In Ecuador, high in the Andes mountains,
52 international and national bands and intrepid festival goers
made the spectacular 1.4 kilometer descent into the misty 4,000
year old dormant crater of the Pululahua Volcano for a unique
event in rock'n'roll history: A four-day international music
festival in a sacred, mystical and inaccessible geobotanical
reserve.
The event took place in February, 1999 at 3,000 meters above
sea level, where oxygen-starved rock fans adventured high along
the baron Andean Mountain roads into the clouds reaching the
summit of the Pululahua volcano. Clouds had descended into the
crater, barely a sound could be heard from below, the steep
zigzagging 1.4 kilometer path led fans into a fertile oasis
of wildlife and vegetation in the geobotanical reserve, a 30
minute walk through paramo grass, palms and laurel to the sound
of humming birds, tanagers, churn owls and the company of wolves,
armadillos and gazelles. The mist cleared, light rain fell,
rock music hummed in the distance as the indigenous houses and
the two giant concert stages came into view and the incredible
idea of rock in a volcanic paradise became a reality.
For the festival organiser Ricardo Perotti, it was dream come
true. Originally planned for October 1998, the festival had
to be cancelled when the nearby active Pinichincha volcano went
onto red alert and according to Perotti, the Ecuadorian government,
the police and the environmental group managing the reserve
put up a number of barriers, attempting to prevent the festival
from taking place. Up until the last minute, uncertainty loomed,
the head of police finally giving the go ahead just 9 hours
before the festival was due to begin.
Security was high with the army, national police, municipal
police, civil defence and 15 horsed police present, not to mention
the obligatory 30 under cover agents in the crowd. Fans were
searched at the summit for drugs and strict limits on alcohol
were imposed, but adventurous fans found the local magic mushrooms
in the small valley and joints circulated under the noses of
the surprisingly restrained police.
The turn out over the 4 days was disappointingly low, having
planned for 15000 people, the biggest day attracted just 2000
people, Abulon from Las Victimas del Dr. Cerebro could not understand
why so few people attended, when the setting and the music was
so phenomenal. The reasons: bad weather, the date, a traditional
carnival weekend when most people leave for the coast and the
price, $6 a day, thought to be too much for many people.
But on February 13th 1999, the weather, the police and the
small crowd didn't stop the volcano from rocking as 100 decibels
of sound, delicately engineered to respect the ecological balances
of the protected zone sent Mexican indie-fusion into the enclosed
3383 hectare nature reserve.
Las Victimas del Dr. Cerebro (Victims of Dr. Brain),
blew the crowd away on the first night with an explosive show.
Devils, skeletons, monsters and pyromania invaded as an indie-fusion
of heavy metal, funk and reggae thrashed into the gloomy, mist
swelled night. Recently signed by EMI and promoting their third
album Boutique 2000, Las Victimas are continuing the wave of
Mexican Rock bands creating alternative, punk, thrash and ska,
started in the late 1980's and spearheaded by Maldita Vecindad,
Caifanes and Cafe Tacuba. Abulon the front man talked of his
lyrics, which deal with the everyday experiences of Mexico's
youth, a generation largely ignored by society. He was flattered
to be able to sing in a place of such great harmony between
nature and art, praising the organisers for the brilliance of
the idea and the quality of the production.
Quito band Sal y Mileto opened the first day with a
powerful rock fusion show. Bassist Franko Aguirre talked of
the importance of the festival for Ecuadorian rock. "Being a
musician in the 3rd world is a militia battle, the poverty and
the expense of recording in South America means that it is a
miracle that bands are succeeding." Sal y Mileto formed 5 years
ago when Singer Paul Segovia got together with the writer Peki
Andino in a project to fuse poetry and music, mixing social
and political conscience with original rock. Releasing their
first album this year, their success is a testament to the power
of their song writing skills.
British band Vague hit the enthusiastic crowd with
their own brand of Britpop. "Fantastic and inspirational," declared
drummer Geoff Southall, when the clouds came down, he expected
dinosaurs to come running out of the trees, "the feeling was
that anything could happen." He found the Latin crowd totally
different to the British, describing them as more excited, appreciative
and open. Influenced by three continents of music, Geoff, British,
Monti, Ecuadorian, Nick Lowther and Rob Bryon, Australian, their
collective work incorporates diverse influences from the last
50 years, bringing rock, ethnic, electronic, soundtrack and
Latin music together.
Inspired by the Bay of Pigs incident in Cuba, where the US
payed off the local military to start a coup, the funky and
subtle Peace and Love poetically covers a confused gringo's
arrival in South America. The mellowcholic Sleepwalking talks
of going to a new city, looking for enlightenment and disappointingly
realising that you could have found it where you were; disillusionment
with a commercialised world where there is no room for spirit.
Dogma Sinica from Columbia lifted the small crowd on
the second day with powerful songs from their latest album Cultura
Del Ruido (Culture of Noise). Designed to raise the level of
Columbian rock, exploring new areas and ambiences. Singer, Javier
Reyes says. "It's about aggressive people attracting aggression
in a negative atmosphere of mental noise, where aggression becomes
a lifestyle. By putting noise into the music, we try and show
the complexity of the feeling that it creates." By introducing
an authentic and darker sound to their hard rock and incorporating
new elements, samplers, loops and noise, they have catapulted
themselves to fame in Columbia. Javier praising the festival
objective of uniting the different Latin American rock movements
declared enthusiastically. "It's magic, I've been filled with
energy all day in this wonderful place of power."
The people dropped their fried bananas and KFC as Spanish
rockers Girasoules (Souls Flowers) brought their own
special brand of philosophic rock to Pululahua. Promoting their
third album Mundo Feliz (Happy World), produced by Joe Davorniak
in London. The popular soft acoustic rock is a move away from
the style of the previous albums which explored Latin rhythms.
Inspired by Aldous Huxley's 'Brave New World', a social critique
runs through the conceptual and melodic album. Playing for the
second time in Latin America, Kike Tarraso, singer, disappointed
at the size of the crowd found the festival superb. "Playing
in a crater was the experience of a life time."
The atmosphere intensified on the third day with eagerly awaited
Mexican band, La Dosis (The Dose), igniting the soaked
crowd with an intense dose of analogue, drum and bass, electronic
soul funk and ultramodern, conceptual lyrics. Philosophising
about the danger of the thoughtless mainstream 'peddle bike'
society, where no one thinks or examines the nature of their
own existence. Invited by Sony and promoting their 5th album
Hydro, singer, Sara Valenzuela found the crater to be a weird
experience but a great idea.
The frenzy of Chilean reggae-rock band, Chancho en Piedra
(Stone Pork), injected adrenaline into the frosty night,
practically unknown in Ecuador, witty lyrics, catchy funk and
strong vocals captured the crowd.
Argentinean Babasonicos shook the crater with a blend
of rock, funk and hip-hop, enrapturing the crowd to mosh in
a mad, trancey and intense set. Tripping on a combination of
oxygen for altitude sickness and volcanic mushrooms, front man,
Adrian Dargelos described the feeling as. "Great, tripping in
the clouds, throwing the vibe." Taking their name from the Hindu
prophet Sai Baba and an allegory to the Supersonic ones, the
seven members of the band started playing together in 1991,
and are currently promoting their fourth album Babasonica, an
addiction to simplicity. Keyboardist, Uma-T explains. "All the
personalities of the band are different and spontaneous, we
are against formula music which destroys creativity. Our experimental
and un-pure music creates absolute trance, an altered state
of mind. It is tacky, trippy and psycho with a lot of flow.
We try to be as tacky as possible, mocking cheesy, greasy, macho
Miami style Latin playboys." By playing on Latin American taboos
such as sex and spirituality, they are trying to break the antique
conservative Hispanic heritage and make way for a new future
in the new millennium. Their uncool approach is making them
an up and coming and very happening band, icons of the youth
culture.
People arrived in a huge rush to hear the Columbian super
group Aterciopelados (The Velvets), transforming the
soaked crater into a tropical valley with their own brand of
Electro-pop-rock. Andrea Echeverri, the quirky and vocally inventive
rockera worked the crowd into a frenzy with Baracunatana, No
Necesito (I Do Not Need) and Cosita Seria (Serious Small Thing),
from their successful album La Pipa De La Paz (Peace Pipe),
Grammy nomination for Best Alternative Latin Rock Album in 1997.
Rebellious Bogota society girl, Echeverri, 32, hailed by critics
as Latin America's best rock singer and Hector Buitrago ex-bassist
from the legendary hardcore band, La Pestilencia (The Pestilence),
came together in 1990. Their debut album Con El Corazon En La
Mano (With a Heart in the Hand), released in 1993 made them
one of the most popular bands in Columbia. The second album
El Dorado brought them international recognition, recording
an unplugged session with MTV Latin America and touring with
Argentinean bands Soda Stereo to the US and Spain with Heroes
del Silencio. Their third album La Pipa de la Paz recorded in
London with Phil Manzanera turned silver in Columbia in 1997
and after touring Latin America, they joined the boisterous
Argentinean Fabulosos Cadillacs for the Rockinvasion tour of
the US. Their latest 1998 contemporary pop-rock album Caribe
Atomico (Atomic Caribbean) develops a new and interesting sound
with influences from Massive Attack, Bjork and Salsa music.
Echeverri, as a lover of ecology adored the idea of playing
in a volcano and felt a magnetic sensation in the crater. When
asked about the idea of singing in English, she pledged. "Singing
in Spanish is a statement, we are proud of being Latin American."
Crazy, extrovert and flowery Argentinean singer-songwriter
Fabiana Cantilo playing songs from her latest paranoid
album De Que Se Rien? (What Are You Laughing At?), excitedly
talked of her love for animals, the ecology and of the dreamlike
sensation of playing an open-air concert in such spectacular
surroundings. Born in Buenos Aires, she began playing theatrical-rock
25 years ago before starting a long musical relationship with
the Argentinean rock pioneer Charly Garcia, playing in a number
of different bands during her career, she has released four
solo albums in a modern pop-rock style with a Latin twist. "In
spite of the rain and the jungle," She says jokingly, "Latin
America is a child being born." Composing in English and translating
to Spanish, her poetic lyrics are wary of big brother and the
destructive force of property builders destroying nature. Romantically
adding. "Love can save us; it is not as easy as it could be,
but hey, I'm still fighting."
A sensation of the event was the appearance of the highly
respected Argentinean multi instrumentalist Pedro Aznar,
48, former bassist with Charly Garcia's Seru-Giran and with
the Pat Metheny Group. Playing in a quartet, Pedro found the
views breathtaking and felt amazed and honoured to play in front
of a freezing but enthusiastic crowd. Spanning decades of musical
development and acknowledging many styles and genres, Aznar
is considered to be musical intellectual. As a child he began
studying classical guitar old using the Klavarskribo notation
system, he went on to study jazz piano and is particularly renowned
for his technical mastery of the famous fretless bass.
Mega Chilean band, 'La Ley', headlining on the fourth
day with a hypnotic and futuristic light show and set. Piercing
white lights shining from the bands space helmets transported
the public to the trance like transcendental world of Electro-acoustic
rock. Reputed for their cinemographic stage shows; the band
formed in the late 80's and are ending a 12-month tour. Heavily
influenced by Japanese band 'Sakamoto', singer Alberto Cuevas,
talks of the social message in the lyrics, concern for the extreme
rich poor divides, sympathy for the rebels in the jungle and
criticism of the glamorisation of war.
Young, hip, Chilean funk band Los Tetas (Masculine Tits)
closed the festival, gaving the crowd the send off they needed
for the arduous hike out of the crater; rapping, scratching
and throwing funky basslines into the night. "We went from playing
gigs at parties to being famous very quickly," explains singer
and scratcher, TeaTime, downing a cold cupper and pulling a
handful of Twinnings out of his pocket. "We've got a contract
with EMI, but we are going to split and do something on an independent
label like Master F."
Artists huddled back stage during Los Tetas awaiting news
of the landslide that temporarily blocked the narrow road out
of the crater. Adding drama to the overall experience of the
event, as the public climbed out of the crater, jeeps and trucks
transported the artists back to Quito along the spectacular
but increasingly trecherous mountain roads.
Considering the socio-political background to the event, this
festival marked a watershed in Ecuador rock'n'roll history and
judging from the enthusiasm of the crowd, the foreign press
and the artists, playing for free and united in admiration for
Ricardo Perotti, Pululahua 1999 hopefully marked the beginning
of a great festival culture in Ecuador.
The author resides in London and New York. |
