BILBAO BBK LIVE 2012
Bilbao BBK Live Festival seventh edition started
with its four stages, where other important festivals reduced their number of
stages to just one. Once you had entered the venue, on Kobetamendi (Mount
Cobetas), the first impact was the place was quite of a chaos, with lots of
people wandering and standing in ques that would take them their money and a
long while.
When we got used to the structure of the
schedules of the different stages it became much easier as there where few the
moments with 3 stages running at the same time.
THURSDAY 12th JULY
The bands to open the festival were The
Gift at stage 1, Portuguese band that came from playing in Rock In Rio
Lisbon 2012, locals Belako at stage 3, and Andalusian Lori Meyers at stage 2, before
their fan club that seems to go everywhere with them.
The second group on stage 3 was Tribes.
The stage was a bit late but more populated than expected yet not crowded.
Pretty bad sound at tech level, pretty fresh songs but… we had to go to the
main stage.
On our way to stage 1 we were able to see three
gays in black clothes crossing from the artists area to the backstage area.
They were Band of Skulls and brought their rock songs to the festival from
Sweet Sour to Death By Diamonds and
Pearls, via Patterns and Fire. They are one of those bands that
can fill up the stage being just three people.
The time came for The Maccabees, who
brought their new album Given To The Wild, with songs like Child or Feel To Follow.
Their sound, even though it is giving them high popularity, was abused by
neverending revebs in guitars and vocals, too atmospherical.
Back to the third stage Ben Howard was offering
his show with a gentle folk touch, and no one could complain!
The first band on the line up that performed on
the fourth stage were La Habitación Roja, whose algid
moment was El Eje Del Mal song.
Young Guns were at the same time having an energic gig,
but before fewer people than the previous band there… it might be because…
Snow Patrol started their show with their Hands Open and here was the reason for
the rest of the stages being so relaxed… everybody was here. They sounded as
the public expected and deserving the status they are supposed to have. Songs
like THIS isn't
everything, In the End, New York, Shut Your Eyes, Chasing Cars, Called Out in
the Dark, Fallen Empires. They said
goodbye with Just Say Yes.
We only had a few minutes to witness what was
happening at the third stage with The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion but
enough to realize, by the hand of this three-member band, that the ambience,
music and public, was quite different from the previous at the main stage.
The main course of the day came to the main
stage. After half an hour waiting there standing and without music (we still
can’t understand the reason why they didn’t play music to let people enjoy the
wait). Robert Smith himself apologized for technical problems concerning the
keyboards.
He came back at midnight and played three songs
solo with his black acoustic guitar: Three
Imaginary Boys, Fire in Cairo and
Boys Don't Cry. Then he said “I think I need the rest of the group… hang
on.. that’s why it’s The Cure, and not Robert Smith”.
After Roger O’Donnell himself tested the most
hated keyboard in 30 seconds and hour late the popular recording used as intro,
Tape, gave way to Open, in a quite weak benniging where
the band did not sound as one with the recording. Quite sad for bassist Simon
Gallup because it was not his fault, we could not realize how great the bass
begins this song. High didn’t make
any better either.The End of the World
with vocals quite changed to a lower pitch to make them easier and fit them to
Robert would not save the day.
But Lovesong
came to make band and public shake hands and forget previous probs. In this
case, vocals were changed to more difficult ones.
If we could have thought the setlist was going
to shorten all their usual songs during this SummerCure 2012 tour sounded
onstage: Sleep When I'm Dead, Push, In
Between Days, Just Like Heaven (them two again with the black acoustic
guitar).
In From
the Edge of the Deep Green Sea, guitarist Reeves
Gabrels had the perfect time to show his stuff.
Want (its bennining could have been
glorious but it just… was) continued the show and brought Pictures of You, Lullaby, The Caterpillar, The Walk, Play for Today, A
Forest (Robert asked O’Donnell to play an octave higher), Primary, Bananafishbones, Shake Dog Shake, The
Hungry Ghost (vocals made easy again),
Wrong Number, One Hundred Years and End.
The first encore was only The Same Deep Water as You.
The second encore started at the same time that
the gig at stage 2. Dressing Up, The
Lovecats, The Blood, Just One Kiss, Let's Go to Bed, Friday I'm in Love, Doing
the Unstuck, Close to Me, Why Can't I Be You? They went with Boys Don't Cry. During all the gig
Robert played several guitars, including the thinnest nylon guitar we ever saw
and an electric guitar in which one could read “2012: citizens no subjects”.
And bitter sweet was the taste we had in our
mouths because we were getting to the second stage, with Bloc Party on it, more
than half an hour late. Kele Okereke could not tell a lie an said to the masses
getting now to the concert it was late and we needed to go to sleep. But still
we could enjoy the last songs of their set that included Helicopter. They
sounded much less electro than usual. Wether it is good or bad… depends on you,
of course.
James Murphy and Pat Mahoney, once members of LCD
Soundsystem, today both performed with solo set, and after them the insatiable
ones stayed dancing to the DJs’ beat.
