The Sunday Drivers performed at Europavox
21/6/06
Much to their success on Un-Pop Classik, the Sunday Drivers also played with orchestra at Europavox, a French music festival held in Clermont-Ferrand by the beginning of June.
pictures by pictures Jean Cerezal Callizo
Europavox’s website
From the 27th of April to the 7th of May was held “Les Nuits du Botanique” -first of the four festivals composing the consortium of Un-Pop Classik.
The project premiered on the 2d of May. The respectively Belgian and French bands Venus and Dionysos, both accompanied by the Mons Orchestra, performed ten reworked songs of their repertory as a result of ten months of hard labor and long rehearsals.
On the 5th of May, followed concerts by Teitur, the Danish solo artist, and the Sunday Drivers, the Spanish band we chose to introduce you.
The most interesting fact is that the four artists had four distinct approaches to the concept of working with a symphonic orchestra.
Venus took advantage of the strength of the orchestra to add a touch of freejazz to its usual pop melodies. They performed a notable, neat and involving concert by altering solo acts and orchestrated performances.
Dionysos broke the mold and took us on a divine one-hour journey; proving they didn’t become the #1 pop/rock band in France out of the blue.
With musical arrangements reminding of Enio Morricone, a set taken straight from a Tim Burton movie and an attitude a la Sex Pistols, Dionysos achieved a miracle: they fused band and orchestras and made everybody jump, scream, dance… and also almost made us, the organizers, shed a tear of emotion as we witnessed the splendid result of our common work.
It’s hard to pick a special moment out of this concert knowing they were all powerful in their own different way… still, three must be pointed out:
- A mute pogo in which 1500 spectators bumped into each other without making a single sound.
- Mathias’ (lead singer) dive onto the crowd as the band was going hysterical onstage and the orchestra was –successfully- trying to keep up with the improvisation.
- The orchestra’s conductor thrown onto the public and carried by the first rows all the way to the other end of the sage where Mathias eventually agreed to pick him up.
Teitur gave an intimate concert and used the orchestra to enhance the power of the sweet melodies taken form his latest album. The 45 minutes of concert went flying by thanks to the artist’s charisma and wit and many great orchestral moments.
Last but not least, the Sunday Drivers, once more, demonstrated they are made for the stage and reached the climax of that series of concerts.
Not only did we get to dance to three major hits taken form their last album, Little Heart Attacks (in which the synthesizer was replaced by a cord-dominated orchestra) but we also were given the privilege to fall for five of the ten tracks that will compose the band’s next album currently being recorded in San Francisco.
Those who are familiar with the band’s music are going to be surprised by their new material and all we can say for now is that their music perfectly fits the spirit of Un-Pop Classik.
The Sunday Drivers’ concert was without a doubt the most motivating, harmonious and energizing of all-four concerts, and this being only with a 8-musicians orchestra… for the FIB, they will play along with 24 musicians, there is nothing more to say.
The Sunday Drivers performed at Europavox
21/6/06
Much to their success on Un-Pop Classik, the Sunday Drivers also played with orchestra at Europavox, a French music festival held in Clermont-Ferrand by the beginning of June.
Check more pictures from this event on the next page. (picture © Jean Cerezal Callizo)
From the 27th of April to the 7th of May was held “Les Nuits du Botanique” -first of the four festivals composing the consortium of Un-Pop Classik…
The Sunday Drivers go in Studio with Amalgama de Castellón
4/4/06
Un-Pop Classik is launching.
The Sunday Drivers are about to start rehearsing with Amalgama de Castellón which officially starts the execution phase of this ambitious project financed by the European Commission and directed by FIB Heineken.
The first series of rehearsals will take place on the 10th and 11th of April en Castellón.
The second series of rehearsals is planned for the last week of April.
Thanks to those rehearsals, the band, selected by the FIB Heineken, will be preparing for its first challenge of the kind: performing on the 5th of May during Les Nuits du Botanique in Brussels.
Next September, you will find on this website all the information and multimedia that resulted of two years of work.
Regarding its Spanish edition, the Un-Pop Classik team would like to specially thank:
José for his trust and respect,
Pedro for his personal and professional involvement,
Karol, Marco and the entire Accreditation team for their sympathy, sweetness and support,
Pachi and Gloria for their patience and professionalism,
Rebecca and Marta for their permanent and unconditional help,
Carmen for her accounts,
Mamen for the beginning,
Isabelle and Ana for being almost part of the team.
Finally, to the entire team of Maraworld, Sold Out and to the bands, the orchestra Amalgama de Castellón and the festivals that participated to the project.
10 must-have according to the Sunday Drivers
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The Beatles - The White Album
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2
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Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde
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3
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The Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers
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4
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Led Zepplin - Led Zepplin II
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5
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David Bowie - The rise and fall of ziggy stardust and the spiders from Mars
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6
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The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses
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7
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Ocean Colour Scene - Moseley Shoals
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8
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Teenage Fanclub - Grand Prix
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9
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Paul Weller - Stanley Road
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10
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Wilco Yankee - Yankee, Hotel, Foxtrot
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10 must-have according to Thomas, coordinator of the project
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R.E.M. - Out of Time
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2
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Madonna - American Life
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3
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Nick Cave $ the Bad Seeds - Murder Ballads
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4
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Angelo Badalamenti - Mulholland Drive (film score)
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5
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No Doubt - Tragic Kingdom
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6
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The Cranberries - Bury the Hatchet
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7
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Devandra Banhart - Cripple Crow
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8
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Nirvana - Nevermind
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9
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Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill
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10
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The Rocky Horror Picture Show - The Rocky Horror Picture Show
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Amalgama de Castellón is an association born from the desire of developing a musical culture of quality to be represented and performed on stage. It aims at promoting musicians mainly issued from the community of Valencia.
Working towards that goal, the association has already organized various activities and productions for the past few years. It previously produced an Opera based on Puchini’s work that premiered in the Alcazar de Nules theater (Castellón), played along with the Symphonic Orchestra of Castellón and also did a few shows in Zarzuelas, Viveros and Valencia etc. Amalgama was also implied in various projects on an international scale and organized various concerts by request of the city council of Castellón
Lately it has been working for the International Organization of Sacred Music of the VIIth century that performs in the monastery De los Carmelitas Descalzos located in Benicàssim.
Amalgama’s enthusiastic participation to the FIB is significant of its will to approach pop music, to merge with it by accompanying the contemporary band with its symphonies, in order to lead to some unimaginable possibilities. Especially for that event, Amalgama has gathered a bunch of musicians from Valencia that will perfectly fit the challenge.
Synfonietta, is a post-graduate orchestra from the National Academy of Music and Dance of Belfort, (ENMD) it allows the students who are part of it to discover the symphonic repertoire. Lately, for example, the orchestra performed pieces from Haynd, Beethoven, Mozart and Saint-Saëns…
Many projects involving choruses are also part of the orchestra’s curriculum. To name a few let’s talk about Beethoven’s “Fantasy”, Emil Cossetto’s “Rapsodia del Cante Jondo” and also “Orphée”, named after the chorus from ENMD, piece that was created for its 30th anniversary.
The orchestra is under the direction of the school’s dean, Jean-Jacques Griesser. It is a musical structure that is opened to every amateur who applies and who gathers the skills required for admission.
After having successfully worked on a project with An Pierlé, Synfonietta performed on the 1st of July 2005 with Emilie Simon and the Drums-Keyboards of Lyon at the latest edition of the Eurockéennes de Belfort. This year, Synfonietta will be joined by a 4-voices chorus to accompany the French rock band Dyonisos.
The Mons Orchestra is a spin-off of Ensemble Musiques Nouvelles, the famous musical ensemble born in 1962 from Pierre-Bartholomée and now orchestrated by Jean-Paul Dessy, artistic director.
It won’t be the first time that the Botanique opens its doors to the orchestra. As a matter of facts, the Mons Orchestra has already worked many times with the Belgian festival and its performances always get more anticipated, by the public as well as by the professionals, because the string ensemble doesn’t offer your typical kind of show: each time it performs along with a contemporary pop/rock artist, and without distorting its music, it adds a universal and classical feel to it. Amongst the bands or artists that it previously played with are Archive, Keren Ann, Perry Blake, Louis Chedid, The Divine Comedy and a lot more. This year, for Un-Pop Classik, it will accompany Venus, the Belgian rock sensation.
According to Paul-Henri Wauters, the festival’s artistic director, “it’s not about replacing the synthesizers by strings, but bringing a vibrating and noble material that will amplify the singer and band’s emotions.”
For the Danish orchestra Ensemble MidtVest, the goal is clearly set: taking classical music to another level updating its performances to modern times, which always get more innovative, and therefore turning classical music into a music influenced as much from the past as it is from the future.
Born in 2002 and formed by 10 artists, the variety of instruments used by the orchestra is as wide as their repertoire. Musically we are talking about a string quartet (two violins, a viola and a cello), a wind quintet (a flute, an oboe, a clarinet, a horn and a bassoon) and a piano. Always following this goal of promoting a heterogeneous musical repertoire, the orchestra often plays with well-known soloists to perform around Denmark’s best stages and occasionally worldwide.
Un-Pop Classik will unite them to Teitur, the contemporary folk singer, to prove the public that traditions and pop culture can get on well to join the crowds.
