At 8:30 p.m. on Thursday night, a voice in Portuguese and another in English introduced a Portuguese band named after the French father of chemistry called Lavoisier. They were in charge of breaking the ice on the Chafariz stage for the first concert of the festival with a small audience. Festival Med 23 had started to roll.
The south of Portugal provides beautiful beaches and ninety percent of the fish and seafood eaten throughout the country. For three days, however, in this small southern city of Loulé, located in the Algarve region, it was music that was delivered, among other artistic expressions.
The 19th edition of the Med 23 Festival lasted three days, from June 29 to July 1, 2023, in the historic center of the city. During this period, the narrow streets of Loulé saw some 30 thousand people treading its streets.
Presented as a “World Music” festival and organized by the city council of Loulé, an average of 18 performances per day were spread over four large stages and other small stages. Portuguese artists made up forty percent of the performances and a large part of the audience was also Portuguese, with the additional presence of tourists from the United Kingdom in particular.
Lavoisier, at the beginning of the festival, used pre-recorded sequences in a proposal that navigated equally the synthetic and the organic landscape. Three musicians (drums and two electric guitars, then two wind instruments were added) served as support and their vocalist, Patricia Vuelvas, danced little steps and flaunted theatricality. Initially, nothing impressed in those first minutes, although as the clock ticked, Lavoisier became interesting. Nevertheless, it was time to move to another stage.
Next, it was the turn of the Cerca stage where Portuguese artist Sara Correia, dressed entirely in white, pants and jacket, touched the Portuguese sensibility with the national genre, fado, the eternal fado. The Portuguese guitar emitted its touching sound, and Sara easily connected with the complicit audience. Fado, no doubt, unifies in these lands. The night was beginning to take shape.
Feeling and breathing the music
Subsequently, it was time to run to the Matriz stage, the largest of all the Festival Med 23 stages. There, the duet of blind artists, Malians Amadou and Mariam, was waiting for us. The esplanade was overflowing with attendees, while the crowd did not hide their enthusiasm and knew in advance that something special was cooking. The song “Batoma” played and, suddenly, the magnetism of the couple was palpable; no matter that they were communicating in French while the keyboardist impressed with his versatility. With the audience jubilant and in a trance, the couple became the group to beat or, at least, match.
It was unfortunate to leave Amadou & Mariam, but we rushed to the Chafariz stage to savor Cape Verdean vocalist Nancy Vieira. Her participation was already about 15 minutes into the show, and she was delivering her songs with charm and tenderness as she chatted animatedly with the audience. She performed with her quartet two songs from her upcoming album and evoked the immense Cesaria Evora with her song “Mar Azul”. Nancy, who lives in Lisbon, filled the night with calm and certainty.
Once again on the Matriz stage, reggae was the protagonist. The legendary Jamaican artist Horace Andy, resident in London, fired his old school reggae, with his trombonist taking a leading role. Horace was slow walking at 72 years old, talking about money being the root of all evil. Festival Med regulars demand their share of reggae; here they got their first dose.
ONIPA, a Hurricane Of Energy
We returned to the Cerca stage to be seduced by ONIPA’s offerings. There are always pleasant surprises at this festival, and this was one of them. A spectacular vocalist, who swaggered with impetus as well as how he played percussion. That was K.O.G., with his three initials; that’s how this artist from Ghana identified himself. With his three companions from the United Kingdom, they injected us with African musical genres such as soukous and highlife spiced with London electronic flavors. Their show was contagious and agglutinating, with a fervent audience that was quickly seduced. Thereupon, Amadou & Mariam already had competition.
In the meantime, a little taste of the Portuguese band Club Makumba, on the same stage, was convincing. The desire to have seen them for longer ate us up inside, but there is not enough time to watch all the concerts.
Loulé cannot live without reggae
The next two days were of lime and sand. More reggae never goes wrong in Loulé, and Kabaka Pyramid, directly from Jamaica, convinced and conquered. Kabaka had a portion of dancehall at times as well as traditional reggae. They sounded solid and with a strong stage presence.
On the other hand, Italian musician Nicola Conte, engrossed in his guitar, seemed distant and too dull for a big stage like Chafariz and never took off with jazz that did not drench the audience with enthusiasm. His guest, British artist Sara McFarlane, didn’t show her credentials. And we rushed off to the Cerca stage in search of another band: Aywa.
This French/Moroccan band, with engaging themes of peace and social justice, with an amalgam of musical styles, was another pleasant encounter. The brevity of this description of Away’s presentation does not do justice to how fascinating they were. The sounds of the flutist and vocalist are still stuck with us.
Next, on to the Chafariz stage and, after midnight, where Portuguese artist Pedro Mafama put the audience in his pocket. The husband of singer Ana Moura brought a musical project where tradition and popular music with its usual styles went hand in hand, defining what it means to be Portuguese today. His songs were chanted and well received by a young and mature audience.
From here we went to see the Barcelona band Sra. Tomasa who, by grafting Afro-Cuban rhythms and urban sonority, had people dancing. After midnight, the public with beer in hand is not demanding and Sra. Tomasa played their role of animating the evening, although they sounded unconvincing in the handling of the hip hop sounds.
While the main stages featured stellar artists in the evenings, acts with the most striking names, such as Italy’s Bandadriatica, were imposing and relentless. Meanwhile, magical moments were gestated in smaller stages. Sometimes the most deeply rooted expressions of music were left behind on the smaller stages.
Tomoro, a Japanese duo, brought us closer to the world of Japanese drums and minor percussion instruments on the Castelo stage, the smallest of the four stages. The Galician act from Spain, Caamaño and Ameixeiras, using accordion and violin, dazzled with their fresh endeavor (see a separate review). And another one, like Miguel Calhaz on the first night alone with his double bass, was a wonder on his own.
The first of July, the last day of the festival, included the great attractions. A jazz trio from Brazil with Amaro Freitas was a good opportunity to invite new listeners to that musical genre, and pianist Freitas was up to the challenge. On the other hand, vocalist and pianist Sarah McCoy was the best-known name of the evening, and her performance was guaranteed to be delivered with all her passion and joy.
Some concerts were risky, like the Japanese/French band Poil Ueda, grafting progressive rock with other herbs. Another daring one was the Brazilian Bia Ferreira, militant and rebellious, who sang to us some disturbing stories of hate and racism. To whom we also dedicate a small separate article.
Festival Med has a lot of music. Some artists that I was unable to watch and enjoy, such as Portuguese artists Zeca Medeiros, Marco Martins, Sétima Legião; and Cape Verdeans Bulimundo (sound problems at the beginning) and many others, will be explored and heard in due time.
A true festival for everyone
Festival Med is a multicultural space without prejudice, not only through music. Indeed, this festival also celebrates cinema, gastronomy, crafts, literature, and the arts in general. This event enriches the spectators, the families that attend, without having to incur great expenses. It is a truly widespread festival where all the people meet, drink, embrace and mingle. There are no brands or logos or exaggerated sponsorships invoking unbridled consumption. And its citizens have a financial break by participating in the sale of products, food, crafts, etc. Music, the people of Loulé and the arts are the true protagonists of this evening.
The joy of a truly well-liked festival, witnessing people coming together, is priceless in times so desolate and lacking in empathy. Preserving its freshness, its uniqueness and the right balance of its forms must be part of the challenge.
More about Festival MED.
Author: Rafael Mieses
