Pee Wee Ellis - 20 June 2008

As part of the Jazz Voyeur season Pee Wee Ellis played at Sala Assaig in Palma to a packed house. Pee Wee soon captured most peoples attention with his presence and also the quality of his playing. An accomplished musician who has been in the business for all of his life and still going strong at 67. Yes there were those jazz moments where the musicians went off on their own, but thankfully not too many. As the evening went on you started to understand why he is crowned with being the master of Jazz Funk. With his version of the classic Herbie Hancock Cantaloupe Island he had everybody, wiggling their hips, clicking their fingers and tapping their feet, (apart from the lady next to me that is, who talked through the complete performance to anyone who would listen and even got upset when I asked her to stop! Why do some people bother going to these things?). He was joined on stage for couple of tracks by a local singer who really added a touch of magic to the show.

A very entertaining evening by a jazz master -
"not bad for jazz"
As a side issue, considering the lack of good venues in Palma for live music this one is totally underutilised for concerts like this. It's obvious problem is its dark and unwelcoming location on the main industrial estate in Palma but once inside it is an excellent place to listen to live music. Good acoustics, good views from most parts, a self contained bar plus the Assaig cafe just next door as a meeting place.

The Enemy, Ibiza Rocks - 31 May 2008

Only a 52€ return ferry trip and a 35€ a person hotel room gave us the pleasure of being one of a few hundred people to see The Enemy up close and live on Saturday night.

Taking the early morning ferry on Saturday from Palma we found ourselves in the beautiful port of Ibiza Town 2 hours later, amongst the beautiful people that are found on The White Isle. Being a lot smaller than Mallorca the trip to the infamous town of San Antoni on the opposite side of the island is only a 1/2 hour drive away, incidentally passing the ever young Amnesia club as well as allegedly the biggest club in the world now named Privilege. The last time I was there it had a different name and an Olympic size swimming pool - inside!
Checking in to the Ibiza Rocks Hotel you know you are in for an experience, a reception area full of X-Box's to start with, plus what has to be mentioned, extremely friendly staff. The previous use of the hotel was obviously as a 3 star tourist type venue, so as far as the 300 or so rooms were concerned not many extras, although our room which was clean and equipped with a small kitchen area was perfectly adequate, especially as at the end of the end of the day all you are going to do is sleep in it, but not at the end of the day, more like halfway through the next one!

The evenings entertainment consisted of 3 live bands as well as the resident DJ, all performing outside in the main pool area, sadly in the rain at the start of the evening.

As the evening got going the rain eased and by the time The Enemy appeared it was all but a few drops. And then! Well what can you say, this is a platinum album selling band that play at sold out stadiums across the UK in front of 1000's and here we were amongst an excited crowd of hundreds. It did not take them long to get us all going, real rock stars can do this without thinking and these guys were awesome. take a listen to them here http://www.myspace.com/theenemycoventry and you might start to understand why. With them performing the best of their music and a new one or two you just could not help jumping around, songs like Had Enough and Away from here are brilliant but to be there listening to This song this close and in what was an electric atmosphere was just too much. If you get the chance you just have to see them! By the end of the concert we had managed to wish the rain away and get ourselves hyped up for more of the entertainment that San Antoni has to offer.

A trip back on the Sunday evening ferry meant that there was no rushing around, which was just what the doctor had ordered. A few hours of mooching, a pleasant late lunch on the beach and a couple of beers in the sun waiting for the ferry to arrive.

Over the weekend we also managed to drop in on an old friend and Island Celeb Tony Pike. He has been running his exclusive Pikes Hotel here now for 28 years and for those of you that might find 3 star tourist hotels not quite up to the required needs then this is the place to stay. Tony's famous guests include Julio Iglesia, Grace Jones, Freddie Mercury, Fat Boy Slim and the famous Club Tropicana video by the Wham boys being shot in the pool. A beautiful place just for beautiful people, no way, everybody always feels welcome here as Tony is one of the greatest natural hosts you will ever find and his hotel is just one of the coolest you will find anywhere in the world. http://www.pikesibiza.com/ check it out.

Bring on the Fratellis!!! go to http://www.digamemallorca.com/ for updates on acts.

NEW Bar area opens at Port ´Alt

Kim Brandis & her team were very excited to open the new bar area at Restaurant Port ´Alt, Portals Nous during May. It´s a great place to chill out with a glass of wine and delicious food cooked over an open flame on the BBQ. It is also cleverly separated from the rest of the restaurant, making it the perfect place for parties and group events.

Port ´Alt must have one of the best situations in Mallorca with it´s wonderful views of the sea, and with Kim´s ethos of making all her customers feel totally relaxed, it is a delightful place for a summertime lunch or evening meal under the stars. (Photograph by Samantha Hemsley).

May 28 Mary Weiss - Shangri-Las

An excited and expectant crowd made the trip to Lloseta to watch yet another legend of pop in concert. One of many that have appeared in Mallorca over the last few years and surely not the last.

Mary followed her band out and got straight into good old fashioned rock / pop. Her set included both songs from the 60's and more recent material from her last two albums. The style of the latest material being very much like the original Shangri-Las sound. You also had the impression that she was enjoying herself.

For those of you that don't know, Mary's first time round was as a 15 year old back in 1964 where herself, her sister and the Ganser twin sisters shot to fame with songs like Remember (Walking in the sand) and the infamous Leader of the pack. They were to have a string of hits and sold out tours across the States but unfortunately because of a much resented record contracy made by her mother they were locked into a ten year deal. Rather than carry on they decided to wait out the ten years but by the time they were ready to come back the music scene had changed dramatically leaving no place for their style of music. Thankfully things have changed and we are all much more able to appreciate and enjoy the style of music put together by The Shangri-Las.

This was a show that was full of emotion with Mary getting very upset over one song which mirrored her life with her mother but then came back to get the audience jiving (well almost) with the classics of the 60's. the backing band were also exceptional, which is not surprising considering the bass player is from Roxy Music and the drummer from the Smithereens. Another classic night in Lloseta for us all.

March 18 James Harman

The first of two special nights for the Bluesville team with performances from the legendary James Harman. This was blues how you expect to hear it, accompanied by 4 extremely talented musicians the venue was bouncing. The drummer and lead guitar were both outstanding but the performances by Lluis on piano was just amazing with great honky tonk keyboards being smashed. This is not to say that everyone else was not as good but he did shine, almost as much as the man himself, who was brilliant on the harmonica and sang the blues like he meant it. Just the way John Belushi would have liked to hear it. it's good to see performers like this coming to the island and makes awelcome change from jazz.

Also worth noting that this is another great music venue.

March 7 & 9 Patti Smith

Teatre Principal in Palma hosted the two Patti Smith & Band concerts in Palma on the 7th and 8th March. Having been lucky enough to go to the first night of these two concerts I was a bit unsure about what to expect. After all Patti Smith has been performing since the early 1970's, which was before most of the audience on this night were born.

But WOW! Yes she still has the effect that early punk had on you, raw, full of energy, lyrics that ask why - loudly, but now showing years of experience in performing and putting together great music. The band, which included her incredibly talented son Jackson and long time collaborator Lenny Kaye, were just perfect. A band that honoured this Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee with its flawless performance. Yes she performed the great classics, Gloria and Because the Night, which were worth paying an entrance fee for alone, but the rest of the concert was packed with great ballads and great rock, leaving an audience standing and breathless.

On the Sunday after these 2 concerts, there was a planned poetry recital by Patti in the Chopin museum in Valldemossa, again which we were lucky to be invited to. This was to be special night for an audience of around only 100 in the moody and beautiful setting of the Real Cartuja monastery. There had been a rumour that she was bringing a guitar and maybe she would play a couple of numbers here, as well as reading some of her poetry. We were not disappointed, far from it. She read some great works of her own and by others and did it it exceptionally well along with a mix of great songs alone with her guitar. Even though she appeared nervous working in what was a very intimate venue in front of an even more nervous audience the evening turned into something very special. I am not sure if it was a coincidence but March 9 is a special day for Patti, it was the day she first met her husband Fred, who sadly died in 1994. It was also the day her great friend, the photographer, Robert Mapplethorpe died (1989). This seemed to add an edge to the experience, an edge that gave us all an insight into the women rather than the rock star. It showed her to be fallible, as we all are, but do not expect, when we get this close to a person exalted as much as she is.

The mood really showed when Patti came back for an encore and wanted to finish with a song dedicated to Mapplethorpe, as she got lost amongst her emotions after the first few lines. For us, the audience, it created a moment that few people can ever have witnessed. Calling on her friend Lenny Kaye to take the guitar from her she decided to do something never done before, and went on to perform along with Kaye a totally unplugged and very emotional version of Because the Night. With an audience joining in on the choruses and lightning flashing across the mountains in the background this was a night of pure rock history in front of a few very lucky people. THANK YOU PATTI SMITH.

Oh and small note if ever you come across wine from the Binigrau cellar, I recommend that you buy it quickly, a big thank you to them for the exceptional wine on this memorable night in Valldemossa.

March 2 2008 Marah & The Deadstring Brothers

The concert season at Teatre LLoseta kicked of with two great rock bands from the USA . The Deadstring Brothers proved to be as good as they sound on their Myspace site. Good rock and roll, great voices and lots of enthusiasm.
This was their first visit to Europe by invitation of the main act, Marah, who I'm sure will not be disappointed
by their choice of support.
Marah, well what can you say about these guys. This is their third visit to Mallorca. They have such a good following, plus they enjoy performing here so much they just had to come back whilst on another action packed tour of Europe. They have an amazingly large fan base in Spain for an American band that perform in English and struggle to say hello in Spanish. But when you see these guys live you understand why. The energy and the power that they put out is amazing. The music is well written and the two brothers, Serge and David Bielanko, have the sort of gruff, smoked too many cigarettes, but just right, rock and roll voices that make you want to join in.
If they come back next year, which I hope they do, let's hope they turn up on a Friday or Saturday night instead of Sunday and although Teatre Lloseta is a great venue, they also appear nearer to Palma so that you can have a drink and really let your hair down. A band like this deserves a good audience!