Barreiro Rocks Festival (Portugal) -- Garage Rock Mania ! PART THREE

Here's the last part of my roundup of Barreiro Rocks 2006 (see below for parts one and two) ...

October 7 was the final day (and night) of this festival but it looked like the whole event was in trouble when first it was rumored that headliners Gallon Drunk (UK) had cancelled their appearance and later that The Drones (AUS) had gotten lost on their way from Bilbao...

Los Ass-Draggers (Spain) had already cancelled their appearance a few days before the shows so that night's after-party band were moved up to the main stage (more on them in a second!)

First we were treated (subjected?) to the Fatals (France), who are, apparently, noise-garage-punkers. I wish I could find something positive to say about this band. Let's see. The drummer made some funny faces and could do some impressive jumps above the drums. OK. That's about all I got. Under all the distortion and noise there seemed to be very little in the way of songs or melodies or anything. Still, it woke us up with its ear-drum-destroying maelstrom of feedback...

Deliverance came in the form of Wau y Los Arrrghs!!! from Valencia, who had previously been scheduled as an after-party band. They filled the second spot with a perfect combo of Nuggets/Back from the Grave/Pebbles covers en Espanol and a stage presence (particularly of Mr. Wau) that takes the cake this year-- almost Devo-like, with his big glasses and mentally-challenged hand motions, you just couldn't take your eyes off this guy or stop laughing. And the tunes were good and well-played. This was the one t-shirt I bought this year (of course it doesn't fit). See this band and you won't be disappointed !

Next up should have been the Drones but they were still lost somewhere in the Spanish/Portuguese hinterlands, so we got some dead time with just my mix CDs to fill the space (not a very good substitution!). Thankfully Gallon Drunk came on as promised in a few minutes and began a terrific set-- and then stopped, after 2 or 3 songs, when the bass drum went kaputt... The crowd was beginning to despair when, after a few minutes, a new bass drum appeared-- it turned out to be that of the Drones, who had just managed to reach Barreiro. Gallon Drunk returned and played a blistering set, which found James Johnston practising the tried-and-true Bad Seeds method of play guitar-hit keyboard-play-guitar-moan vocals-and repeat. This really works and the band was tight and experienced. The highlight for me was the saxophone playing of one member who stepped bravely to center stage to bring it. Excellent!

Finally the Drones, of Australia, visibly rattled by the long drive and last-second arrival at the festival, rushed on stage and set up.. This was their first time in continental Europe and they really delivered on the promise of such songs as "Shark Fin Blues" which has an interesting Neil Young/70's Rock meets Punk aura to it. In fact it quickly became clear that the lineup of the festival, now changed to make the Drones the last band, was a masterstroke as they delivered the kind of epic, night-affirming tunes that you would expect from a big band like the Arcade Fire. I only got to see 4 songs but it was wonderful and I bought the album. Proof positive.

I quickly rushed over to meet up with fellow DJ K-Gone and crowd at Carvoaria Club, one or two hours after we were supposed to start the after-party. Los Santeros, legendary Mexican(Portuguese) band from Hey!Pachuco were setting up and K-Gone was delivering the music to a hungry (and already large) audience.

When the show finally started, I can only guess at around 3:30 AM or so, the place was packed and Los Santeros kicked out their brand of surf/punk, lead by a remarkably sober Chicken Birdie Joey. There was surprisingly little talk this time as the band ran through covers of Link Wray, tales of death, alcohol & religion (that sums up all of the songs I think), a bizarre but crowd-rousing version of Joy Division's She Lost Control (in Portuguese and lead by mysterious guest Ian Curto) and for me, climaxing with the punkiest and most hardcore version of Hasel Adkins' "She Said" -- it seemed like half the crowd was moshing at that point. I must have cut my hand at this point... although I'm not too sure...

I didn't think I could possibly hold a crowd dancing after this, given that it was 5:15 in the morning or so, but I whipped out the big guns and started blasting away-- I distinctly remember playing Undertones' "Teenage Kicks", the Misfits "Where Eagles Dare", the Outsiders "Time Won't Let Me", a great track from Madrid's Los Chicos (who where present!), James Brown, Eddie Cochran, Turbonegro, that great Mexican version of "These Boots are Made for Walkin'" and closing with the Chambers Brothers doing "People Get Ready" (live) and of course the Animals' "House of the Rising Sun".

When I was finally told to stop, I saw that it was 9:15 in the morning and we still had 20 people left! Breakfast followed (Galao de MAQUINA and Bola de Manteiga, porra!) and finally sleep around 11...

(thanks for the photos, el puto de xangai & big mamma d!)

See you fellas next year!!! Ate Ja !