We were very excited when, somewhere between July/August, we heard about Ombra festival and soon after we bought the tickets for the festival.
This was actually the first extended edition of the festival, since last year they just had a party in a club with 500 people, so we must consider ourselves really lucky for taking part in this.
Ombra is a project born from the hands of agency WeareWe and label Oraculo Records with the aim of creating a meeting place for lovers of analogue and avant-garde sounds that do not fit in the current cultural offer.
The festival was divided into two sections. By day & evening the events took place in Utopia 126, an industrial area in El Poublenou, a former factory where the architecture and the aesthetic of the place felt most at home with the music and the crowd. There were two stages with a capacity of approx. 400 (Operator Radio Stage) & 800 (Ombra Stage), other rooms with a visual installation, synthesizers exhibition and a record fair, and a courtyard with a terrace and some food.
The night section took place in Wolf Club and Razzmatazz, two venues located 30 minutes walking from Utopia. Wolf is a discotheque-like club with a 500 capacity, which to me looked a bit out of phase with the aesthetic of the rest of the festival. Razzmatazz is one of the biggest places in Barcelona located into a former industrial building. Ombra used the two rooms from upstairs The Loft & Lolita (dedicated for electronic music), with a combined capacity of 1500.
The first day, after checking out all the rooms and spaces at Utopia, we headed to the Ombra Stage for the Psyche concert and returned for the rest of the evening to the Operator Stage for June and Credit 00 live performances.
Psyche LIVE
June LIVE
Credit 00 LIVE
After this we headed towards Wolf to catch up Marsman opening the night and we also had some techno tapas on the road. The best performance of the night was Year Of Denial, but we enjoyed also Univac and RNXRX.
Year Of Denial LIVE
Univac LIVE
On the second day of the festival, with a bit of difficulties, we made it just in time for the Manie Sans Délire (June + Trenton Chase) performance and remained at the Operator Stage.
Manie Sans Délire LIVE
A really nice surprise was Elmer Davy, a DJ from León, a small city in the North-West of Spain. His set of acid, electro, raw techno and E.B.M. and his vinyl mixing technique are a perfect combination for what you need on the dancefloor.
Elmer Davy DJ set
After this, Celldöd started his live performance, but we where too tired and had to retreat home for some rest and prepare for the night time at Razzmatazz. Unfortunately we missed Imperial Black Unit, Kris Baha and Le Syndicat Electronique.
Celldöd LIVE
The night at Razzmatazz started with the concert of the legendary D.A.F., and the 1000+ room at The Loft was packed and I started to feel claustrophobic for the fist time during the festival.
D.A.F. LIVE
At midnight, Trevor Jackson took the control of the music, before Solar delivered one of the most solid sessions we’ve heard lately and Ron Morelli closed the night and festival in style.
Solar DJ set
Ron Morelli DJ set
Ombra was a great celebration of the avantgarde sounds, bringing together musical styles such as E.B.M., darkwave, industrial/experimental and techno in a suitable industrial background. The festival is focused more on live performance which brings in more vitality, dynamics and improvisation to the line-up. This year they had a fair mix of legendary bands like D.A.F, Psyche, Trisomie 21 and performers like Dirk Ivens or Le Syndicat Electronique, but also new acts like Credit 00, June, Kris Baha or Manie Sans Délire and great DJ sets from Solar, Ron Morelli and Elmer Davy.
To me, Ombra is one of the best festivals out there comparable only with DT Camp. Definitely not to be missed next year!
