Published
CordoVibes makes its debut beside the car park at the El Arenal fairground. It is not the most poetic setting in the world, but there is a logic to it: the first thing a new festival needs is for people to turn up and stay. What stands out about the bill, though, is not who is on it, but who the organisers have chosen to leave out. None of those names that saturate Instagram neo-indie and fill the field before the box office even opens, turning it into the Great Karaoke. For a first edition, passing up that ammunition takes a certain recklessness, a willingness to take risks and an editorial conviction that we celebrate and applaud. It is also the only way for a festival to have a character of its own from day one.
In their place is an idea: bring together the people who come to sing along and those who come to dance, with guitar pop on one side, electronic music on the other, and plenty of people who have no intention of choosing. Two days, six live sets and two DJ sets. Dorian and Digitalism supply the big names; the rest of the bill supplies the reasons to go.
Saturday 10
Dorian, Los Punsetes, Anni B Sweet and Pablo Pueblo DJ.
Dorian are almost the festival's thesis in band form. The Barcelona group have spent years letting guitars and synthesisers coexist without a fight, allowing them to move from songs to the dancefloor without blinking. Futuros imposibles defines this phase, and theirs is a repertoire the audience knows by heart.
Los Punsetes are a different proposition. Songs that get into your head on the first listen, with lyrics that take much longer to leave because they stick. They have been at it for more than twenty years, and in May they released "Una Persona Triste", the first taste of a new album. Old habits die hard.
Anni B Sweet is probably Saturday's most intriguing prospect. Her fifth album, Alegría, comes out on 16 October, six days after Córdoba. She co-produced it with James Bagshaw of Temples, and what we have heard so far ("Adiós con Alegría" and "No le encuentro la gracia") is full of pop melodies, Mellotrons and the occasional psychedelic flash. No setlist has been announced. But playing with an album about to come out is like showing someone around your home while the boxes are still unopened: something always peeks through.
Pablo Pueblo DJ completes Saturday's bill.
Sunday 11
Digitalism, Parquesvr, La Habitación Roja and JotaPop DJ.
It would be easy to book Digitalism for nostalgia, but that is not all they are bringing. Jens Moelle and İsmail Tüfekçi arrive with Optimism, released on 29 May: twelve tracks that still inhabit that space where electronic music behaves like a band. Anyone who needs to understand why this festival puts a stage and a dancefloor in the same venue should go and see them.
Parquesvr provide the counterweight. Mitos y leyendas continues to bring together satire, discomfort and observations of everyday life, with more emotion than they are usually given credit for. To stop at the provocation is to hear only half of what they do: underneath are songs, and a very distinctive way of describing what is happening around them.
La Habitación Roja take Sunday somewhere else, moving hearts rather than hips. They have just celebrated thirty years and are still revisiting their own songbook: this year they have re-recorded "Volver a casa", while Crear remains their latest full-length. JotaPop DJ completes the programme.
The practical details
Doors open at 19:00, with closing scheduled for 02:00 on both days; individual set times are still to be confirmed. There will be a food area and activities connected to local culture. Tickets start at €40 per day and €75 for a two-day pass, with the final price subject to the terms of sale.
A first edition has no history, only a line-up. This one brings songs to sing along to, a few to unsettle you, and enough quality electronic music to make sure nobody ends the night with their arms folded. It will have to earn its character at El Arenal itself, but there is certainly plenty of ambition to do something innovative. Bravo