Alhambra Monkey Week has held a new edition in Seville, bringing together artists, promoters, journalists and other personalities from the music industry, as well as of course the public. As a music fair, the Monkey offers talks during the day at the Espacio Santa Clara, as well as concerts and DJ sessions until well into the early hours of the morning in different parts of the city.
This means that at 10 in the morning you can be at a conference on respect for consumers at festivals, with a representative from the Ministry of Culture, another from the Junta de Andalucía and another from an event; and at 5 in the morning giving everything in one of the three adjoining rooms in which sessions are scheduled: Room minute, so you have to restructure programming and schedules on the fly.
Among the most enriching talks, the one that was scheduled on Equality, with an information campaign against harassment “Not at my party”, which will be taken to spaces such as Tomavistas; and among the most entertaining, the one by young producers, starring Ganges, who has just made one of the albums of the year; Roy Borland and Mon Dvy.
Interviewed by Rubén Gutiérrez, director of Fundación SGAE, the three talked about the convenience of working with people with whom you really connect in the studio, as opposed to the obligatory composition camps, and about the importance of getting away from the madding crowd. Both Roy Borland and Mon Dvy have fled the big city: the former lives in the middle of nature and only produces 6 artists he trusts, and Mon Dvy has left Madrid behind to return to his town in Navarra. There he lives in a house where he writes on the bright first floor and produces on the darker ground floor. As a curiosity, Roy Borland defended Joan Manel Serrat as the most important Spanish artist of all time, and the nonexistence of someone like that today: an unexpected vindication in a talk that came to highlight young creators.
Music journalists had the opportunity to defend our position in two talks: one on the diversification of income in recent years (the payment gateways at Rockdelux and Mondosonoro, the book publishers at Muzikalia, the sponsored podcasts); and another on new disseminators of content on social networks. Arturo Paniagua, Blanquinni and Oski talked about the best times to post videos on Instagram and TikTok or about the convenience of the word “influencer”. Oski reminded old-school critics that he too has studied journalism, while Blanquinni rejected the label “content creator” in favor of “disseminator.”
The overdose of information, of meetings with industry personalities with whom you exchange emails all year round, but only see every few months at events like this, and the physical exhaustion after so many hours up and down all over Seville means that not always concerts are in the foreground. But there was a series of artists who aroused all the hype almost unanimously and they were two flamenco artists.
Yerai Cortesprogrammed in Monkey Week before all the commotion in San Sebastián over the documentary that C. Tangana dedicated to him and his family’s history, opened Thursday’s concerts. Cortés opted for a very theatrical show, in which, dressed in black, he was accompanied only by half a dozen women all dressed in white, and of course by his inseparable guitar. The show began with a cappella vocals and some clicking of heels. On the contrary, there were moments of extreme beauty in which you could only hear Yerai’s guitar taking you places, while they kept strict silence. Many “oles” were heard from the respectable room while the artists performed bulerías, above all. Yes, there is some room for improvement in the use of lighting and the dynamism of the repertoire.
He played on the same stage of the Central Theater the next day Angeles Toledoalso preceded by a sepulchral silence. When this was broken, someone even ordered silence. The concert began with the artist alone, in the dark, and banging a sample. Later he was joined by a band with which he was singing songs from his album ‘SANGRE SUCIA’, highlighting ‘MAMÁ, TENÍAS RAZÓN’ in the last section. Among the surprises that streamlined his show, the collaboration of Dalila, who was presented as a “pioneer of the Andalusian identity” but in reality starred more in a drum&bass; or the version of Las Grecas from which the lyrics were strangely projected, by accident or not. In any case, it’s a joy that someone selected a Las Grecas song that wasn’t ‘I’m loving you madly’. Ángeles Toledano’s choice was ‘How beautiful that night’.
It should be noted that this space of the Central Theater was a circus-shaped tent, and among those who aroused the greatest influx and enthusiasm in this setting, those who best fit into this festive space that after all was not a theater either, were Derby Motoreta’s Burrito Kachimba. It was one of the most energetic shows, most conducive to crowdsurfing – which occurred – and in which the electric guitar solos roared the loudest. You could tell that 1) they were playing at home and 2) they have been number 1 in Spain this year.
The Jägermeister Stage, adjacent and arranged at alternative times to the Central Stage, hosted, as usual, underground proposals in general from new and emerging artists. This was the case on Thursday Bramahypnotizing psychedelia of long instrumental passages; or Friday of Citybeautiful R&B passed through the filter of Autotune, with which the Catalans defended songs like ‘Nobody knows’ or ‘Just on the other side’, the latter dedicated to a girlfriend and sister of two of the members, who has gone to Australia. On other occasions, the group presented a more disco-like vision, close to Daft Punk or The Field. But the “vibe” of ‘Una vez más’ is not the predominant one in its set, generally orchestrated by mid-tempo. After all, they had been scheduled for five in the afternoon.
Across the river, during club hours, Queralt Lahoz He gave one of the most colorful concerts of those witnessed in the three adjacent rooms, each one more crowded. There is no doubt that the singer’s evolution has been considerable since we met her, more attached to R&B, and in her repertoire we already find traces of Cuba, son, reggae, nineties electronica and of course flamenco. The singer, who has just released a single, stated that she is closing a stage and next year another exciting one will open that will include new work.
Monkey Week shows proposals as personal as those of Yeli Yeli or Barry B, with a recently released album, varied and detached from any genre that did not have the best sound in Room X. On the contrary, with much less hype, Tsunami Attention They made all their lyrics understood perfectly, turning songs like ‘Potential’ into a collective celebration.
One day later and at the stylistic antipodes, Teo Lucadamo It caused a queue to enter the Malandar Room, a 20-minute walk from the other three. The mix of people at the doors was such that someone loudly complained about all the people “over 30 years old” who were going to see such a concert. “My grandmother is younger than all of these,” he exclaimed. Teo Lucadamo, on the other hand, was grateful to all the people from the industry who had come to see him, and joked about the possible A&R of the room. Wearing a Carolina Durante t-shirt, he performed hits like ‘Ritmo’, as well as other songs with considerable personality in which he talks about Taburete, repeating that “he’s in a hurry” or simply “that he’s hot.” Hooks that make their repertoire one of the most fun and enjoyable seen at Monkey Week.
