A walk through the Cruïlla lineup

The day has come. This Thursday, July 12, the Cruïlla festival begins, in Barcelona's Fórum Park, with a program not as packed as the following two days, ideal -in a way- to enjoy with the family. A wide offer, from a festival that prioritizes the audience's experience over massification, and which, as its director, Jordi Herreruela, explains, strives to offer "an inclusive lineup: our intention goes beyond pleasing fans of a specific artist, trying to also interest people who don't know them. We are interested in good live performances, without musical purism, to enhance the discovery effect among the audience".

This perspective necessarily conditions a very varied program in terms of musical styles, in search of "a balance difficult to explain between musical genres: pop, rock, folk, world music, reggae, hip-hop, electronic... Naturally -he admits- some years the nuances lean one way or another; but they are precisely that, nuances, without any style weighing excessively". There is a third element that contributes to giving personality to this event, and that is related to the place artists occupy in the schedule: "Rhythmically -reveals Jordi Herreruela- the different proposals go from less to more, from the calmest to the most forceful. This means that, sometimes, we program artists of great projection in afternoon or evening slots, as we consider it the most appropriate to maintain this logic".

Knowing the coordinates that mark the nerve of Cruïlla, we then offer three possible routes through the program of the 2018 edition. Suggestions, it must be clarified, as valid as any other proposal since, with a total of fifty-two artists spread across six stages, the possible routes are many.

THURSDAY, JULY 12

A very quiet day, with only seven artists scheduled on a single stage. The first to step on it (19:00) will be the American bluesman Seasick Steve, who uses custom instruments and spices up his concerts with a degree of madness. Veteran status (he was born in 1941) and a tumultuous life mark the biography of this musician who released his first album in 2004, that is, well past the age of sixty. At 21:00, the stellar performance of the day will take place, starring Jack White, former member of The White Stripes and The Raconteurs, who debuted solo in 2012 with Blunderbuss. The rocker from Michigan will present songs from his fourth album, Boarding House Reach, released last March, at Cruïlla. Later in the evening (21:15), it will be the turn of Bunbury and his work at the intersection between poetry and rock. The former leader of Héroes del Silencio, who already visited the festival in 2016, will perform in Barcelona the songs from his latest album, Expectativas, released at the end of 2017, with pieces such as Cuna de Caín.

FRIDAY, JULY 13

Despite France being very close, artists from that country do not visit us as often as would be desirable. Luckily, Cruïlla 2018 includes Camille in its program, who on Friday (7:00 p.m.) will kick off an intense day of concerts, a day that amounts to twenty-four events. In 2002, this singer-songwriter and actress began a brilliant solo career; with nods to chanson, pop, and the experimental universe, she was catapulted as one of the most interesting figures on the continent. She will present her album OUÏ, released in November 2017. Later (9:15 p.m.), it will be the turn of one of the great fathers of modern Brazilian music, also the former minister of culture of his country, Gilberto Gil. In 1977, Gil released Refavela, an album recorded in Nigeria and steeped in blackness: a sublime work that, from the first minute, was revered as a classic. With the show Refavela 40, he will recall, among other pieces, the songs from that work, very well surrounded by a large team of friends. His performance promises to be one of the most talked-about of the summer season in the city. From 11:00 p.m., the festival will host the debut in Barcelona of Prophets of Rage, a supergroup made up of members of Rage Against the Machine, Cypress Hill, and Public Enemy. Tom Morello, Chuck D, B-real, and the rest of the members of this sextet promise strong emotions riding on rock, rap, and protest, with songs from their self-titled debut album and covers of their bands. After midnight (00:30), lovers of reggae and dancehall have an essential date with Damian 'Jr. Gong' Marley, Bob Marley's youngest son, who performs for the second time at Cruïlla, this time presenting the album Stony Hill. Immediately after him (02:00), the Norwegian Kygo will decorate the early morning with an EDM session in which the famous Stole the show will not be missing.

SATURDAY, JULY 14

Final fireworks, with twenty-two four concerts planned and an offer that, early on (7:00 PM), connects us with the talent of singer-songwriter Fatoumata Diawara. A Malian born in Ivory Coast, she can already be considered one of the great ladies of African music, despite not yet having reached forty years of age. In 2017, she came to the festival as part of the splendid team of the show Lamomali, and now returns to present her new album, Fenfo. At 9:45 PM, we will experience one of the big surprises of Cruïlla with the immense David Byrne, who began to charm half the world with Talking Heads and has not stopped doing so in his subsequent career in the world of music and cinema. Surrounded by a cast of ten musicians and dancers, Byrne will treat our senses with the material from his eleventh solo album, American Utopia. Next (11:00 PM), we will have The Roots. A hip-hop band appreciated by very diverse segments of the public, thanks to an intelligence of method and concept that links them to funk, soul and even the jazz scene. They haven't released an album in five years, but they are currently working on a new album that, perhaps, will be featured in their Barcelona concert. The final stretch of Saturday night at the Fòrum Park necessarily includes electronic dance proposals such as that of Justice (2:00 AM), the French electronic music duo formed by Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay. Not forgetting the veterans Phil and Paul Hartnoll, who have brought Orbital (3:30 AM) back to life. A tandem that stood out in the nineties, and that is still ready to put up a good fight, as their performance will last until five in the morning, bringing Cruïlla 2018 to an end.