Beer and music, a de facto couple at the Estrella Damm party

BarcelonaFermented grain alcohol is the great lubricant of music in Catalonia. Estrella Damm is a strategic sponsor of festivals such as Primavera Sound, Sónar, Cruïlla, Canet Rock, Cabró Rock, L’Acústica, Share, the Barcelona Jazz Festival... and also the Mercat de Música Viva de Vic. "Without Estrella Damm, this festival wouldn't happen," said François Jozic, the new director of Sónar, a few days ago.François Jozic, the new director of Sónar. Therefore, it is not surprising that music was the main protagonist of the celebration of Estrella Damm's 150th anniversary held on Saturday at the Parc del Fòrum. Eight groups responded to the brewery's call and performed, divided into two stages, between 3:45 PM and 11 PM. Curiously, at the anniversary of a birth, two bands that are breaking up this year participated: Love of Lesbian, who announced an indefinite hiatus, and Oques Grasses, who will bid farewell to the stage with four concerts at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in October.

Oques Grasses closed the party with an audience exultant from the start, as soon as Josep Montero, hooded like the rest of the group, began to sing

Molta tralla. A good indicator of what will happen in October. On Saturday, the Osona band recalled why it has become a differentiating factor in Catalan music, a mixer of styles and sounds that is increasingly daring with each album. Freed from their hoods, they displayed skill in performing a repertoire that will soon be legendary and that they defend with resources, such as a very unconventional brass section and choirs that sometimes seem to seek the depth of gospel. They also managed to capture the celebratory spirit of the night with the playful drive of songs like Com està el pati, John Brown and In the night (with Latin brass), and with Montero's hedonistic and communicative attitude, especially remarkable in pieces like the reggae with saxophone and ukulele Passos importants. At the same time, they managed to concentrate delicacy and sensitivity in Sort de tu, accompanied by great applause, and link it with the sonic grandeur of Elefants, and share with the audience the verses of De bonesh. All of this, culminating in a fireworks display.

More or less the same crowd had followed the evening concert by Love of Lesbian. "Thanks, Damm, for putting on this party," said the band's singer, Santi Balmes. "All you need to do now is make wine and whiskey," added guitarist Julián Saldarriaga. It was the humorous moment of a consistent performance, like last year's at Cruïlla (on Saturday Balmes repeated the same anti-fascist speech before Allí donde solíamos gritar). Between the epic, first contained and then unleashed of Ejército de salvación and the farewell with Club de fans de John boy, Love of Lesbian (and the effective brass section) progressively involved the audience until they were shouting the lo-lo-los of each song, although there was no euphoria, but rather the feeling that there won't be many opportunities to see them again. After Love of Lesbian, a good part of the audience stayed to save seats for Oques Grasses, while others queued at the food stalls and a few thousand followed the disco-aesthetic show by 31 Fam.

The party of the century and a half was opened by Ginestà with a large audience on the stone bleachers stage. "We are hallucinating with the response, that at 3:45 PM it's this full...", said Júlia Serrasolsas. "You are a lovely crowd", added her brother Pau later, given the complicity of an audience that they had on their side the whole time, also for the songs from the new album, Gira tot igual, però diferent, such as El mirall, an exercise in spite that he sings with verses chasing Pulp's breath. The same audience, and even more so, planted themselves in front of the other stage, the main one. The decision to be there at 4:25 PM was totally right, because Maria Jaume offered one of the best concerts of the day. Full of charisma and always modulating her voice with intention, the Majorcan singer is in a magnificent creative moment. She combines different stylistic colors without renouncing her personality. One moment she overflows with club rhythms, as she did inviting Ouineta to Va x tu, the next she lifts indie pop gems like Sonen ses campanes, which she presented with a call to preserve cultural roots to project them into the future. The anthem that gives title to the new album, Sant Domingo forever, and the festive denunciation of Os cartos closed a too brief concert. "Thank you, Maria, the best", Ouineta had said with all reason.

Castells and Barça

Without pause, Els Catarres continued the party, deploying a big, eminently festive format. All of it quite fitting with the atmosphere that was breathed in an increasingly full Forum. Mushkaa also highlighted that there were so many people, and so enthusiastic, among whom there were different casteller groups. For her it was a special day, recovered from a knee injury. "But I still can't jump," she warned at the beginning of a show that was a concentration of hits seasoned with unequivocal proclamations such as "Long live Barça, and fuck Real Madrid, always." Right after, the stage area of the stands became too small to accommodate all the people who wanted to see The Tyets and dance to bombo a negres and choruses like that of Menorca, a youthful synthesis of the spirit that the brand wants to convey with the motto Mediterràniament: "A ukulele sounds / we see the beach in the background / The selection is over / and today we have all come". A spirit that the duo from Mataró transmitted to the entire performance, until the euphoric end of Coti x coti.