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Wandering around Jerez looking
for flamenco…
…that I never found…and while I didn't expect much
mind you, past memories of the Espárrago Rock festival
gave me a certain ray of hope. On that occasion five years
ago I saw Morente's 'Omega' project with the Sierra Nevada
mountain range as back-drop, on the main stage, Morente again
with his flamenco essence, Remedios Amaya, Esperanza Fernández….it's
been a long time since then, but I remember it much better
that the goings-on at this fifteenth edition – and without
any prohibited substances, don't get the wrong idea.
Kiko Veneno
Once again the label «Flamenco»
is used as a shortcut to relevance
Flamenco at the Espárrago has become just another excuse,
once again the label «Flamenco» is used as a shortcut
to relevance, to reach a wider audience, to sell the festival
as something different, to get funding. The big banner hanging
over the stage which read «Flamenco Viene del Sur»
was the only flamenco element there was. The set-up gets more
far-out with each edition, the kind of audience that attends
the Espárrago wants a different kind of music, less
commercial, far removed from the radio formulas, not even
on the flamenco stage was this premise fulfilled.
The long trip from Madrid, and the poor organization as far
as the press was concerned, kept us from seeing Gualberto
with his sitar, Los Delincuentes and even Tomasito, of whom
I am an diehard fan, and you can be sure he was a pleasant
surprise for the audience because Tomás, unfortunately
for him, still hasn't managed to break through the commercial
barrier and he keeps earning new devotees all over Spain just
like his fellow-artists at the Espárrago, Kiko Veneno,
Navajita Plateá, Mártires del Compás
or even groups like Los Delincuentes who already have their
second record on the market. The first day I had to be content
with enjoying Kiko Veneno's oldies but goodies, 'En un Mercedes
Blanco', 'Lobo López', etc….along with other new
creations, all with the unmistakable Kiko Veneno trademark.
There was also a group call 'Llorca' announced, but I don't
know if they were cancelled or if it was just a D.J., or a
group of electronic music…
Rap, some hip hop, lots of spunk,
but flamenco?…gimme a break…
 The
next day was long, but above all, hot, and we took advantage
of the time to do some sightseeing around the beautiful beaches
in the area and to enjoy fried fish at one of the little snack
shops, thank God, because the sad truth was it was over 105
Fahrenheit coming straight down, and every square inch of
shade was worth fighting for, and water as well. When six
o'clock came around, who could imagine anyone getting up on
a stage, so everything started one hour later, but with the
same amount of heat. 'Las Niñas', the latest fashion,
made to fit on a flamenco stage, maybe some interesting verses,
rap, some hip hop, lots of spunk, but flamenco?…gimme a
break… Chambao and the fashionable label 'Flamenco-chill'
presented their new record 'Endorfinas de la Mente', and to
many people's surprise, many of the songs were familiar because
they've been getting air time on radio stations and at discos
all over the country…all that was needed was to add the
faces and serve them up so the Espárrago people could
dance to the electronic rhythms soaked in the singer's flamenco
sounds that helped make the afternoon a little easier to bear.
Chambao
'Los Mártires del Compás'
were satisfied to just keep the audience
happy with the least flamenco songs from their vast repertoire
Mártires del Compás
Finally it was time for 'Los Mártires del Compás',
and since they began quite late they kept to basics, satisfied
to just keep the audience happy with the least flamenco songs
from their vast repertoire to get the hordes of people dancing
and get those thousands of watts of bad sound pumping hard
to drown out the group at the stage next-door. The Mártires
didn't seem to be too at ease, and were forced to rush through
their performance because of the delay so they were barely
on for an hour. Afterwards, Navajita Plateá came up
on the flamenco stage holding down the Jerez quota of the
Espárrago. The Navajita sound isn't exactly what the
Espárrago audience expects to find at a festival of
this nature since flamenco pop ballads are out of place. Nevertheless,
Curro and Pele tried their best to get the audience going,
playing their best-known songs, but it seems the organizers
wanted to make up the delay as quickly as possible and they
wouldn't let the group do any more time than necessary…there
was a big rush to set up the dance tent and get the Espárrago
crowd dancing all night to electronic music.
Navajita Plateá
Perhaps we'll hit up with some flamenco in September at the
Fiesta de la Bulería.
Text & photos: Gustavo Fernández
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