Published
Guadalupe Plata have spent almost two decades making the blues sound like Úbeda. Their songs bring together rock, folk traditions, death and the occasional apparition, all held up by a guitar and a drum kit. On Saturday 14 November, the duo will bring that repertoire to Berlín Social Club in Almería. Doors open at 8:30 pm and the show starts at 9 pm.
Behind Guadalupe Plata are Pedro de Dios on guitar and vocals and Carlos Jimena on drums. Their music draws on echoes of Delta blues, rock and roll, psychedelia and flamenco, yet it is hard to mistake it for anyone else’s. Their songs seem to be inhabited by characters and stories someone might have told one night in any village in Jaén.
Although their music has its roots firmly in the earth, it has taken them much further afield: they have played in more than twenty countries and territories, from Europe to the Americas.
A good way into their sound is Guadalupe Plata (2023). To record it, they worked in Úbeda with a four-track Tascam and cassette tapes. They then completed the process at La Mina in Seville with Raúl Pérez, adding saxophones and eight-bit keyboards. Its songs include «En mi tumba», «La cigüeña» and «Maleficio», alongside a version of «El cóndor pasa».
The band also have a new album in the works. In an interview with Jaén Hoy published in August, Carlos Jimena said it had already been recorded and that they hoped to release it towards the end of the year. By then, some new songs had already started finding their way into the live sets; one had even emerged during a soundcheck.
With that repertoire continuing to evolve, their visit to Almería will be a chance to hear up close how Pedro de Dios and Carlos Jimena play off each other on stage.
Tickets cost €19.80 and are available from the Berlín Social Club website.