DATES: 21 TO 24 AUGUST 2024
PLACE: FAIRGROUND (TORREMOLINOS)
PROMOTER: CINNAMON PARTY
Fifty national and international bands such as Big Thief, The Lemon Twigs, Metz, Cala Vento and Standstill and a lot of fans eager to play met this past week in Torremolinos. We review some of the most outstanding performances of the 16th edition of the Cinnamon Party.
The Canela Party is a “huge event”, as its own organisers say, which aims to continue growing and improving year after year – for example, its agreement with Eco Event to reduce its footprint as much as possible – without entering into the war of macro-festivals whose main objective is to maximise profits.
The Malaga event is in a different league, with people at the centre, and this can be seen as soon as you enter the fairground where the festival has been held for a handful of editions: enough space, an area to rest with a dozen gastronomic options, with hardly any queues at the bars and, above all, without the hateful overlaps. During the four days of the festival, some 22,000 people – some 5,500 per day – passed through the open space located next to the Torremolinos bullring, according to data provided by the organisation.
The ones in charge of opening the first day – once again with free entry upon invitation, also called Mini Canela for the activities aimed at the little ones – were Close Friends, a small supergroup of the underground from Madrid, in which members of Biznaga, Tiburona and Texxcoco are active. The trio attacked with energy their first compositions, a kind of sharp punk pop, among which stand out ‘Enemigo’ and ‘Amores perros’, the latter introduced with the animalistic and misanthropic cry of “Long live dogs, death to people!”.
Monteperdido photo: Javier Rosa
After the Valencians The Guilt and their post-punk, one of the most special moments of Wednesday arrived: the farewell concert of Monteperdido, the quintet that had announced its dissolution a few weeks earlier. “Live fast, die young and leave a beautiful corpse”This phrase, uttered by Humphrey Bogart in one of his films, sums up well the brief but intense career of a band that rose strongly and that now pulls the brakes with only two excellent albums under its belt, the last one sponsored by Sonido Muchacho (Carolina Durante, Airbag, La Plata).
Monteperdido They threw themselves into the Jarl stage —the other one is called Fistro, a nice tribute to Chiquito de la Calzada—, pulling out heavy artillery (‘Vas A Pitar’, ‘El Balcón’ and their version of the legendary ‘Al Amanecer’ by Los Fresones Rebeldes). We will always have their music, those very current lyrics, and they will surely surprise us sooner rather than later with new musical adventures. “See you at the squats!”its singer advanced.
Photo Los Punsetes: Jose Andres Albertos
His teachers and admirers The Punsetes, Instead, they have a long way to go. The band with the most intelligent spite in the entire national scene started with ‘Opinión De Mierda’, an anti-anthem that they once threatened to banish from their setlistand he never stopped serving memorable choruses, the kind that invite you to raise your fist and draw smiles on the audience. Before, the Americans Deeper, and then the Welsh The Tubs, They gave the international touch to a first day that the Valencians riveted The Silver.
THURSDAY 22
Thursday’s session started with the playful emo pop of a renewed Meeky, with new faces in the line-up, and their version of ‘Constant Headache’ by the Californians Joyce Manor, the big absentees of this edition and the first confirmation for the 2025 edition. Immediately after, just a few minutes later, because at this festival the schedules are strictly adhered to, the four Argentine girls from End of the Worlda worldwide phenomenon within the alternative scene since that famous session for KEXP that has not stopped touring since then and that took advantage of its stop in Torremolinos to shoot some new songs such as the almost instrumental ‘Vivimos lejos’, the first preview of a third studio work that will be released in October by Spinda Records.
End of the World Photo: Javier Rosa
“Poetic, political, a little spiritual”With this verse from their song ‘Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite’ on the giant screen, a phrase that aims to define their increasingly personal proposal, Cándido Gálvez and the rest of the members of Long live Belgrade took the Jarl stage shortly before nine in the evening. The Cordobans had not yet played at the Canela Party and they got rid of that thorn in their side at their best moment, with a Songbook of the Heavens still hot, acclaimed by critics and audiences, and a sober but unquestionable staging, forged over years on the road, in small clubs and self-managed spaces, but prepared to work equally in large venues such as Torremolinos. They closed with one of their first songs, the explosive ‘El Gran Danés’, showing pedigree, with their singer going down to the pit and screaming his head off along with his audience, and they linked up with an impeccable version of the fathers of all that we call post-hardcore: At the Drive-In.
Live Belgrade Photo: Javier Rosa
Another milestone on a personal and musical level for Viva Belgrado was sharing an evening with her loved ones Standstill, of those who have drunk a lot from their beginnings, and they achieved it thanks to the return of the Barcelonans, undoubtedly one of the musical news of the year. The Catalan band, currently immersed in a successful and rewarding festival tour, had been on hold since 2016 and at Canela they were received with the smell of crowds, with a devoted audience, who sang practically all their songs, more or less old, without distinction. Collective catharsis preceded by a superlative performance, that of some magnetic Big Thief, Another of those international bands that brought tons of quality to the line-up. Without giving up their intimate indie folk, metaphysical some say, the Brooklyn band won over the crowd with a review of their discography with moments of tension and controlled volume, in which the celebrated ‘Simulation Swarm’, ‘Not’ and ‘Masterpiece’ were not missing.
Photo Standstill: Jose Andres Albertos
>FRIDAY 23RD
The Friday lineup was the highlight of the festival for many of the attendees at Canela Party 2024, a real test of endurance for lovers of guitar rock in its most varied forms. Because you never want to miss a Canela Party concert. Lisabö In case they take a long time to come back, but you can’t miss the opportunity to see such interesting international bands in one go, such as Militarie Gun, Cloud Nothings, Wednesday, Protomartyr o Metz.
Photo Lisabö: Jose Andrés Albertos
However, there are lights and shadows. Lisabö They gave up the already classic confetti during their performance, their pounding and visceral post-hardcore is a serious thing and the Palestinian flag that they had placed on the screen is even more so. The Irún band, formed at the end of the nineties, fulfilled their promise in every sense. Not so Militarie Gun, a band with very good songs (‘Very High’, ‘My friends are having a hard time’, ‘Do it Faster’…) that offered a rather linear and boring show -their fabulous new preview, ‘Thought You Were Waving’, sounded soulless-, although their frontman He was constantly trying to spread his energy to the rest of the band and the audience. Ian Shelton, the singer, ended up jumping into the audience to finish off the last two songs of the show. setlist with his most staunch supporters, but it was not enough to save face.
Photo Militarie Gun: Jose Andrés Albertos
The trio of Cloud Nothings went from less to more, starting with a correct ‘Final Summer’ and other pieces from his latest work like ‘I’d Get Along’, but he didn’t seem to feel comfortable on stage until the final stretch, when they stretched out a contemporary classic of his career like ‘Wasted Days’ that caused a huge pit. Nothing to do with Metz, who came out like a whirlwind to present Up on gravity hill, a more accessible work that gains ground live and backed by the badasses ‘Get off’, ‘Hail Taxi’, ‘Spit you out’ and ‘Headache’. The love story or ‘bromance’ between the Canadians and the four friends who organised the festival – Álvaro, Antonio, Beto and Ángel – is well known. There have already been four editions with the Sub Pop franchise band on the bill, and there are still more to come.
Wednesday Photo: Javier Rosa
Special mention for the grunge folk of Wednesday, possibly one of the surprises of the festival. His latest full-length to date is Rat Saw Godchosen as the best album of 2023 by this magazine, and live, far from disappointing, they shined and left us wanting more. The journey offered by Karly Hartzman and her band can evoke Drive By Truckers, Boygenius or even the wildest Hole. ‘Hype’ justified.
SATURDAY 24
Saturday is the day of the big costume party, a tradition that is already a trademark of the company –since those beginnings as Canelacore– and that tests the ingenuity of the public. On Twitter you can find ‘threads’ with some of the best of this edition. From Milei with his cloned dog to Olympic shooters Yusuf Dikeç and Kim Ye-Ji, stars of the meme universe after the last Olympic Games, passing through the characters of Heidi and the protagonists of films such as ‘Karate Kid’, ‘Moonrise’s Kingdom’, ‘Ace Ventura’ or ‘True Romance’.
Even so, despite the level and above all the fun that is breathed in the Canela, music continues to be the main protagonist and the poster in charge of closing this edition included unmissable bands such as Cala Vento, Home Front, The Lemon Twigs, Snooper, Prison’s Affair, Superchunk and Triángulo de Amor Bizarro, among others. Some, not all, also dressed up.
Yawners Photo: Javier Rosa
Yawners, For example, They crossed the multiverse and brought together three Spider-Mans. Their spider sense told them that it was not the best time to make inventions and they ended up playing mainly the themes of Double and some of Just Calm Down. Cala Vento, The authors of ‘Ferrari’ also had a lot of fun: they appeared, as expected, in red overalls and helmets to applause. For a few minutes, with the help of a speaker, the fairgrounds became a racing circuit. That illusion vanished with the first guitar strum. ‘Fetén’, ‘Un buen año’, ‘Teletecho’, ‘Equilibrio’, ‘Tu lugar’, ‘Abril’… were played and the good atmosphere was growing. The leaders of the Montgrí team embraced each other with the danceable ‘Conmigo’, but the night was just beginning.
The Lemon Twigs Photo: Javier Rosa
The Lemon Twigs They preferred to remain faithful to their aesthetic, very marked by the sixties and seventies, and did not disguise themselves too much. Announced after the cancellation of White Reaper, many saw the change as a clear improvement. The D’Addario brothers, accompanied by two other musicians of their level, gave an impressive recital, exchanging practically all the instruments between them and with some delicious three-part harmonies that made good comparisons with The Beatles and Beach Boys. For their part, Superchunk, With much more experience behind them, they also starred in one of the highlights of the night. The North Carolina band is touring with the ‘excuse’ of the 30th anniversary of Foolish, Their fourth LP, and of course their repertoire included ‘The First Part’, ‘Driveway to Driveway’ and ‘Water Wings’; not to mention more recent and crunchy songs like ‘Crossed Wires’ and ‘Everybody Lies’; always with the charismatic Mac McCaughan bouncing and firing off wonderful melodies with his guitar.
Public Photo: Javier Rosa
The festival is already working on the next “pitote” and the same Saturday after the energy discharge of the Galicians Bizarre Love Triangle He announced a good number of bands for next summer, as interesting as Bum Motion Club, Depresión Sonora, Derby Motoneta’s Burrito Kachimba, The Get Up Kids, Grande Amore, Joyce Manor, Les Savy Fav, Maple, Mourn and Tropical Fuck Storm. We will keep you informed.
Luis Benavides
