Warm Up for the summer
Reinvigorated festival going from strength to strength
WITH the debacle of the oncegreat SOS 4.8 Festival’s demise in 2015, there has been a glaring hole in the May bank holiday music calendar.
The Murcia-based festival had been providing a shot in the arm for music fans since 2008 when it burst onto the scene with performances from the likes of James, Jeff Mills, Kaiser Chiefs, Rufus Wainwright and The Chemical Brothers.
For the first few years the strength in depth that this twoday event had was a great selling point, but as the years rolled on the organisers usually managed to get some top name acts to appear, however there were not sufficient to justify a weekend, i.e. there was plenty of filler.
After some behind the scenes tensions the festival was initially reborn in 2017 as the We Are Murcia festival and got off to a solid start with performances by the likes of Orbital, Future Islands and Editors.
The problem, particularly for expat music fans, was that once again there was not much strength in depth.
In 2018 the event was rebranded as the Warm Up Estrella de Levante festival and was headlined by the likes of Kasabian and Alt-J.
Once again, good solid acts but not sufficient to justify a weekend stay.
It seemed as if this once must-visit date in the annual music calendar would just become a jaded memory.
2019 however was a big shock to all when the organisers announced a strong line-up that really indicated that they were taking the event seriously.
With the likes of Two Door Cinema Club, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Teenage Fanclub, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, A Giant Dog and 2ManyDJs gracing the festival stage things were finally looking up.
The momentum appears to have carried on into 2020, with a varied selection of excellent live acts having been announced, plus a much stronger lower card than in previous years.
Lovers of electronic music will no doubt be over the moon to hear that the foundingfathers of the genre, Kraftwerk will be headlining one night of the event with their hugely acclaimed 3D show.
Although not having been around for such a long time as Kraftwerk another innovative act to take to the stage will be the London indietronica wizards Hot Chip, whose live show is a must for music fans.
Variety will be added by performances from the likes of exSmiths guitarist and co-songwriter Johnny Marr, who, if last year’s set at the Mad Cool festival in Madrid is anything to go by, will have the faithful singing along as if their lives depend on it.
There will also be a set by the psychedelic rockers Moon Duo, featuring Wooden Shjips guitarist Ripley Johnson and Sanae Yamada on keyboards. The band’s latest release Stars Are the Light, has contributions from Spacemen 3’s Sonic Boom, and boasts a subtle change of direction away from the full on psychedelia towards a funkier, beat-driven sound that takes just as much from Kraftwerk as it does more rockorientated outfits.
Stars Are the Light is a great album that should go down well on a sunny May day in Murcia.
The German obsession for electronic music is once more in evidence with the appearance of Digitalism, who are currently on the road promoting their latest release JPEG.
Other acts that justify spending some extended time at Warm Up Estrella de Levante include the British record producer, songwriter, singer, and drummer Georgia, whose 2020 release Seeking Thrills should warm up the festival’s dance floors.
Another dancefloor diva currently making waves is Pongo, who – by mixing music from her African, Langan and Zairian roots with EDM, bass music, dancehall and melodic pop – has created an interesting sound that is consummately listenable.
So, with a diverse and interesting line-up that appears to be taking a longer term view, here you have some of the highlights at this year’s Warm Up Estrella de Levante which takes place at La Fica showground behind the Victor Villegas auditorium in the centre of Murcia, on May 1-2.
Tickets for both days are currently available from the festival website, www.warmupfestival.es, for €49 or €90 for VIP.