Cruïlla 2023 – 7 July 2023 (Parc del Forum – Barcelona)

There are few festivals that are as well marked in our calendars as Cruiïla. Its playful atmosphere, the feeling of not being constantly crowded, the care for the public… All this has meant that for almost a decade, despite the proliferation of other festivals on the peninsula, our love for the Catalan festival has continued to grow.

Sigur Rós, Cruïlla 2023 – Photo by Víctor Parreño, courtesy of the Cruïlla Festival organisers

After missing the first two days due to family and work commitments, the Friday of Cruïlla 2023 was marked by concerts by The Offspring, Sigur Rós and Alt-J. It is with this band from Leeds, with their joyful music full of terrifying lyrics, that we begin our journey through the festival, in a concert very reminiscent of the one they gave last autumn at the Sant Jordi Club in Barcelona. With a sound that is not as clear as they are used to (although we would later see with Sigur Rós that The main stage was largely to blame), the first part of the concert featured most of the songs from his obscure latest album The Dream (2022), a few hits like “Tessellate” or “Matilda” and the magnificent and forgotten “In Cold Blood” from Relaxer (2017) that they themselves do not seem to claim. “Bloodflood” would lead into a much more dreamy second part of the concert, in which the sublime ‘Philadelphia‘ was a particular highlight, with the drowned voice of the opera singer booming between the drum beats of an excellent Thom Sonny Green. Their last minutes with “Fitzpleasure” and a set of encores that brought the crowd to its feet with a string of songs including “Hard Drive Gold”, “Left Hand FreeandBreezeblocks” raised the general feeling and left us with the honey on the lips of having enjoyed again an outstanding concert of theirs if the sound had been better..

Alt-J, Cruïlla 2023 – Photo by Víctor Parreño courtesy of the Cruïlla Festival organisers

We only had to move a few metres to see how the show of Viva Suecia‘s ‘El amor de la clase que sea‘ tour had developed. First of all, and in a situation that would be repeated throughout the festival, Someone needs to take a look at the location and capacity of the festival’s second main stage (this year called Intermón-Oxfam), because there are concerts where the crowds are so large that it is almost impossible to even get to the back lawn because of the bottleneck at the sides of the entrance.. It happened last year with Rigoberta Bandini and this year with Viva Suecia and Franz Ferdinand, more or less the same, which meant that on Saturday we just didn’t want to go anywhere near it. Returning to the Murcian band Viva Suecia, we were surprised by the videos and scenography that accompanied their songs, although on many occasions it was difficult to understand how they related to the lyrics of the songs beyond the lights and colours in the background. The four of them are still a steamroller live (when they don’t lose that eternity between songs that makes you despair…), and for that very reason the presence of two other musicians on stage who don’t add anything to the musical offering is surprising. Special negative mention for a saxophone that appears in most of the songs and does nothing more than add an 80s touch to songs that were already almost perfect live. The audience seemed to surrender to the number of hits they were able to sing along to live, as if it were karaoke, all perfectly directed from the front row of the stage by the energetic Rafa Val, Jess Fabric and Alberto Cantúa, who never stopped moving despite the oppressive, humid heat of the Barcelona night.

Viva Suecia, Cruïlla 2023 – Photo by Xavi Torrent courtesy of the Cruïlla Festival organisers

Seeing what had happened with Alt-J, and with the same feeling of dread that we had 10 years ago at the Portishead concert at Low Festival 2013, and the respect that the audience would have for the Icelandic band’s Sigur Ros delicate proposal, we were afraid of what would happen, we make our way back to the main stage to see one of this writer’s favourite bands.. In a show that surprisingly did not include any tracks from their recently released album Atta (2023), their setlist was a sort of light version of the one they played last October when they visited the Sant Jordi club. With Jonsi’s vocals impeccable as ever, the show focused mainly on Ágætis byrjun (1999) and () (2012), starting with the tender ‘Glósóli‘ from Takk… (2005), before unleashing the fury in ‘Svefn-g-englar‘ and ‘Ný batterí‘. As some of the audience had already checked out to see the Icelanders and left for other venues halfway through the show, the the concert will take off at an emotional cruising speed with the combination of the incredible ‘Festival”, “Kveikur” and “Untitled #8 – Popplagið”, that demonstrated that Although neither the majority of the audience, nor the time or the sound were in favour of their proposal, these 20 minutes alone are enough to compensate for the cost of any ticket…

Sigur Rós, Cruïlla 2023 – Photo by Xavi Torrent courtesy of the Cruïlla Festival organisers

Staying until the end of the Icelanders’ gig meant that we could only catch the last 30 minutes of Carolina Durante‘s set. True to their style, with Diego Ibáñez throwing an incredible party that turned the front rows into a contest of constant pogoing, the band from Madrid showed why they have one of the most festive and effective live shows on the Spanish scene nowadays. We had fun like children with the cover of Séptimo Sello ““Espacio Vacío” or with the one from Marcelo Criminal in “Perdona (Ahora sí que sí)”, although what has to be mentioned is for the final rush with ‘Casa Kira’, ‘Cayetano’ and ‘Famoso en tres calles’. Is there really anyone who can remain without jumping and dancing at a concert of these guys?

Carolina Durante, Cruïlla 2023 – Photo courtesy of the Cruïlla Festival organisers

And for the finale, what should have been the last dance. Firstly, an A+ to our fellow photographers who, faced with the abusive conditions demanded by the band’s manager (the photos had to be sent to members of the group’s entourage for approval before publication or any use), decided to stand up and not take any photos. We are stronger when we go together and our admiration and respect goes out to all those who supported this decision.

I must say that The Offspring are one of my favourite bands from my teenage years, because By luck or by accident, at the age of 13, I got my hands on a cassette tape with the record of the same name on one side and Ignition (1992) on the other one, which accompanied me through most of my adolescence. Then they released Smash (1995) and the snowball was unstoppable, although sadly their later career is rather dispensable beyond a couple of songs. With the eagerness of someone seeing them for the first time, the concert started well with ‘Come Out and Play‘ and ‘All I Want‘, although the low volume of Dexter’s vocals meant we were left with a decaffeinated version. After two songs, disillusionment was gaining ground on my scale of sensations as Dexter and Noodles seemed more focused on talking crap into the microphone with long speeches between songs than playing a proper punk concert., as the amazing drummer Brandon Pertzborn seemed to wish, one of the pleasant surprises of the evening who sighed with every speech. Just when we thought it couldn’t get any worse, Noodles decided to show off his guitar skills by performing a medley of songs. from Iron Maiden, Guns N’ Roses or the classic “In the Hall of the Mountain King”, and then later, as a band, they shattered “Blitzkrieg Bop” by The Ramones. Amidst the proposal’s embarrassment and monotony, only a few tracks like the excellent “Gotta Get Away”, “The Kids Aren’t Alright” and “Self Esteem” stood out from the general wreckage.