The Carnival was followed - as has become the tradition - by the
International Blues Festival.
It didn't really impinge on us for the first few days, as the acts were performing in the Municipal Auditorio, which is a fair old hike uo to the top of the town; but there was excellent feedback about the Dani Wilde group (US) and Le Caravan (local), with the latter featuring gypsy fiddle amonst other things.
We did see some evidence of musicians in town, and on the Monday evening we sauntered over to our local (and normally deserted)
Cafe Lounge to see some Delta Blues, but it was packed out and overflowing.
However the last two days have daytime "
Blues de la Calle" in the streets - mostly in the Old Town. On Friday we wandered round to see what was happening and ended up at the Blue Rock (just for a change) listening to Murphy Be Good, who is a local gutarist and singer who does a mean Santana. As you can see from the oiled Italian andonis spectators it was a glorious day, and we stayed a long time!
That evening there was a series of free performances in the "new" plaza,,where a very serious stage had been erected. We went down early to see local Eric from Imagine, and a Dane called Tim Lothar was fine, but the star act was Wilko Johnson - ex-Dr Feelgood - whose gig list amused us!
Then on Saturday the heat was intense! There were bands around every corner, but we settled on one that had set up between Marquesina and the
Cofradia de Pescadores (fishermen's brotherhood
). No obvious name or place of origin, but possibly from Lanzarote, they had a vociferous band of supportes and groupies! We stopped for a drink at the
Cofradia to the amazement of the Majorcian guy who "whips in" there and had been trying to get us to stop for years. The band played some excellent blues and then veered off into rock n roll. It was delicious, and eventually we decided to have some wine and tapas - not least so that we could see the ceremony on the little town beach in which Eric and Claudia from Imagine had their second wedding. (They we recently married in Germany), At a key moment the band struck up "All you Need is Love" and both sets of people waved gently. A magic moment!
That evening there were further performance in the Plaza. We positioned ourselves in the same place: at an unremarkable German bar with a side view to the big screen behind the artists. We asked about a bottle of wine and were told there was a lovely reserva. How much? 19euros! What?? "No- we will have the house at 9!" "I will ask if the boss will do a deal" He comes back with a price of 12 euros, and it was mighty fine!
.. and then
the Spikedrivers came on! Utter bliss! A three-piece UK-based country-blues band that rocks! (Note the washboard on the lady's chest!) The audience (including us) was thrilled. If you don't know them, follow the link and have a listen! (We were so impressed we are planning a gig in Wimborne Minster, Dorset on Ruth's birthday into our June UK programme. Afterwards the following acts seemed tame. We went to
La Pincha Cabra for late tapas and heard them out. All-in-all a great year for the Blues in Corralejo!
