Sonic Blast Festival- Vila praia de Âncora, Portugal Aug 7-10th, 2024

Back at Sonic Blast for the 5th time, I believe.  Pretty much the best festival of its kind in Portugal. A great diverse line up from world music to punk to metal, psych, stoner etc…  I got a camper van on Weds but it was not ready in time for me to make the pre-party (Daily Thompson, Spit God, Saint Karloff, and DJ). Daily Thompson could not make it so they just shifted the schedule from what I heard. I also heard that it was a crazy party and more people than usual showed up. 

I arrived about 1330, about a 3hr drive from my house to the festival. Van drove great and I listened to Causa Sui- Free Ride, Deathchant (album has too many cymbals, so only heard 4 songs), Datura4 (wish they were playing), Brank Bjork (Saved by Magic CD1), and Graveyard debut... 

Found a place to park about 20mins away in a quiet neighbourhood next to a small forest. Far enough away from the festival that you are not blasted.. You can still hear the bands.  I met my friend Ana and then headed over the festival about 1430 and got my press wristband.  I really enjoyed hanging out with JJ (The Obelisk) last year but sadly he was not here this year...

High Reeper opened the show at 1500.  Sadly, I found out that I left the SD card in my computer so could not shoot any video. I only saw the bands first 2 songs and then decided I needed to go buy one if I could and I found a 64GB (can show in 1080 for 5hrs). They were done when I got back. Heavy stuff. A small crowd watched them. 

HIGH REEPER

Maruja (Ireland) were first on the main stage. I was not familiar with this band. The guitar player-singer said that one of their members was sick but they would manage.  Their sound was hard to describe. A bit post rock, a bit noise rock, melodic… Not sure what to say… Crowd seem to dig them. 

Earth Tongue (New Zealand), are a duo with a drummer and female singer who plays guitar but mostly like a bass guitar, no leads, only down tuned riffs.  The drummer also did some vocals as well.  It was pretty intense stuff, quite doomy but none of it really grabbed me that much.  Pretty unique sound.. Crowd was into it..

Margarita Witch Cult, a UK based doomy riff rocker band had the first really big crowd.  The festival usually has quite a few bands from the Heavy Psych Sounds label, including this one.  I filmed a couple of the first songs and was getting into it. Pretty good band. I ended up running into lots of people (Kenny (Mirror Queen, Tee Pee), Nici and her husband, the foto crew guys, Tom and Melvin, etc.. so got a bit distracted but they rocked…. 

Enola Gay, I had never heard of these guys and what a fucking sound. Wow.. 4 piece band with an intense singer, who used a lot of cool delays on his voice. The guitar player was like in another world with his sound, lots of far out psychedelic stuff and then heavy riffs.. It was punky, it like Beastie Boys at times and then it was like Ministry.. Some pretty political stuff at time as well. INTENSE… I quite got into it.. I shot a longer video but sadly it has no sound!!! Surprised me. 

Black Mountain, this was a quite a surprise. I do not think they have played in Europe for quite some years and no new music out but they decided to do about 10 festivals this summer and one was here in Portugal.  I last saw them at Copenhagen Psych Festival.  This show was short songs and too the point. They focused more on hard rocking ones and a few more spacey melodic but it was a solid set. I wish they had jammed a bit but that was not on the agenda today. Great sound except for the bloody wind which was really high today so unless you are in the front, it gets blow all over the place, strange phasing effect when you hear the bands from over at the merch table. 

I hung out a lot with the Sacri Monti guys at their merch table They are having a great time on the tour and such nice guys. they have me a copy of the new album. Thanks Guys..  Can't wait to see them tomorrow.. 

Maquina, are a Lisboa trio and this really had the crowd going crazy.. The bass was the main thing and it was pounding with the drums in an almost techno like way with some distorted and harsh vocals from the drummer. The guitar player just played crazy shit with loads of effects and seem to spend almost as much time tuning his guitar (in the middle) of songs as he did playing.  Wild. They pounded the audience for like 40mins.. Not a lot of variety in the sound but wild power.. I liked it..

Graveyard, what can I say. I have a long history with these guys and love what they do. Their last album, 6, is one of their best… In the top 3…   I spoke to Jonathan (guitarist) and he said they mostly play material from the last 2 albums and that was the case today. They played for about 70mins and the audience was huge by now and it sounded great.  I do not know the set list but a lot was played from the album, from the hard rockers to the blues stuff. Crowd dug it.. Great band and my fave of the day for sure.. 

Set List: It Ain't Over Yet,Twice, Cold Love, Bird of Paradise, Breathe In Breathe Out, Hisingen Blues, Goliath, Rampant Fields, From a Hole in the Wall, Please Don't, The Siren, Ain't Fit to Live Here

There was still 3 bands left but I was too tired so I said my goodbyes and headed back to the camper. Viagra Boys, Poison Ruin and Tons….. see what people say today if they were any good.. 

Day 2

Lovely sunny day. Went to bed about 1230 and slept until about 7 or so. I wish I had brought a blanket, as it was a bit chilly…  It is cool having a camper thought but as it was the first maiden voyage you always forget stuff. I left the milk and my fiber at home Musli and berries with water was ok but not great.  Will head to beach for a swim in an hr or so.. Lots of great stuff today with Colour Haze, Causa Sui, Madmess, Sacri Monti, Deathchant, etc…  Seems a lot of people thought Viagra Boys was not a good band for Sonic Blast, if Ricardo starts filling it with bands like this people will stop coming. I heard Tons was massive.... 

Had a nice swim but the water was fucking cold.. Much colder than a month ago down south by Peniche.  Had lunch, lay down for 90mins and then off to the festival about 1445. It was a bit warmer and a bit less windy today.  

Porto band. Jesus the Snake, with ex-Astrodome members, was up first. They played instrumental spacey music, which the occasional heavy parts. Sounded a lot like Astrodome! It was a great relaxed way to start the day. I enjoy them a lot. I tried to find them after the next gig to give them a flyer to invite them to record in the studio, but never saw them again this day.

Madmess was up next and fresh back to Portugal after a month long Europe tour. They guys were tired but happy and it was a successful tour for them even though they do not have the new record finished. They had a 45min set and it was a mix of old and new songs and Sam was really ripping it up today. They sounded great. Set ended with Stargazer into Hocus Pocus by Focus. Crowd loved it..  One of the best Portuguese bands today..

MADMESS

Deathchant (From Los Angelos), seem to be the house band now, playing 3 years in a row!. Not sure anyone has played so many years in a row.  Anyway, they play a mix of hard rock, NWOBHW and doomy stuff with lots of dual guitar parts.  High energy for most of the set.  I like their music but am not fond of the vocals.  Crowd digs them. They even had a special Sonic Blast shirt made.  

Sacri Monti, who I hung out with a lot yesterday at the merch, were finally on. I was talking with my friends from Causa Sui when they suddenly started so I had to run off.  They started off with the familiar songs, ones they always seem to play and then played most of the new album as well.  They have a real unique sound that is their own. I love the twin guitars, totally different way they use them compared Deathchant.  Anthony has a perfect voice and delivery for the music as well. They blew me away, especially the long last song and encore..

Causa Sui…. what can you say?? These guy are one of the top acts in Europe for psychedelic stoner rock. They had some technical difficulties with a volume pedal (I think) for Rasmus, so were about to start and then they all left the stage. Delayed about 10mins.  They only played one of the shorter more mellow new tracks.  It was a bit strange hearing them play two of their very Colour Haze inspired tracks, when Colour Haze were on next on the big stage. Anyway, they were the first band with visuals, films, and that was great… Mostly tracks you know from their live albums but they did pull out a rare one. Awesome set.. 

C.O.F.F.I.N. were an Australian dirty, nasty high energy rock and roll band with a lot of attitude! The drummer was the lead vocalist and said some funny stuff.  They just came out and kicked ass for about 50mins.  The crowd loved it. It was a mix of punk, Rose Tattoo on steroids, Clutch and kicking ass.. they did a cool cover of Riff Raff by AC/DC.. Fun…

Now, the main headliner Colour Haze. Portugal (and Spain) love Colour Haze. The stage area was totally packed. They only got a line check and started very quickly. I was surprised Stefan played a Les Paul (give him a different, more heavy direct sound somehow) on bunch of the songs. Turquoise, Aquamaria, Love, Transformation, etc,,, They played only about 5 songs, in their 60min set. Sound was massive and Jan has been mixed into the sound a lot more, which totally changes the band. Some people dig it (me) and others do not think it works and like the Colour Haze they all knew and loved… Still people were there and totally into it. Great visuals as well.. They always deliver…. Great band.. Just awesome….

I only saw the first 15 mins of Truckfighters. I have never really been a big fan of them.  Not sure if they had ever played in Portugal before but most likely.  Crowd needed a bit of a rest after Colour Haze but were not going to get it. The guitar player is crazy. He runs around much faster than the music is so it is sort of stange.. He is not rhythmically with the pace of the band. Anyway, they got the crowd jumping and screaming and they did there thing they have been doing for 25 years…

 1000 Mods (who I heard were great!), who played last year, were next so I did not see them or Skemer or Idle Hand (2.40).. 

It was a long day. I was on site for 9 hrs and my brain is blasted. They play so loud. I can not even imagine what you head feels like if you did not wear ear plugs..

Day 3

I was up at 9. A guy making a hell of a racket in the area.. Had some musli and juice, wrote up my review.  After breakfast I walked down the beach for a swim and ran into Pedro (10,000 Russos) and we both had a swim and a nice chat. Super nice guy..  I came back about 12, had some lunch and laid down until about 14 or so and then headed down to the festival site. Ran into a bunch of different people a long the way and chatted and got there about 15mins before the first band.

The Great Fool (Porto) were up first. They are a four piece band with a charismatic lead singer.  It was a mixture of rock, blues and a bit of stoner influence. All original songs as far as I could tell. I filmed the first couple of songs. The sound was not great at the kick drum was way too loud and annoying so I had to leave but I could still hear it.  I felt like 50% of their songs were really good and the others not so good or memorable..  Not bad. Had a decent crowd..

Gaye Su Akyol (Turkey) were first on the main stage. They started about 10mins late.  She was late putting her make up on or something.. Anyway, it was a drummer, a guitarist who also ran the computer backing tracks and intro and played some keyboards, mostly guitar though. The female lead singer, she also played some drums at some points in 3-4 of the songs.  It was sort of mainstream Turkish pop with mideastern feel. Most of it was not very interesting until they did a Erin Koray cover and the last track of their set was more rocky with a long guitar solo.  It was ok. Audience grew from not many to quite a good size crowd by the end of their set. 

Now was when it really began, with the Obsessed.  I had not seen Wino in any configuration since Malmo 2014 with St Vitus, just before his drug bust in Norway.  He did not play in Europe for like 5 years. The band was supposed to play here last year but cancelled. Anyway, they sound better and more powerful than ever. Wow..  IT was a great set with a good mixture of tunes.  Set was about 55mins. They ended with first single from the last album and played quite a few songs from it.  Not as much from Sacred, which I liked better but cool set..  Audience was into it.

Brant Bjork Trio

…  Brant seems to be here every couple of years with some project and that is great. He should be the house band!!!   This trio line is awesome though with Mario (Fatso Jetson, Yawning Man, etc) on bass, and Ryan (From the Bros).. They grooved like hell and it was a great mixture of stuff. They played at least 2 songs from the new album coming out in Sept. Sunshine and Ryan on drums.  I dug how Brant changed the lyrics a bit to Let the Truth be Knows. Set was about 65mins and just great. Sun was going down a bit. Great vibe, people loved it.

Night Beats from Texas were for sure the huge surprise of the day. What a band!  The Spanish guitar player/singer was backed by two bad ass black guys on bass and drums. What a groove they laid down for this killer mix of blues, rock, garage, a bit psych…. What a great energy. A bit too many effects on the vocals for me so you can hardly understand what he sings at all but damn they rocked and jammed.. Fucking fun..  Killer stuff…

SLIFT, a psych band from France played here 2 years ago at 130 in the morning and blew people away.  This was the first time for me to see them. They had very intense visuals with almost always bright white lights and very light visuals. IT was sort of evil. I had to put my sunglasses on to be able to look at the stage.  Anyway, these guys are a high energy fright train of psych rock. I do not like this strained almost yellow vocal at all. It ruins it for me..   They were best when they shut up and just played and spaced out, which they did mostly at the end. The last song of the set was by far the best track.  Audience loved these guys and they blasted them..

High On Fire, which I did not see but you could hear in Spain, probably, were next. I could hear them easily 25mins walk away from the festival site. the soundcheck at 10 in the morning was insanely loud. Sound guy said over 110db.. Anyway, I am sure they killed it… They are always so powerful..  

Thrash-crossover band, Fugitive was on next after that and then some more high energy R&R with Wine Lips and then they ended the night at 305 with Silvershark from Berlin. I read they were some sort of funky disco dance band… 

Awesome festival again Ricardo. Thanks for letting me cover the festival again. Sold out and great mixture of styles. I really miss the African bands from the previous two years but hope some will be touring for next year. Newen Afrobeat would be awesome. Headliner choice for me would be Zakk Sabbath!  

My fave bands this year: Graveyard, Sacri Monti, Causa Sui, Colour Haze, Brant Bjork, Madmess, and Night Beats..

Photo Galleries:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Unifant Festival- Travachinia, Portugal Aug 2-4th, 2024

Not sure what edition of this festival this is but I think it the 4th time I have come and I have become more active in the community that surrounds the festival and did a lot of volunteering earlier in the year until my elbow became to bad to do the labour. 

Anyway, festival was sold out (250 tickets), approx. 100 for the public and there were about 150 volunteers this year, wow..  Opening ceremony was  at 18 and not that many people had arrived, maybe 80 people and same amount of kids.  Mad, one of the main organizers, gave a very heartfelt and fun speech and then encouraged every one to gather in the pot (center of the forest stage area) in groups based on what they did as volunteers or artists, etc..  nice way to bring it all together..   

Nawty Pharmas started things off. The band is a trio of acoustic guitar, stand up bass, hand drums.  Kev, the bass player also played harmonica and banjo. He and the guitar player shared lead vocals. It was all originals as far as I could tell and fun songs with clever lyrics.  Some anti-war and very positive messages and some funny one. People enjoyed the set.

O Portugûes Ningûem (Portuguese Nobody) is local talented guitar looper and vocalist, Lúis Oliveira. He played last year just after Doctors of Space to about 6 people so this was a big step up as there were about 20-30 people sitting around and some standing and dancing.  He spoke a bit in English but sang all his songs in Portuguese. Nice music, mostly on acoustic guitar. He did mostly originals plus one or two covers.  

Carlos Geometri, local DJ from Brighton, UK, played very funky stuff which was a mix of African music, reggae, hip hop, 80s pop but thankfully mostly focused on ethnic grooves this set.  He usually plays more 80s pop mixed with hip hop, and disco and I am not really a fan but the people love it and dance like hell at his sets.  He is clever and it was great to see him have a turntable and do some scratching. I had never seen him do that before. He was great..

DJ DC was up next on the main stage and then after that they have a small DJ booth over by the bar where DJ Acetate and DJ Bernas would take the party til 3am.. I left about an hr into Carlos. It was a really nice first day and met lots of friends.  Pizzas were great as well. 

Day 2

I picked up my friend Tom (he is from Belgium) and the bus was 30mins late so we had to rush to get there in time to see the my band mate, Martin and Lunch Club. We missed Boris Nunes (from the band dUASsEMIcOLCHEIASiNVERTIDAS ), Rick Lemon I was told was very cool, playing basoki along to some chilled out beats.

Lunch Club play their version of classic folk rock tracks with acoustic guitar, lead guitar, bass, mandolin and African drums percussion. Male and female vocals.  They were a bit nervous but settled in after a 20min late start. They were very well received and played a nice set. Andy Manson (famous guitar builder) on lead guitar was lost in his own world sometimes and noodling away but it was fun..  Martin, was awesome on the bass.. Very cool groove. A beautiful afternoon for this kind of music in the forest.

Some guy named Jay with an acoustic guitar was next and he was quite funny as he did not see to have it very together or planned and was maybe a bit stoned. Anyway, he played for about 30mins I guess to a small crowd.. 

While Diva and the Teaboy were getting ready, two guys came up and did some rapping. I was eating so I did not see how they were.   Diva and the Teaboy were a duo of acoustic guitar (He played electric on one song) doing mostly original material, I think. She had a great voice but as this was a very new band, only 2 weeks old, the guitar player had to read all the music and had no stage presence at all.  She had to drive the whole show, so it was hard work to keep the audience interested..  Great voice…

Fliptrix, a UK reggae-hip hop rapper was up next. He has played the festival many times now but usually super late so I have never seen him. What a talent he is, wow…  Tall white guy who sounds like a London rasta!! If you were blind you would have thought he was black for sure!!  He was accompanied by a guy on a laptop, who pretty much just triggered songs and did a few little effects here and there but the music was awful. I did not like it at all.  People were dancing and it was almost all the same BPM, like 90 or 100.. quite slow hip hop with a reggae influence but too slick, almost like pop music a lot of it.. Not for me but damn, the guy can rap!!! 

Idioteque stole the show!  It started an hr late as it was a big band to soundcheck and get all the sound right on stage but damn, what a show and the band never sounded better. Started off with a new speech from Nick (whose voice was pretty rough) and into a new jam track. Great way to start the set and then they played thru the main set of songs- Gimme More, Again, Honey, Test my Faith, Mountain Man.  Then I came out for Blacklight and Space Age. For Space age, the band sat on the stage and there was a short film and I made some spacey sounds in the background and then off we went. Crowd loved it.  They ended with Close your Eyes and a huge festival sing along (Know what it is to be loved, to be loved….)… Fantastic..  Thanks to Philippe for the amazing sound…. Leon for the great lights and projections… 

As Idioteque finished an hr after they were supposed to we just split. I really wanted to see Steve (DJ Rakubah) and is African based music DJ set but it was going to be too late and I have another gig on Sunday with Doctors of Space.. After Steve was DJ Offgrid (Jay) and DJ Kobi.

Day 3

Fucking hot today! Up to 38C… Damn..  Doctors of Space are on at 2015 so I could not be out there in that heat all day. We did missed Chiara, Seb Wilson, Songs for the Soul (Mila), all singer songwriter stuff. 

We arrived just in time to catch almost all of the Até Jazz Trio, which featured Dinis (guitar and bass), Larry Lush- Keys (Both from Idioteque) and French multi-instrumentalist, Philippe Valdes (drums, etc…). It was perfect late afternoon in the forest jazzy improv stuff. They apparently only met once for 3hrs before doing this gig. Good stuff…  DJ Gato Quente, did an hour set of reggae like stuff with a lead singer-rapper guy on some of the tracks. The kids were really into it and they had fun..

DJ Good Morning Eye Ball, played more uptempo electronic stuff from his laptop.. smooth and a good intro before Doctors of Space. We set up during his set so it did not take long before we could start when he was finished.  The sun was just setting so it was a beautiful setting. It was still really hot though…  It slowly got dark as we finished our set of 5 tracks, lasted about 65mins. We had a very good response from the crowd. Martin totally smashed it on the drum machines. Wow… I was a bit all over the place but I had fun and found some really wicked sounds from the Octave CAT..   It was fun.. 

The last live act was Hedge Children, lead by Wodan, a local singer songwriter who recorded some great songs in my studio.  He how had a 6 piece band with drums, lead guitar, bass, melodica-sax, digeridoo, … Sadly, Sue really wanted to go home so we only saw the first 2 songs. Pity as the sound and the vibe of this very organic all original rock much was so good and people were happy and dancing..   DJ AFEK was the closer. 

What a wonderful small festival. Well run, beautiful site, happy people, amazing sound and lights (Merci Phillipe and Leon for the lights). Highly recommended… Thanks to the organizers for inviting me to play for a 3rd time with Doctors of Space. See you next year....

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