Euro YeYe 2012 Review by Holly Calder
After finally making it over to Euro Yeye for the first time in 2011, I was delighted to get an email from Rob inviting Sarah and me to play some records this year. After last year discovering there’s no need to fear the heat (thank you Spanish air conditioning) I was raring to go. And then I saw the line up and this was looking like being even better than last year.
Things kicked off with Don Fardon backed by DC Fontana on the open air stage at the Plaza Mayor, playing his 60s back catalogue and mod classic ‘I’m Alive’, sans dancing Dodo. A nice opener before we made a dash back to our hotel to collect our records for our first night of djing. Everyone was in the main room together, a great mix of psych and R&B and everything in between.
Friday was spent showing Sarah around, the city itself is definitely an important part of what makes Euro Yeye such an enduring weekender that people return to. Although we were without our Basque friend this year, and had little or no grasp of Spanish we muddled through and found people to be very friendly and helpful.
There was time for a quick drink at the afternoon venue where we were pleased to find more friends from around Spain and beyond had arrived, before going to sample some incredible seafood paella. Everything you hear about the seafood in Gijon is true… superb!
Before that, the moment I was most excited about ever since hearing glowing reports from The See See’s Richard Olson… 60s psych stalwarts, Kaleidoscope. The buzz in the open air bar suggested that everyone was feeling the same, and with word of members of Brian Jones Town Massacre and Quarter After and other impressive acts helping to make up the band backing Peter Daltrey there was no doubt in my mind that this would be special. I was far from disappointed, dipping into his incredible back catalogue Daltrey’s voice sounded faultless, as did his band. He’d initially turned down offers to return on stage to play Kaleidoscope tracks until this band was presented to him, it’s abundantly clear why.
They were by far my favourite live act of the weekend, but the much talked about Strypes proved their worth on Saturday, playing a solid set of R&B stompers ridiculously well considering how young they are.
We were soon ready for another night sponsored by Vodka Burn, our last in Spain and time to spin more records. I started to feel a little apprehensive as our first set approached, as the Spanish master-in-garage, Borja, played an incredible set to a full dance floor, and one of the largest crowds we’ve ever played to. The Spanish crowd’s reputation of being up for a party steadied my nerves once we started, thank you to everyone for one of the most enjoyable DJ experiences I’ve had.
Unfortunately we had to head back to Scotland before catching Sunday night’s acts, but if Le Beat Bespoke was anything to go by The Sorrows would have been a real highlight. All in all, another incredible weekend, and one you have to try if you’ve never been. Big thanks to Rob and Felix for their organising, and the invitation, to the bands and the other DJs in both rooms, and to all of our friends from around Europe who helped to make the weekend so enjoyable.
We will definitely be back. Here’s to Euro Yeye 2013.
Editor’s Notes from ‘Scotch’ Martin Gavin
Gijon is a port in the northern province of Astuarias (Spain), not to be confused with mustard-mad Dijon (which is in France), has a population of just over 280,000 and dates back to The Romans.
facebook.com/TheMonkeyClubGijon
