Free live music in Las Palmas, March 2019

Of course, March is the month of Carnival, but there was so much more to see and to hear in Las Palmas for free!

• 3 March: Olga Cerpa & Mestisay @ Gabinete Literario, Plaza de Cairasco, 1, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
  This is the first time ever that I went to the Gabinete Literario which occupies the beautiful building of former Teatro Cairasco, bang in the centre of the island’s capital. Olga Cerpa & Mestisay played a daytime concert on Sunday and the hall was full. I found myself in the middle of a queue just outside of the entrance which didn’t move anywhere: “Ta lleno.” A group of people left the queue and went around the corner. In a few minutes, I spied them within, so I followed their example and embarked on search of an alternative entrance. It presented itself as a locked door. I rang the bell (twice). Finally, a lady opened it from inside, telling me once again that it is “a tope” but still, she let me in. I found a place behind the scene and enjoyed the concert thoroughly.
• 5 March: Carlinhos Brown @ Parque Santa Catalina
  Mr Brown and his fantastic band brought the house down — well, there was no house but the main stage of the Carnival, and everybody was dancing!

  

  Carlinhos Brown in Parque Santa Catalina

  

  More photos of Carlinhos Brown @ depositphotos

• 7 March: Berta Moreno @ Teatro Guiniguada, Plaza F. Mesa de León, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
  At last! Berta Moreno’s session (once again, thanks to Mousikê La Laguna) was what a masterclass should be. “Are you musicians? What do you play? Who brought an instrument?” she asked. (I didn’t bring anything.) Fortunately, there were two saxophonists and one clarinetist who joined Berta on the stage for a jam.

• 16 March: Caracoles @ Parque Doramas
  From Tenerife with rumba and love, Caracoles were presenting their new album Flores. A colourful touch: in the middle of the show, a guy with a big bag went around the audience to distribute the “flowers” of bougainvillea. The singer encouraged everybody to grab handfuls (or armfuls) of them, and then on her signal, as she sang the first word of Flores (which, incidentally, is Flores), to throw them into the air. Featuring Nuria Hernández (lead vocals), Fabián Rosquete (percussion), Pedro García (bass guitar), Germán Cuesto (Spanish guitar), Luis Pérez (drums), David González (keyboards), Nuria Herrero (backing vocals), Aborá Cel (backing vocals), Rubén Quintana (trumpet), Alejandro Cabrera (trombone) and Ricardo Melchior (sax).

• 22 March: Concierto feminista “La igualdad marca el ritmo” @ The Paper Club, Calle Remedios, 10
  I went primarily to see Flor de Canela and they didn’t disappoint! But I am also glad I’ve got to know the other artists, because they play sort of music I don’t listen that much to, and even less so live. Cintia Lund sings very stylish 1980s-feel electro-pop (for want of a better term) and has awesome and also very stylish, stage presence. She was accompanied by Yanara Espinoza (Papaya) on drums and Ricardo on guitar. By the time the last act took the stage, The Paper Club was pretty full. Tremenda Jauría (Madrid), consisting of Mc Chucho, Mc Machete, Mc Larrata and Ganga Dj, is a live testament to the fact that reggaeton, contrary to the stereotype, can be progressive and feminist. The band cleverly mixes it with sounds of cumbia and punk rock. Still, not my favourite music style, and it is a real shame that, when you really want to hear the lyrics, you can’t, thanks to the venue’s dismal acoustics. The show went from more or less 10:30 pm to 2 am.
• 23 March: Esther Ovejero “Todo sobre Almodóvar” @ Parque Doramas
  What do Cucurrucucú paloma, Ne me quitte pas and I’m So Excited have in common? Why, they all appeared in films by Pedro Almodóvar! They were presented by Esther Ovejero in her spectacular programme “Todo sobre Almodóvar”, together with songs such as En el último trago, Luz de luna, Tonada de luna llena, Puro Teatro and, of course, Volver. The singer from Tenerife was accompanied by Roberto Amor (drums), Patricio José de León (guitar), José Carlos Perdomo (double bass) and David Quevedo (piano).

• 30 March: Happy Piano Day in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, various locations (12:00—19:00)
  The Piano Day, takes place on the 88^th day of the year (due to the standard number of keys on piano), was created by Nils Frahm in 2015. This year it was celebrated on the 29 March worldwide except Las Palmas de Gran Canaria where they did it one day later... or could it be that Canarian pianos have an extra key?
  
  The instruments — thankfully, under the tents — appeared in nine locations around the city. I went for a walk to the centre and saw three of them: one in Parque de San Telmo, another on the corner of c/Triana and c/San Pedro and one more on the corner of c/Triana and c/Travieso. On this last spot they installed two upright pianos back-to-back, and Jose Alberto Medina Quintana, one of the organisers of this event, was sitting there playing a duet with Juan Espino. A great idea, I think they should put the pianos around the place more often.

• 30—31 March: Monopol Music Festival, Plaza de Santa Ana (20:00—01:00)
  The MMF was going from 22 to 31 March, but Timur and I only went to check out the closing concert on the Plaza de Santa Ana. We caught the last song of Lajalada and the first two songs of the Amsterdam-based EUT — then Timur left. I stayed to hear the first song of Mucho and went home, leaving Delafé till another occasion. Of what I heard, it was all right if not great, but the sound left much to be desired: the low frequencies made my guts vibrate way beyond comfortability.
• 31 March: Julie Fowlis @ Parque Doramas
  What a great way to finish the month: the open-air concert of Julie Fowlis and her band! Mostly Scottish and Irish tunes but also The Beatles’ Blackbird (in Gaelic) and one song in Galician. Apart from singing, Julie was playing tin whistles and Shruti box; also, telling us stories behind the songs (I guess there were not that many Gaelic speakers in the audience). “Do you want some more?” — “Yes!!!” — “We don’t know any more!” But of course they played one more, and while they were playing, Julie said her goodbyes and left the scene... only to reappear a few minutes later with a bagpipe to provide the perfectly Scottish coda to the show.

  

  More photos of Julie Fowlis @ Shutterstock