2023-10-22 12:08:41
Iñaki López, “the rockabilly of TV”, as his friend Pato calls him, is a real rocker who usually appears in the front row of the concerts he attends and who has a vinyl singles record label called Hot45records. To celebrate his 50th birthday, the Portuguese native put on this Saturday in Bilbao, at the Sala Mytho in Bolueta, a concert with three rock-a-roller groups and with free entry. In other words, a gift from him for the agenda, for the fans, for the city. And the truth is that we were afraid that the room would burst. In fact, we know at least two music lovers who did not attend, fearing that the place would become congested with people more interested in celebrities and posturing than in shaking and rock and roll, but in the end the Mytho was filled with fans. really.
A rumor spread that Iñaki would play the guitar, and when this special envoy asked him about the matter, he replied: “Will I play? Unless it’s the anise bottle.” And despite being the altruistic capitalist of the evening, Iñaki was not the protagonist. He behaved like just another fan, although the three contracted groups congratulated him during his performances and when the runners-up of the shortlist came on stage, he was presented with a cake which the birthday boy received and thanked him in less than a minute.
Come on, to the mess. The Double Trouble DJs (that is, Deedee and Nash) entertained the entire Saturday night, and the concerts were opened by Los Retumbes Baracaldeses, a couple with her on drums and him on guitar. Both wearing masks, they played 23 songs in 41 minutes (from 9:31 p.m. to 10:22 p.m.), with Anita setting the rhythm in a determined and tribal way, and growing the repertoire in impact and ingenuity. There were several instrumentals (quite a few shaken with maracas by Ana, for example ‘Maracanuda’), and Andrés on guitar fired off riffs of ironic punk and primitive rock and roll, garage via Thrashmen and surf in the Ramones wave.
And the fact is that Los Retumbes are already more punk than in the past and are reminiscent of the first Siniestro Total (not only for the version of ‘It’s better to be a punk than a beach faggot’) and even the Espasmodicos. Furthermore, they are asocially assertive in their lyrics (‘You’re an idiot, and it shows, ‘Shit tattoo’, on your left leg, ‘Modern music’, it’s shit, or the one in which they blurt out ‘I know more than you” and which is titled ‘Brother-in-law’). As a source of shame let’s point out their version of the tacky 90’s song ‘Ritmo de la noche’, but they claim that we were at a party.
Los Retumbes, that is, Andrés and Ana. OC
Los Retumbes were very good, and the following ones were very good, the Madrid-based Generador, formerly Baby Horror, another mixed drum and guitar duo (they were also a couple, and we know this because after a discussion about the order of the songs, one by one quietly said another, we don’t know who: “yes, darling, you’re right”). After entertaining Iñaki with the cake, Annie Baby on drums and vocals, and J. Horror on guitar and backing vocals (ah, he’s Fangoria’s guitarist), they performed 20 garage psychobilly songs in 49 minutes (from 22.41 to 11:30 p.m.), less immediate than those of Los Retumbes (whom they envied in public for their agility and speed), with a fuzz guitar background that combined The Lords Of Altamont with psychedelia, and evidencing a morbid debt to Desechables and idolatrous with The Cramps, of whom they declared themselves devoted to their church. They also covered Leño (‘I’m not going further’, the one about “I only do rock and roll”, improving on the original!), in at least two originals they seemed to shoot Ilegales (‘Cementerio de la Almudena’ reminded us of the ‘Bestia, bestia’, and then they played another one that will be on their next album and that referred to, ahem, the Asturians’ ‘Eres una puta’), and they gave a double encore with ‘Me peinando’ and ‘I smile too much to be so poor’.
Closing the evening were The Bank Robbers from Madrid, a staunchly purist rockabilly quartet led by Marcos Sendarrubias, friend and partner of Iñaki López on the Hot45records record label. The leader warned about the order of the groups: “after punk, it’s complicated,” but they left the flag high. In quartet (acoustic Gretsch by Marcos, electric Telecaster by Ismael, double bass by a guy with a toupee and purely Rock N Bordes aesthetic, and full drums), Los Ladrones de Bancos, also masked but with masks of worse quality than Los Retumbes (also envied them in public), they refereed 19 pieces in 58 minutes (from 23:56 to 00:54), with a majority of versions, some presented and even described by Marcos in the second half of his very good gig.
Covers by Gene Vincent (“to hell with it,” he said), by Johnny Cash (“not even completists know this one,” he boasted) or by Hank Snow, among other revisions and originals in which they beat the copper as epigones of Johnny Burnette, Jerry Lee Lewis, Hank Williams, Ricky Nelson or Buddy Holly. “We’ve been through six rehearsals, we’re neither drunk nor stoned, the mistakes are real,” Marcos said ironically, and then he promised: “In the spring we’ll come back with the new album and we promise to be a steamroller.” Well, I hope we can repeat.
Oh, and congratulations to Iñaki, we didn’t tell him on the spot. And thanks for spending the money to treat us to good rock and roll concerts.
#rock #party #Iñaki #Lópezs #50th #birthday