Guadalupe Plata

Guadalupe Plata - Dingwalls, Camden - 06/06/19

This was my second gig from Future Juke’s annual 21st Century Blues Festival and was always going to be intriguing and perhaps challenging to justify including in a blues magazine. I guess the 21st Century tag was always going to give me some leverage as it really does open up the genre.

The support act was Joe Gideon, a relatively unknown individual artist who was joined by the more familiar Jim Sclavunos on drums who currently works with Nick Cave but who has also worked with Sonic Youth and The Cramps. Gris De Lin completed the trio on keyboards. The audience was treated to half an hour of atmospheric blues very reminiscent of The Fall and early John Cooper Clarke, spoken word poetry with a deep rhythmic undertone. Nine songs with titles such as ‘Expandable Mandible’ and ‘The Gaping Yawn’ deserved to be listened to. All three are currently working on an album, the finished product should be very interesting.

Guadalupe Plata are Pedro de Dios Barceló (guitar and voice), Carlos Jimena (drums), Paco Luis Martos (bass, contrabalde and guitar) come from the small Andalusian town of Úbeda and perform a blues based genre that defies strict criteria. They are a massive draw in their homeland and judging from the size of this audience, very popular in London. It must be said, however, that the majority of the audience was expat compatriots but from the reaction they must have felt they were in the presence of rock ‘n’ roll royalty in an intimate setting. We were presented with a setlist that not only defied genre conventions also defied the language barrier for the minority of us. The language barrier wasn’t such an issue as Pedro made noises to music rather than a vocal as such. The band had no rapport with the audience for the entire gig, no song introductions or banter, being so wrapped up in the music. I understand that these three guys are not great at conversing in English and perhaps this was a diplomatic decision to avoid alienating the non-Spanish minority.

Bass guitarist Paco had a somewhat unique array of instruments and it was quite obvious that he would have been willing to literally put the kitchen sink to work if necessary. Paco chose, for the first few numbers, to employ what I believe is commonly referred to as a contrabalde or washtub bass, made out of a zinc bath tub, a chainsaw chord and a broomstick which they salvaged from a Úbeda graveyard. Having served its purpose this was flung off the side of the stage such was its indestructibility. Pedro then selected a three string cigar box guitar he had made himself for the remainder of the show. I say cigar box but it just resembled a lump of wood that may well have been salvaged from a Spanish skip. I would, however, add that both self made instruments had terrific tonal qualities and the overall sound was not calling out for a trademark electric bass.

The dancing increased as the set progressed, and I became a little fearful that my 62 year old frame was going to have to hold its own in the extreme rarity of a mosh pit at a blues gig. The heat increased as the dancing progressed but remained controlled. Every number, although new to me, was a blend of bluesy riffs, slide guitar, bags of feedback and howling vocal and was greeted with a roar of approval.

This was my first experience of Spanish blues, Guadalupe Plata is a truly innovative band and I thank Future Juke for providing the opportunity to check this out at its annual Festival of 21st Century Blues.

It was awesome!!! Really good band, doing their best always(is the fourth time I watch them). 100% recomendable. Perico is a beast on the stage, and the rest of the band really good musicians.