic<\/span> \u201cA sort of Homecoming\u201d by Paul Keeley<\/b>. A great beginning.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In the main stage called Para\u00edso, Maribou State<\/b> were about to start. It was one of the lives that we wanted to see the most. Four musicians on stage started with \u201cFeel Good\u201d and for the second song, the great \u201cNervous Ticks\u201d the singer, Holly Walker<\/strong> joined them. She sang some of the tracks from MS<\/b>\u2019s two albums, Portraits<\/i> and Kingdoms in Colour<\/i>, \u201cSteal\u201d, \u201cKingdom\u201d, \u201cThe Clown\u201d, \u201cVale\u201d and \u201cTurnsmill\u201d. We really enjoyed it.<\/span><\/p>\n

After this, we moved to the Club stage to see the last half an hour of Jacques Greene<\/b>\u2019s live who was playing his \u201cPerlant\u201d when we arrived. From his Feel Infinite<\/i>, released a couple of years ago, we could listen to the track that gives the name to the album and \u201cI Won\u2019t Judge\u201d. He finished with his remix of Frank Ocean\u2019s <\/b><\/span>\u201cWhite Ferrari\u201d<\/span>.<\/b> The live had a really good sound and really got us in a good mood for the rest of the day. I have to see his full live on another occasion.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"While the stage was getting set for the following artist, we looked for a place to have dinner. It was quite easy and fast to find a food track where, in no time, we got a burger and some French fries. So, we saw the beginning of the \u201crapper\u201d IAMDDB<\/b> from a bit far while eating our food. Together we a DJ, she made all the public jump. When we could join the party, she was singing \u201cOoo\u201d, the acclaimed \u201cShade\u201d, \u201cMoonlight\u201d (in which she asked the people to sing along), and \u201cMore\u201d. Although it\u2019s not my cup of tea, I liked it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Without moving from the stage, we wait for the beginning of the next DJ: Moscoman<\/b>, one of the artists we wanted to see the most. He started with Red Axes<\/b> (also from Israel) and their \u201cPhu Quok\u201d. During his two-hour set, we could listen to Erol Alkan<\/b>\u2019s remix of Depeche Mode<\/b>\u2019s \u201cCover Me\u201d and the famous \u201cLa Mezcla\u201d by Michel Cleis Feat. Tot\u00f3 La Momposina<\/b>. We could also listen to one of his own tracks: \u201cRubab\u201d made with The Organism<\/b>. After a lot of electro with Arabian influences and strange disco, he played some acid, and a flamenco tune, like saying: I know I am in Spain. He finished his set with a mix of Moloko<\/b>\u2019s \u201cSing it back\u201d with Donna Summer\u2019<\/b>s \u201cI Feel Love\u201d. Great.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"I ran to see my \u201cheadliner\u201d of the day, Cerrone<\/b>, and in the confusion, I lost all my friends. At least, I arrived in time to see the beginning of \u201cBack Track\u201d and the famous \u201cLove in C Minor\u201d. One after the other, he played his hits: \u201cGive me love\u201d, \u201cLove is the answer\u201d, although everything with pre-recorded voices and with only another musician helping. While we were listening to \u201cRocket in the pockets\u201d or \u201cStrip-Tease\u201d, some images of Cerrone<\/b> in the seventies were displayed on the screen of the stage. Finally, during \u201cJe suis Music\u201d, a singer appeared and she sang some songs, among them \u201cHooked on You\u201d and the final \u201cSupernature\u201d in which Cerrone<\/b> played drums. To be honest, I was expecting more, and although it was a good concert, only during the last fifteen minutes he made us vibrate.<\/span><\/p>\n

As we have seen John<\/strong> Talabot<\/b> a lot of times (he is quite famous in Milan), we chose to go to Orpheus The Wizard\u2019<\/b>s session (although we already saw him at Primavera a few years ago), whose set was completed with some visuals of the dawn that really fit the music. We danced to Andrey Subbotin\u2019s <\/b><\/span>\u201cDon\u2019t Cry\u201d<\/span>, Supadelics\u2019 <\/b><\/span>\u201cFreak Out\u201d<\/span>, Cammel\u2019s <\/b><\/span>\u201cButterfly Effect\u201d<\/span>,\u00a0de Don Raye\u2019s <\/b><\/span>\u201cStanding in the Rain\u201d<\/span>, River Yarra\u2019s <\/b><\/span>\u201cFrogz Ov Gondwana\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/b>and a fantastic and a bit forgotten \u201c7 ways to Love\u201d by Cola Boy<\/b>. He finished with a harder part, almost EBM that we enjoyed a lot. Very good.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"We finished the day (well, night) with Kink<\/b>. Although his music is not what I usually listen to at home, his Boiler Room is absolutely hypnotic and I wanted to see him live. Armed with a keyboard and some other instruments, we could listen to some of his tracks such as \u201cPerth\u201d \u201cRaw\u201d o \u201cTo Love You\u201d. The public was as passionate as him and like most of the acts at the Club Stage, it had really good sound. At half-past five the sound was cut, so it was time to look for my friends and go home. It had been a very good day and at the moment, it was difficult to imagine that the following one was going to be even better.<\/span><\/p>\n

Saturday<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"We arrived just in time to see the beginning of the Spanish duo North State<\/b>. The Veh\u00ed Brothers just released their first album, Before the Silence<\/i>, the day before and the concert worked as a perfect premiere of the record. Sharing the singing duties, they played most of the songs of their LP and even one track not published yet that they might give for free in September. They finished with \u201cPC Age\u201d. Quite good.<\/span><\/p>\n

We moved to the Manifesto stage, that was our home for almost the rest of the festival. All the DJs who played there were very eclectic and made us dance and have a good time during the rest of the festival.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"We arrived with the set of Kalabrese<\/b> already started (we missed around 20 minutes). As we started dancing, he played the immortal \u201cThe World is a Ghetto\u201d by War<\/b>, that was followed by one of his own tunes, \u201cDance Yourself Clean\u201d. People were really enjoying the set and dancing a lot, although it was only 20:oo of a very sunny day. We danced to The Synthesizer<\/b>\u2019s \u201cCapriccio Italien Op. 45\u2019, the fantastic Joey Negro\u2019<\/b>s remix of \u2018Spanish Hustle\u2019 by The Fatback Band<\/b>, some salsa tracks, nineties house, and a remix of Talking Heads<\/b>\u201d \u201cGirlfriend is Better\u201d. For the last half an hour, he sang one song and continued his eclectic set with our beloved Grace Jones<\/b> and her \u201cPull Up To the Bumper\u201d and finished with The Cure<\/b>. One of the best sets that we saw at the festival.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"We stayed in the Manifesto stage to continue with Max Abysmal<\/b> that throw us in a sea of percussions with Mr. Raoul K\u2019<\/b>s <\/span>\u201cAfrica\u201d<\/span>, which was followed by Anatolian Weapons\u2019<\/b> \u201cA Strange light from the East\u201d, Alejandro Castelli\u2019s <\/b><\/span>\u201cPeru\u201d<\/span>. He also played some classics, like Morenas\u2019 <\/b><\/span>\u201cCuando Brilla La Luna\u201d in<\/span> Mr. Marvin\u2019s\u00a0<\/b>remix and Aquastep<\/b>\u2019s \u201cOempa-Loempa\u201d both tracks from a far 92, the omnipresent Red Axes<\/b> with their \u201cKicks out of you\u201d, Alex Clavijo and Bassel<\/b> Darwish\u2019<\/b>s <\/b><\/span>\u201cBlack Jaguar\u201d and<\/span> the new beat of Black Merlin<\/b>\u2019s”Burn It\u2019. We even could listen to an Avalon Emerson\u2019<\/b>s track, her \u201c<\/span>One more Fluorescent Rush\u201d<\/span>, Juju and Jordash\u2019<\/b>s <\/b><\/span>\u201cClean-Cut\u201d<\/span>, Bufiman<\/b>\u2019s \u201cRunning (The Chase)\u201d and a fantastic ending with DJ Disse\u2019s<\/b> \u201cEgyptian Disco\u201d and the eighties sound of 1000 Ohm<\/b>\u2019s \u201cLove in Motion\u201d. Very, very good.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

And the moment arrived of returning to the main stage to see Charlotte Gainsbourg<\/b>. Last year we saw an astonishing concert of her mother, Jane Birkin<\/b> and we were really eager of seeing her live. On the piano, she started with \u201cLying with you\u201d, and sadly with bad sound. Until the third song, it did not start to be fixed, but it was never good enough. The incredible \u201cI\u2019m a lie\u201d was followed by \u201cHeaven can Wait\u201d, \u201cSylvia Says\u201d, \u201cParadisco\u201d and her hit \u201cDeadly Valentine\u201d. We loved the staging, created with some frames and the band and she was fantastic, but it\u2019s a shame that the sound was never good. She even remembered her father, the immortal Serge<\/b> with \u201cLemon Incest\u201d, a song that Charlotte<\/b> recorded with him in 1984.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/strong>We returned to the Manifesto stage and did not move from there for the rest of the night. We saw the second half of the set of the Brazilian DJ Millos Kaiser<\/b>, that was playing a Jorge Ben<\/b>\u2019s track when we arrived. It was another fun set where we could vibe to Donnie Tempo\u2019s <\/b>\u201cN-Haler\u201d, Maroochy Barambah\u2019s <\/b><\/span>\u201cMongungi\u201d<\/span>, Nami Shimada\u2019s <\/b><\/span>\u201cSunshower\u201d<\/span>, Fernando Abreu\u2019s <\/b><\/span>\u201cSpace Sound to Dance\u201d and<\/span> some synth pop in Spanish that I did not manage to recognize. He finished with the classic \u201cLindo Lago do Amor\u201d by Gonzaguinha<\/b>, son of Luis Gonzaga<\/b>. Really good, a name to remember.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

And the turn arrived of one of our favourite DJs, the unique Motor City Drum Ensemble<\/b> that managed to gather the biggest number of persons in the Manifesto Stage. It was a bit difficult to find a place where we could dance at the very beginning but, finally we managed to find a good spot. We listened to a track by The Beloved<\/b> from the time when they were doing acid, their \u201cAcid Love\u201d, a bit of disco with Midway<\/b> and his \u201cSet It Out\u201d,\u00a0Transvolta\u2019<\/b>s <\/b><\/span>\u201cDisco Computer\u201d<\/span>,<\/b> guitar wizard Dennis Coffey<\/b>\u2019s \u201cWings of Fire\u201d, Brenda Harris\u201d <\/b><\/span>\u201cMaking Love Will keep you fit\u201d, <\/b>and \u201cShining\u201d<\/span> by Venus Dodson<\/b>, famous Leroy Burgess\u2019s\u00a0<\/b>collaborator. We moved forward in time to arrive at the nineties with one of Todd Terry\u2019s project: House of Gypsies\u2019 <\/b><\/span>\u201cSamba\u201d, to go back again to the eighties with<\/span> Quango Quango<\/b>\u2019s \u201cLove Tempo\u201d, and even further with the space disco of Blush<\/b> and his \u201cLift Off\u201d, Hott City<\/b>\u2019s \u201cFeeling Love\u201d, and some acid with the eternal Armando and his \u201cDownfall\u201d. Really good, as always.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/strong>A lot of people moved to the main stage to see the set of Laurent Garnier,\u00a0<\/b>but we were, definitely, in a different vibe, so we decided to stay in the Manifesto stage to see Antal<\/b>. He started with a remix by Dimitri from Paris<\/b> of The Face Vs. Mark Brown and Adam Shaw<\/b>\u2019s \u201cNeedin’ U\u201d and soon we were dancing to Osibisa\u2019<\/b>s <\/i>\u201cFire\u201d. He played Joey Negro<\/b>\u2019s remix of \u201cSpanish Hustle\u201d (for the second time in the festival), a bit of Latin disco with Gerd Janson\u2019<\/b>s remix of The Gibson Brothers<\/b>\u2019 <\/span>\u201cHeaven\u201d<\/span>. Among the modern tracks, he played \u201cOnly Human\u201d by KH<\/b> (or Kieran Hebden<\/b>, also known as For Tet<\/b>). Having a look at Antal<\/b>\u2019s traits, and while we were dancing to \u201cDisko-Kebap\u201d by Urfal\u0131 Babi<\/b>, we wondered if he has not Arabian origins. Still in Turkey, he continued with Nazan \u00c5\u017eoray<\/b>\u2019s \u201cHalhal\u201d to travel to Italy with Walter Martino<\/b>\u2019s \u201cWhat Love Can Do\u201d, part of the soundtrack of the Parano film. Antal<\/b> continued with more disco: Madleen Kane<\/b>\u2019s \u201cForbidden Love\u201d, Pockets<\/b>\u2019 \u201cGo with Me\u201d, remixed by the great Joey Negro<\/b>, whose \u201cTill You Surrender\u201d was next. This track is credited to his project Prospect Park<\/b>, and was followed by Index<\/b>\u2019s \u201cStarlight\u201d. We realised that the end of the festival was closed when \u201cCan\u2019t Let Go,\u201d by Chocolate Buttermilk Band<\/b> started sounding, but we were going to stay until the end. More disco with \u201cThat\u2019s all\u201d by Ingram,<\/b> and one of the best moments of the night with an incredible \u201cStuff Like That\u201d by the great Quincy Jones<\/b>. A fantastic session that only had one but: during the last hour, the volume was a bit low, but it was fixed.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Overall, it was a fantastic weekend full of good music. The Festival still has some sound issues to solve, especially concerning the main stage and find a way not to cut so abruptly the sessions at the end of the night. But for a second edition the rest was really well planned and taken care of. We hope that this Para\u00edso is going to last more than Adam and Eve.<\/span><\/p>\n

Photos: provided by Para\u00edso Festival<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n