This year, the promoter Last Tour (which has closed the Cala Mijas festival) has surprised everyone by announcing the arrival of Kalorama in Madrid. Kalorama, a festival that has been held in Portugal for years, is split into a first Spanish edition that will be held outdoors at the IFEMA Fairgrounds. The line-up is a real challenge and includes everything from historic groups such as LCD Soundsystem, The Prodigy or the duo of The Postal Service and Death Cab for Cutie, to current commercial pop powerhouses such as Sam Smith or RAYE. On August 29, 30 and 31, 2024, Kalorama will celebrate its first edition in Madrid and, in this article, we review the 10 key names in its programme. Tickets are still available in their different modalities.
LCD Soundsystem
In the midst of “Brat Summer” it is worth remembering that the sound of Charli XCX’s trendy album and, especially that of The Dare, producer of ‘Guess’, owes a lot to LCD Soundsystem, so much so that some see The Dare as nothing more than a copy of James Murphy’s project. At Kalorama you will have the opportunity to see why LCD Soundsystem continues to be so influential, and why they have one of the best live shows in the world.
The Postal Service + Death Cab for Cutie
The 20th anniversary tour follows The Postal Service’s ‘Give Up’ and Death Cab for Cutie’s ‘Transatlanticism’, Ben Gibbard’s two bands, one on the electronic side and the other indie rock. The tour lands in Barcelona on August 27 and then reaches Madrid via Kalorama. Both albums were released in 2003 and are certified Platinum.
Massive Attack
Fourteen years without a new Massive Attack album has not prevented the pioneering trip-hop band from continuing to tour to review their great masterpieces, such as ‘Blue Lines’ (1994) or ‘Mezzanine’ (1998), live. Massive Attack, in fact, has just performed in Spain, and returns to Madrid this August to present their amazing live performance at Kalorama.
RAYE
Among the new big pop stars is RAYE, the big winner of the last edition of the BRITs thanks to her fantastic debut album ‘My 21st Century Blues’. RAYE brings a show with a big band, inspired by the classics, but her big hits, such as ‘Escapism’, and above all her story of overcoming as an independent artist, could not be more current.
The Prodigy
One of the latest big additions to the Kalorama line-up is The Prodigy. A leading band and model of the big beat sound of the 90s, their sound is still so influential that, for example, Rita Ora has just sampled them. The Prodigy are also on their first tour without Keith Flint (who passed away in 2019) but, as we have recently seen in Spain, the brutality of their show has not gone anywhere.
Sam Smith
In the midst of celebrating the 10th anniversary of his debut album, the multi-platinum ‘In the Lonely Hour’, Sam Smith continues to tour presenting his latest work, ‘Gloria’, which contains his macrohit ‘Unholy’ with Kim Petras. For ‘Gloria’, Smith has devised the darkest and most shocking show of his career and has called it ‘Gloria: The Blackout’, it is not known if it is in homage to one of his favorite albums.
Jungle
Among the best dance pop bands of the moment is Jungle, who, after making themselves known a decade ago with ‘Busy Earnin’, practising a seductive mix of electronic, funk and disco, have swept the charts this past year with ‘Back on 74’, already the biggest hit of their career. It is taken from their album ‘Volcano’, the same one that Jungle presents in Kalorama, their most retro work and also their best.
Fever Ray
With no suspicions that the world will see a new album from The Knife, at least in the near future, it is comforting to know that one of its members, Karen Dreijer, continues to release great albums under her alias Fever Ray, such as the one she released last year, ‘Radical Romantics’. The only thing to reproach her for is that these new albums are not as frequent as we would like.
Gossip
With nostalgia for the era of indie sleaze at its peak, Gossip’s return couldn’t have come at a better time. Their new album, ‘Real Power’, has come out 12 years after their last one, but the best thing is that its sound seems like the natural successor to their masterpiece, ‘Standing in the Way of Control’, which came much earlier. There was a desire to have Gossip back on stage.
Peggy Gou
Among Kalorama’s electronic bets, Peggy Gou is not to be missed, recently turned into a superstar thanks to the success of ‘(It Goes Like) Nanana’, one of the songs of the summer of 2023 (especially in the United Kingdom). Her album ‘I Hear You’ has not produced a hit of the same size, but Peggy Gou has an ace up her sleeve: she has just released ‘Find the Way’ and is aiming high.
