August Concert Night
Last night was another of those special nights this summer. A Coruña hosts a music festival during their traditional annual festival, the Festival do Noroeste. They have venues all over the city, including the Riazor beach. On the beach Saturday night, there were four bands scheduled to play, from eight until around one. Three were Spanish; The Soul Breakers, Lola, and Viva Suecia. The last one was British led by an American singer - The Pretenders. There was no way I wasn't going to go.
It's a little over an hour away by tollway, and close to two hours by road. We travelled there by road to save on tolls, and arrived close to nine thirty, when the sun was setting over the city. A Coruña isn't a city I visit frequently. While it's the capital of the homonymous province I live in, Vigo, in the province of Pontevedra, is closer. Coruña (It has an article, depending on whether you speak Galician or Castilian, a or la, but many drop it when referring to the city.) has a grim, bureaucratic feel to it. The old town is mellower, but the rest seems to be made up of blocks of flats and offices, except for the gardens on the port side (the city is a peninsula), and the urban beaches at Riazor and Orzán, from which one can see the oldest working lighthouse in the world, the Tower of Hercules. The present lighthouse structure dates from the eighteenth century, but it was a reformation of the original, which goes back to the first century, A.D., when it was built by the Romans.
I parked relatively close, and we walked a few streets over to Riazor, where people were walking up and down, some starting to congregate on the beach in front of the stage, where Lola was still playing. We joined them, and got a spot in front of the stage. A couple of songs later, Lola quit the stage, and it was set up for the next band, Viva Suecia. I had never heard of them; they're an indie rock group from Murcia. Night fell, and more people gathered. Stage lights turned on, and the next group began.
The problem with a lot of indie groups that play summer festivals, is that outside their circle of followers, they're not well-known. That means that when you see the participants of the different music festivals, you're not musically aware of them, and don't really give them any importance. Viva Suecia turned out to be a delightful rock band, with songs and music that would win over a large public if they ever ended up distributing their music widely. They were good. If I see they're playing anywhere nearby, I'll try to attend their concert.
They finished close to eleven thirty, and more people gathered, as equipment was rolled out, and other equipment was rolled in. Thirty thousand people crowded the beach and the four lane street behind it, as Chrissie Hynde walked onstage. The rock began. Their new song, Alone, thundered out, as did Thumbelina from way back when. Most of the songs were the lesser known ones, except for I'll Stand by You and the last one, Brass in Pocket. It was short, seventy minutes, and some say too short. They didn't sing all their most popular songs, such as Don't Get Me Wrong, but it was good. The older members of the group, Chrissie Hynde, and the drummer, had an energy I only wish I had. The drummer was even using drumstick after drumstick and throwing them out to the public, as was Chrissie with her guitar picks. We were lucky and picked up a drumstick, a memento of a summer night with good music on the beach.
At around one, the music ended, and the crowd turned around, and started to saunter out. Since we were smack in front of the stage, it took a while to manoeuver to the street. I was reminded of trying to leave the Charles River park in Boston after the Pops' July 4th concert at the Hatch Shell. Take five normal steps forward, inch ten steps. But we made it to the street, where the crowd was thinning out, and joined groups that were walking to the old town, stopping to enter the parking garage where we had left our car. After that, we took the tollway back home, and made it in under an hour (I think it was smooth sailing, and that no little radar strobes were out there - I wasn't aware of any flashes.).
Now, I have to check websites and see if there's anything interesting next month.
It's a little over an hour away by tollway, and close to two hours by road. We travelled there by road to save on tolls, and arrived close to nine thirty, when the sun was setting over the city. A Coruña isn't a city I visit frequently. While it's the capital of the homonymous province I live in, Vigo, in the province of Pontevedra, is closer. Coruña (It has an article, depending on whether you speak Galician or Castilian, a or la, but many drop it when referring to the city.) has a grim, bureaucratic feel to it. The old town is mellower, but the rest seems to be made up of blocks of flats and offices, except for the gardens on the port side (the city is a peninsula), and the urban beaches at Riazor and Orzán, from which one can see the oldest working lighthouse in the world, the Tower of Hercules. The present lighthouse structure dates from the eighteenth century, but it was a reformation of the original, which goes back to the first century, A.D., when it was built by the Romans.
I parked relatively close, and we walked a few streets over to Riazor, where people were walking up and down, some starting to congregate on the beach in front of the stage, where Lola was still playing. We joined them, and got a spot in front of the stage. A couple of songs later, Lola quit the stage, and it was set up for the next band, Viva Suecia. I had never heard of them; they're an indie rock group from Murcia. Night fell, and more people gathered. Stage lights turned on, and the next group began.
The problem with a lot of indie groups that play summer festivals, is that outside their circle of followers, they're not well-known. That means that when you see the participants of the different music festivals, you're not musically aware of them, and don't really give them any importance. Viva Suecia turned out to be a delightful rock band, with songs and music that would win over a large public if they ever ended up distributing their music widely. They were good. If I see they're playing anywhere nearby, I'll try to attend their concert.
They finished close to eleven thirty, and more people gathered, as equipment was rolled out, and other equipment was rolled in. Thirty thousand people crowded the beach and the four lane street behind it, as Chrissie Hynde walked onstage. The rock began. Their new song, Alone, thundered out, as did Thumbelina from way back when. Most of the songs were the lesser known ones, except for I'll Stand by You and the last one, Brass in Pocket. It was short, seventy minutes, and some say too short. They didn't sing all their most popular songs, such as Don't Get Me Wrong, but it was good. The older members of the group, Chrissie Hynde, and the drummer, had an energy I only wish I had. The drummer was even using drumstick after drumstick and throwing them out to the public, as was Chrissie with her guitar picks. We were lucky and picked up a drumstick, a memento of a summer night with good music on the beach.
At around one, the music ended, and the crowd turned around, and started to saunter out. Since we were smack in front of the stage, it took a while to manoeuver to the street. I was reminded of trying to leave the Charles River park in Boston after the Pops' July 4th concert at the Hatch Shell. Take five normal steps forward, inch ten steps. But we made it to the street, where the crowd was thinning out, and joined groups that were walking to the old town, stopping to enter the parking garage where we had left our car. After that, we took the tollway back home, and made it in under an hour (I think it was smooth sailing, and that no little radar strobes were out there - I wasn't aware of any flashes.).
Now, I have to check websites and see if there's anything interesting next month.
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