What a weekend in Valencia

It has been quite a weekend here in Valencia - The F1 Grand prix took place on the Valencia Street Circuit- loathed by aficionados but pronounced a triumph by Bernie Eccleston. It was a warm weekend, Sunday was a particularly hot day, apparently 3º hotter than last year and that was August!
Gay Pride had their annual parade in the city on Saturday night followed by a concert featuring mainly drag acts. We got to see the parade but after a day's sight seeing with visitors from the UK, a quiet dinner at home was the favoured choice, friends who did go said the concert was good but the atmosphere was great!
We met up with friends at the Guinness House to watch the England/Germany match - one of the friend's we were meeting texted ahead to say that Hamilton and Button had come second and third in the Grand Prix, a good omen- but I pointed out that a German had taken first place- not such a good omen.
We are just putting the finishing touches to two other big events this summer Fib Heineken Benicàssim - Our own Anita Darling will be there, this year in the company of ace photographer Pj; they'll be reporting on a daily basis on thisisvalencia and on thisisfib.tumblrand they'll be twittering too - so don't forget to follow!
La Tomatina takes place on the last wednesday August whis this year is the 25th, we ran a great luxury bus tour to this whacky food fight and we're taking bookings now clock on the headline for more info.

fib Benicassim, day 2. what a fibbing disaster!

photos from gtvone photography
fib, day 2. what a fibbing disaster!
Getting here later than we wanted, what with me Lolita, just giving up my job, and Anita doing a long day at the bank, we arrived to catch the beginning of Paul Weller, and were evacuated within the hour.
Quick resumen, as i am trying to catch 5000 concerts at the same time, whilst anita is catching up with twitter friends (we luuuuuuuuurve our twitter! http://twitter.com/thisisfib!) and childhood boyfriends (yes, you read right!); Friday night, was the worst night of our lives. Starting with a fire just outsite the festival site in some old vineyards, that got so big the organisers canceled the concerts on the escenario verde, the sky getting smokier and smokier, the press and vip stands being blocked off, security and organisation people screaming at each other via walkie talkies (how does a walkie talkie make you look sooo big and important?!) the next thing we know, the wind has picked up, the fib grounds are a sandstorm disaster, people are wearing their sunglasses to protect their eyeballs, and within half an hour, the green stage is falling down. 200,000 fibers come to a standstill, security guards have been called in to hold up the walls - no music, no screens, and no news. Apart from god knows who from FIB organisation, coming on every once in a while to tell us they are doing their best to sort everything out and they will be with us soon....
And then we were told to leave the grounds. all those people leaving at the same time, in a hurricane-like wind storm, 70KM/20degrees, which felt like -10 and a not a very happy, slightly tipsy and confused bunch of people. Directed towards benicassim town. All in all, we spent 4 hours trying to get a taxi, eventually getting home at 5am, after waiting 4 hours for someone to pick us up.
Got in to bed.
And now its Saturday. And saturday is brill. No Lily Allen, she has a tummy bug (or a 2 day hangover), no Kings of Leon from yesterday (which is crap as they have tried to re-schedule most bands that didnt play yesterday), but the vibe is AMAZING. It feels like every other year, people have got over the hump from last night, Maximo Park were fabby, Elbow got the crowd moving and us covered in goosebumps, and we are now about to meet up to watch Peaches strut her sexy stuff. More from us tomorrow, after the press Vs. artists football match which has been moved til tomorrow, (do join us for a midday paella and beer, its at 12 at the polideportivo in Benicassim!)
Lots of love kiddys, missing those that aren't here with us.
Lolita (and Anita, if i ever find her!)
Ps. 2manydjs 2 hour set tonight at 2am, i am soooo excited i could cry!

Our friends at 24/7 Valencia have published Jul issue and we have it here

Open publication - Free publishing - More valencia

thisisfib - on twitter and tumblr

Anita Darling and Lolita Devine will be your eyes and ears and FIB Benicassim this year, they'll be tweeting from now on here and tumblring photos here and writing here - gonna be fun! We also have coming, over the weekend a guide to visitors to FIB and a forum here
FIB management say that tickets are now sold out and that they have now finalised the line up with the heroes of Spanish indie rock, Los Planetas, as the crown jewel of what is without doubt the most important programme of Spanish bands in FIB's history, and with Tom Tom Club, the perfect ending for this summer party.

Festival Season has officially begun!

The Sun is shining cheerily this month in Valencia's bright blue skies, and thoughts inevitably turn to the scorcher of a Summer we are expecting to break free of Spring any minute now.
Skimpy dresses, microshorts, gladiator sandals and colourful Wayfarers are the order of the day and we want candy. Candy for our ears, yes indeed, bring on some outdoor dancing at a Music Festival near you...

What with "La Crisis" and all, it has to be said that the festies, are fewer and further between lately, but this weekend kickstarts festival season of a handful of really high quality events promising to be well worth the parting with of euros.
Back a second year, SOS4.8, this Friday 1st and Saturday 2nd of May in Murcia, brings Babyshambles, Duffy, Underworld, Duffy, Russian Red, The Prodigy and more to España for a two day tunefest for what they call the Festival Internacional de Acción Artística (Int'l Festival of Artistic Action) and its not all about the music either - this is a 48 hour stint of all kinds of artistic activities, to incite you to reflect on politics, science, philosophy and of course, the economy, with exhibitions, conferences and performances running alongside the concerts to blow your mind while you rock it out. Check it out here: sos

This weekend also may offer something to appeal to the more hardcore at heart. If this applies to you, you may like to take yourself off to Villarobledo for the XIV edition of Viña Rock. Moshpit action is guaranteed but also the best Spanish and Valencian music around, from flamenco fusion, rap and hip hop to rock and heavy metal. lineup is here and the tickets are pretty cheap for a three day event.

I myself am already scheming plotting and planning for July- FIB (Festival Internacional de Benicassim) is also back again for their fifteenth year of a week of beachside fun in the sun. Fashion, art, drama and music music music comprise a lineup that gets stronger and more diverse as the years fly by. Headlining this year we have Oasis, Kings of Leon, Franz Ferdinand and The Killers headline the four days, in that order, but it tends to be the names in the slightly smaller print underneath that float my boat. My girl Lily Allen (I think we'd make excellent friends, I've always said so) will be playing on the Saturday and we ladies at thisisvalencia (and the boys, go on admit it!) can't wait to clock her enviable wardrobe - Chanel, anyone? - and sing along to her songs from her amazing new album It's Not You It's Me under the stars.
2ManyDJs, also making an appearance this weekend at SOS always guarantee a wicked time and we will expected an impressive setlist of their brilliant bootlegs, mashups and remixes, clearing our FIB Agenda for them without fail. The DJs and the electronic music generally forms quite a large part of the lineup to the festival and I am particularly excited about the recent announcement of Steve Aoki's addition to thangs. I am surely not the only one who has joined the dots here and made the connection, but Aoki being at the Valencian Community's hippest event of the year must definitely mean he will be accompanied by party photographer and fun-seeker extraordinaire, best buddy Mark Hunter, a.k.a. the cobra snake . I have always kept a watchful eye out for him and his lens at Benicassim, it is, of course, our very own Coachella, and this year I am willing to put money on his showing up.
The last time I saw Peaches onstage at FIB she was sporting a strap-on and a 70s pornstar moustache so she is sure to entertain too and her backstage ensembles always make for brilliant photos (read - thigh-high silver boots and fishnets in 40º heat.)
To be frank though, despite all of the exciting new acts confirmed, when Kings Of Leon were announced back in they had me hook, line and sinker, those Morán boys. My obsession with the Followill brothers has escalated this year into something unhealthy. Don't fret though, dear reader, I am not the sort to plaster my walls with Kings of Leon posters to plant with a snog before bed, nor do I know all of their personal details by heart including birthdays, favourite colours and preferred nightcaps, I am simply captivated by the vocals (oh, Caleb, what a voice!) and lyrics. And their live performance is something spectacular - can't wait for them to grace the Heineken Green Stage with their presence. click here, tickets are still available!


photo © 2009 thisisvalencia.com

Anita & PJ Are Reporting Live From Benicassim

It's that time of the year again, Anita Darling is at Fib Benicassim reporting live for us from this great festival, click the link to see the news and the pics from Last night here
There will be a gallery of pics and the full diary later in the week here

Anita on heat, and Punctuallity

It looked warm and sunny out this morning, and I had had the fan on all night as I slept, so I got dressed in last year's silver thong sandals, my thinnest black skinny trousers and a plain, loose, white tee shirt and had a light chicken salad and some chilled water for lunch in my best efforts to remain refreshed and unruffled. Then I left the flat and stepped out on the street and boom! Right into the blast of someone's hot air-dryer. Or so it seemed. But no! Alas, I was mistaken, it was just the lovely end-of-June air blowing a gentle breeze across my face. Or rather, the lovely end-of-June 40º gale blowing its way into the City from the lovely and cool Sahara desert. Running late, as always, I could barely move through the soup-like air to cross the bridge but the plus-side was that my wavy hair was poker-straight by the time I staggered into the office to be greeted by puzzled glances at my otherwise dishevelled appearance. And immediately broke into a sweat. Or, as I am a lady, began to glow, as my grandmother would have me say.
read her full column now by clicking on the headline!

As Nature intended...

There is a pool on the roof of my complex. On Tuesday, innocently wandering up for a swim, I came across a naked man calmly drying himself before settling into a lounger. Forced to beat a hasty retreat before being spotted (we English, of course, never wishing to embarrass our fellow man) my mind gallops through endless scenarios, mostly involving children, I mean, suppose I had been a child and not a mature adult …. but wait, he’s not one of my mine. He’s a native. Do Spanish children suffer those excruciating spasms of fear, disgust and shock that we Brits, who have been brought up to revile nakedness, are racked with? To which even those of us who went through the horrors of the boarding school system are not exempt. Of course not. I am over-reacting. After all, it’s not as if he was old, or ugly, or misshapen, disfigured or tattooed with snakes and cockroaches. Actually, he was in his early thirties, dark, slightly curly hair, with big brown eyes, clean-shaven and kinda cute and … isn’t it amazing how much the human eye can record in only two short seconds? I wonder if he has a swim routine?
Thisisvalencia.com has a great woman's page, Anita Darling, Lolita Devine and Barbara O'Neill have regular columns on Life as a woman in Valencia. Read more of Barbara O'Neill's latest column by clicking on the headline!

S-H-O-E-S

It is nice to have somewhere to go of a Sunday evening. I met up with Gooru and headed to the IVAM yesterday (you just can't drag him away from the place these days!) to catch a shoe show and a symphony overture. On the way he tried to show me the stuffed turkey, but it had gone - lucky he got the photographic evidence then! The Banda de la Federación de Sociedades Musicales de Valencia took up the whole of the entrance hall to the museum as around two hundred onlookers stood to listen to a piece especially composed for IVAM's 18th birthday. Written by composer, musician, professor and director Ferrer Ferrán, it was quite beautiful and the setting and acoustics were ideal - the rain coming down outside made us feel extra cosy indoors and all the more privileged to witness this special performance alongside Rita Barberà, Consuelo Ciscar and other familiar faces.



We stayed around afterwards to see the inauguration of the Julio González' life works exhibition and then for a parade down the catwalk of an unusual collection of shoes and sandals by Álvaro Carpena. - from bejewelled and platformed to leopard printed and stripy to flat and frumpy. The models came down the spectacular concrete and marble staircase of the IVAM and down onto a catwalk, accompanied by the orchestra playing the piece IVAM for a second time. We were then showed a (rather disappointing) cake and offered champagne. I passed, I was nursing a rather heavy hangover and was not on for hair of the dog, so headed outside instead to admire the new scrolling LED lights imbedded in the steps up to the museum and the images projected on the front.
Tonight at 11pm Josele Santiago will be singing songs from his new album Golondrinas. All events during the 18th anniversary celebrations are free to the public.
©ANITA DARLING
Read her great WOMAN column by clicking on this entry's title.