Wau y Los Arrrghs!!! stormed through a raucous hour-long set last Saturday night, reducing the bursting-at-the-rafters El Loco gig space in Valencia to a sweaty, dancing beer-soaked mess.
Firm favourites in the underground Valencia rock scene, WyLA!!! never fail to impress. I’ve been aware of this ever since I was dragged to a gig of theirs at Overbooking festival, set in an isolated building in the middle of the Albufera, in 2011. When it was clear that they were not going to make their 1am slot, the guiri in me nearly gave up and went home. In retrospect I’m glad I stayed because a couple of hours later hundreds of hot Valencians in the infernal mid-Summer Mediterranean heat were treated to a raucous show of shredding guitars, haunting organs and the kind of drumming that reverbs in your chest.
Each and every Wau gig that I’ve had the pleasure of attending since then has attracted equally as impressive crowds.
But this time maybe we cannot give gravelly voiced front man Juanito Wau and his cronies all the credit for attracting such a large crowd. The gig formed part of the Obits’ European “Lobster Tank Blues” tour to promote their new album Beds and Bugs, passing through the UK, Spain, France and Greece. It was the job of Barcelona based promoters La Castanya to organize the Spanish leg of the tour, selecting big name local support acts including Los Chicos in Madrid, WyLA!!! in Valencia and the almighty Nueva Vulcano in Barcelona.
In a strange yet honourable move, Obits took to the stage first despite them themselves supposedly being the headliners. A humble gesture from the New York rockers who perhaps are well versed in the explosive energy of a Wau y Los Arrrghs!!! gig and gave the excited, writhing mess of a crowd just what they wanted: to dance the night away to the backdrop of raw guitars, shouty vocals and Juanito Wau’s erratic arm movements.
The impromptu headliners galloped through some of the key tracks from 2013’s Todo Roto LP including Todo Lo Voy a Romper, La Ciudad No Es Para Mí, Cuervos and the almost can-can inducing Rescate Griego, as well as mixing it up with some older songs. Did they play Demolición? Well what do you bloody think?
Lucy
lucy@sepiavlc.com
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