First
off, I´d like to apologize for the delay but I´ve been swamped at
work and had to compensate for the days I asked my boss in august so
I could attend an alleged “wedding in Spain”. See, the key to a
good lie is to have some truth in it... You, most certainly, can see
our neighbor country from Moledo do Minho and Sonic Blast Festival is
in a fact, at least for me, a religious and spiritual ceremony
celebrating love.
With
such an amazing line up this year's edition, sold out almost a month
before, was destined to be a success and probably the best one so
far... felling pretty excited to go a day earlier and also catch the
warm up sessions, specially for Acid Mess. You could feel the energy
and freedom pulsating through the streets giving life to the
otherwise quiet village has you walk in direction to Ruivo`s, a small
bar by the beach. Certainly not one with the best acoustic conditions
and definitely overcrowded, the place was set a blaze by the cosmic
group from Oviedo as they jam late into the night with their perfect
mix of psych & prog sonic infusion that left the crowd all fired
up for the main event.
By
the first rays of sun light I was already regretting my poor choice
on the brand new tent and realized that my stay wasn´t going to be
as pleasant as last year´s... even the private camping where I
camped again, was failing with to many people/cars and the WC´s
always locked. With a forced trip to Vila Praia de Ancora to hit an
ATM and get some cash since Moledo´s only one was already as dry as
a nuns nasty, we arrived to the pool with the first band already
playing and the place packed. Remember laughing at a fool the night
before saying that he was going to the pool in the morning to save a
good spot as I watched from the balcony Portuguese psych rockers
Solar Corona setting the right mood with warm instrumentals and
inebriating psychedelic rhythms.
The
vibe was golden and the good times were rolling with the following
shows and solid performances by hard psychers Desert Smoke, Astrodome
and Atavismo all presenting their new records and fresh batch of
interstellar traveling instrumentals.
Under
a scorching sun this poolside trip was getting hectic with the crowd
taking turns between the pool and the bars to cool things down as the
wild card of the afternoon took the stage... from the UK the jam band
Electric Octopus came to close the spot with their unique party rock
and funky sound, that ended this fiesta.
Finally
on the main stage, UK doom band Conan were set to open the
hostilities while I browsed the merch tent. Quite a barbaric way to
start the evening if you ask me... Ufomammut came next and suffered
from the same problem. The Italians were miles away from the gig
given a few years back at Reverence Festival in Valada as the dark
sound atmosphere and devilish projections failed to deliver, during the
daytime, the full doomster effect I was expecting to see.
Returning
from a long hiatus, iconic desert band Nebula arrived in Moledo to
deliver a compilation of Californian dusted hits. Classic songs from
the stoner genre that gave this band a place in it´s history but if
they´re relevant to the future only time will tell... The years
haven´t been good for Eddie Glass and company who looked like they
were with the conspicuous crowd that came directly from the EDM
festival Neo Pop that was held the week before nearby. The fact that
he had to apologize during the set because the drummer was too high
on MDMA certainly left me wondering...
A
quick drive by the food tents to manage something to eat and grab a
bear, no time to loose when the next band stepping in is Causa Sui.
You don't wanna miss a second of a performance by the danish dudes...
they tour so rarely that their live shows can be considered a natural
phenomenon, rare and beautiful as a perfect storm of heavy psych and jazz. The psychedelic quartet returned
finally to Portugal after a magical show in Barcelos at Milhoes de
Festa in 2011 to unleash the power of Freedom Fuzz. With a visual
projection as mesmerizing as the soundscapes they create, Jonas Munk
and company go through an amazing set, mixing the classics with
recent jams and deliver, quite easily, the best show of the day.
Not
an easy task to follow such an epic performance but german psych lords
Samsara Blues Experiment rose to the occasion. Returning now as power
trio to an electrified audience, they knew out to keep the fuzz &
buzz going with a spaced out performance and great show. The experienced group never let´s you down and even though a more
straight forward approach to the old material was noticeable, where you definitely
miss the second guitar, it was fun to finally see the new material
live.
Already
tired and anticipating a bad nigh of sleep I decided to fall back and
go to retreat has Mantar, the psychotic german duo, demolished the
place, at least judging by the tumultuous noises and diabolic vibrations
creeping into the camping site.
As
expected, another poor night of sleep followed and after some
discussion in full zombie mode, we all agreed to skip the overcrowded
pool and go instead to the beach to try get some rest.
A
wise decision for a dude who needs a little peace, right?
With
a much more friendly ambiance, started the second day on the main
stage as Naxatras, the greek psychedelic trio, welcomed everyone with
a festive performance on their debut show in Portugal. The cool vibes
all around created the perfect setting for a laid back and mellow
entrance for the last day of the fest.
Changing into the fast lane, came The Atomic Bitchwax drifting all the way from New Jersey. But what I´ve said about Nebula is also valid here... despite the always fun show, not much different or new since I saw them headlining this fest in 2014.
After
seeing a bit of 1000 Mods and go for another round trip for food,
everyone was eagerly waiting for Kadavar´s sound-check to be done...
bet they´re not easy to please but you could tell just for that
“test song” that we were in for a treat. And what a treat it was,
as the german vintage power trio sucking the 70s put out an electric
and flaming show. With a more complete sound and road experience
since I last saw them in 2013, the band brought the hard & heavy
sabbath as black as the night.
Quite
the setup for the main act... the stage was still filled with static
electricity when Earthless came up to drop the electromagnetic pulse
and shut everything down. Good lord, the San Diego cosmic trio came
to take us on a memorable trip through the cosmos. Always a pleasure
to see guitar virtuoso Isaiah shredding hypnotic guitar solos and
massive riffs with the fine company of the thunderous rhythmic
section comprised of Mario and Mike. You just simply can´t get
enough of this guys, as the set goes through the more recent material
and ends with two covers of Led Zeppelin and Groundhogs.
Completely
beaten down I crawled my ass back to the camp site as soon as the
show was over, enjoying from there with a glass of home made licor in
one hand and a doobie on the other, the last gig of the day with
Portuguese heavy rockers The Black Wizards.
Congratulations are in order to the promoters and all the staff involved in making this a yearly pilgrimage I always look forward too go. Slightly concerned about the growing of this festival that doesn´t seem to be much sustainable anymore... sure you can open more space on the main stage to accommodate more people but I fear a loss of experience. Long lines on the food tents or to buy tokens, the pool stage is starting to feel really small for so many people and there was no skate activities this year, breaking part of the tradition. I say it´s time to go for the beach stage Duna Jam style, put some DJ´s on the pool and bring on board a skate shop and a constructor for a mini ramp or a best trick contest. 😎
All photos by Rodriguez!
All videos by Sonic Blast Moledo
All videos by Sonic Blast Moledo
