Being car-less blows! You’re bound to busconnections and time schedules, which can be very frustrating at times. Sanne was very excited about her Bilbao sleepover weekend last week so she convinced me to do the same.

After work we headed to the Duesto-district by subway. We met up with Mikel, a Basque Biology student, who opened up his apartment for couchsurfing. There were 5 of us (Sanne, Niké, Tiina, Sammi and myself), a bit much for a medium-sized apartment but he assured us that it was no biggie. He showed us around his place and introduced his fellow roommates.

Kafé Antzokia hosted Bilboloop that night, an electro/rock gathering of three bands + dj’s (Tom Boyle, The Teenagers and Crystal Fighters). Although I didn’t knew the bands, not even by name, I didn’t really care. I always fancy a gig. My summer holidays were filled with music concerts and festivals. I check the Internet every few days for concerts in the neighbourhood, and when the girls told me about Bilboloop my mind was made up pretty quick.

So Mikel lead us the way to the music hall. Once inside it looked more like a fake art-nouveau theater. Tacky and overdone, but really cool.

The festival kicked off with Tom Boyle, an indie band from Getxo, Vizcaya. Sadly enough my happy feelings were tempered instantly by this dreadful performance. The female lead singer looked like she felt more like reading a book with a cup of tea and a blanket than to play on stage. Boring, no chemistry with the audience, no mentionable musical skills, … A bunch of glitters under your eyes ain’t gonna cut it honey!

Next up: The Teenagers. I listened a bit to this French synthpop band in advance, and they charmed me with their nonsense lyrics and poppy tunes. They played a very decent gig that night. The charismatic lead singer, Quentin Delafon, was very energetic to say the least, constantly seeking interaction with the crowd. On their hit song ‘Homecoming’ the whole crowd joined them on stage. Real fun.

The lead singer of The Teenagers © Sanne Jehoul

Last band on the program: Crystal Fighters. Their genre? Very hard to describe. A kind of fast tempo nu-ravepop gettho house thing with digital latinbeats and Basque folknoise. Got it? Probably not, experiencing them live is the only way to get an impression I guess. Fired up on Redbull (not sure that was the only thing), they showed a great deal of energy, electrifying the crowd. The lead singer was constantly walking up and down the stage dragging his microphone stand along, while his colleagues drummed the txalaparta, a traditional Basque instrument. Original, refreshing and alive and kickin’! They recruited themselves another fan.

Crystal Fighters © Sanne Jehoul

Afterwards dj’s continued the fiesta with some popular tunes. Singing along we left the place a few hours later. Mikel’s roommates organized enough sleeping spots in the living room, making it a short yet comfortable night of sleep. Thanks guys!

Gero Arte!

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One of my favorite things to do is going to concerts and discover new music. Since I’ve been here I haven’t had the chance to do so, until last weekend!

Last Friday we decided to stay in Bilbao after our work to visit the Bilboloop Festival in Kafe Antzokia. When we entered place, I instantly felt at home. The stage, the atmosphere and the extremely good music. It was the very first time I heard music I really really love and I felt like nothing could ruin my kill my happiness-buzz. Not even the first band of the evening, Tom Boyle.

They started off kind of ok, but during the half of their second song I already wished the concert was over. There was nothing happening on stage, it looked like the musicians were almost as bored as I was. And I can’t really blame them for that because their music wasn’t really exciting. But well, there was one song in the end that wasn’t bad and I even found myself enjoying it for a little while, but they didn’t blew me away at all.

Next on the menu were The Teenagers, a funny French quartet who play catchy indiepop with an electronic twist. Their music I already knew, so I was sure it wouldn’t be a torture to listen to. When they started with their first song Feeling better, they immediately set the right vibe: having fun and dancing carelessly, I totally dug it! It wasn’t only enjoyable to listen to, but also to watch. The singer of the band was interacting with the public and even dancing with the girls on the front row. Other highlights of the show were the songs Scarlett Johansson, Fuck Nicole and Homecoming (with hilarious lyrics: It was perfect a dream came true, Just like a song by Blink-182.) That’s the thing about The Teenagers, you shouldn’t take them very seriously, but they sure know how to throw a party!

The Teenagers. © Myspace

The band who had to perform last were The Basque collective Crystal Fighers, who are singed at the hip Kitsune label (who also signed Hot Chip, La Roux, Klaxons, …) . It’s really hard to put them in a musical genre-box . Hard noisy electronic music sprinkled with some Basque folk influences is maybe the closest to what they create. Nevertheless, it was mind-blowing! The singer was jumping up and down like a monkey on speed, the half-naked guitar player went crazy hitting on pieces of wood and the electronics-guy looked and acted like Mowgli from Jungle Book. And that’s what Kafe Antzokia also started to look like, a hot sweaty jungle with crazy dancing people in it. After they played their last song, everybody in the crowd begged for more, so eventually they played two encores. But alas, they couldn’t play forever!

Crystal Fighters © MySpace

Time for the afterparty! I loved the dj, whoever he or she was. They played a lot of my favorite party songs , something that doesn’t happen that often to me, not even in Belgium. So in my point of view, it was the perfect ending to a perfect night!

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A summary of this weekend’s gains: the discovery of Kafe Antzokia – one of Bilbao’s coolest music venues, a fun and entertaining Teenagers-concert, an insane revelation named Crystal Fighters – electronic music combined with traditional Basque instruments, and the long-anticipated book The Death of Bunny Munro by Nick Cave.

On Friday, after completing our weekly duties at EiTB, we went to the Deusto quarter to meet Mikel, the guy with whom I’d been staying during my first weekend in Bilbao. That weekend, I had discovered that The Teenagers, a French, London-based electro-pop band, would be playing in Kafe Antzokia on the 23rd of this month. I was really craving a concert, it had been TOO LONG, and I knew that Michael and Niké would feel the same, so they tagged along.

Mikel, Tiina and Sami also joined us, and so it was that on Friday we headed to one of Bilbao’s top alternative music venues. Kafe Antzokia used to be a small theatre, so just the setting itself was enough to make me giggle of happiness.

Niké, Michael, me, Sami and Tiina in front of the stage at Kafe Anzokia. © M. Irastorza

The Bilboloop festival night kicked off with a concert of Tom Boyle. It’s a local band, so I was curious, but unfortunately for them and us, it was a true yawn-fest. My deepest apologies to their fans, but there was no stage presence, no chemistry between the band members and – most importantly – no interesting music.

Second to take the stage were The Teenagers. They greeted the audience with ‘Kaixo!’, so thumbs up for that. Easily accessible but nonetheless good music and a very energetic lead singer, who was mostly standing at literally only a meter away from the crowd, made sure that it was a very successful gig. Especially when people could go on stage during one of the last songs (The Homecoming), all teenage girls went wild.

The Teenagers got everyone on stage during their song The Homecoming. © Sajeh

The biggest surprise of the evening was Crystal Fighters. Usually a five-member group, there were only three of them now, but they created so much noise that it was as if there were a lot more. How best to describe their music… It’s heavy electro combined with traditional Basque instruments (txalaparta) at a high speed pace which resulted in something close to a rave concert. Insanity, but inventive insanity that we are more than willing to embrace and put on our iPods. The fact that some of them are of Basque descent and that they integrate Basque folk in their music makes it even better.

Crystal Fighters, with the guy on the right playing the txalaparta. © Sajeh

We stuck around for the afterparty for a while and then headed back to Mikel’s apartment, where five of us slept in the living room. In total, there were ten people sleeping in the flat that night, which apparently was a record. I feel obligated to mention the hospitality again!

Next day, schoolwork! Yes, that also has to happen (more often than I’m doing now actually, I feel like I’ve used all my spare time in the last two months, and that the next two will be all work and no play!).
I stayed at Mikel’s place to work, pondering about an article that – yes, you’re reading this right – links a Korean movie to the Basque social conduct.

In the evening I searched some book stores for The Death of Bunny Munro, the new Nick Cave novel that I have been dying to read. I eventually found it in the Fnac store, my copy being one of the only two they had. Yay!

I stayed another night in Bilbao, sharing the Belgian chocolate that my grandparents brought. My hosts apparently loved it (how could you not)! Mikel told me about a festival with Basque bands in Arrasate on the 7th of November. We will definitely check that out and it would be a nice opportunity to be the host instead of the guest for once!

Talk soon! Gero arte!

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