CALA MIJAS FESTIVAL 2022
Cala Mijas International Festival
at Sonora Mijas in Málaga, Spain
words by Jennifer Rose
Against the Spanish heat, Cala Mijas Festival took on its first year bringing an impressive line up to Malaga. The 3 day festival, created by the team behind Bilbao’s BBK Live had a carefully crafted lineup that brought headliners such as Bonobo, The Chemical Brothers and Nina Kraviz as well as acts like Arctic Monkeys, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and Liam Gallagher which made the journey for locals and those further afield alike worthwhile.
Cala Mijas Festival materialised last year, with organisers keen to showcase new local talent as well as acclaimed international acts. This year’s festival took place in Sonora Mijas with three stages as well as performances by the beach throughout each day. Whether attendees chose to be stage side or sat within festival grounds, the festival provided a fantastic spot to take in the sights, sounds and inevitable buzz that comes with a festival in its first year. Taking your first step into the festival ground felt incredible as you could see the work that had gone into transforming the venue from blank canvas to festival ground.
Day 1 was a great set of acts to get the festival up and running with local acts such as La Vida de Jaime and Sen Senra. But the act of the night had to be Arctic Monkeys, who may not have closed the night, but proved they were headline-worthy with a brilliant set that saw the crowd go wild for them. Whilst they are not the most energetic of bands, the almost effortless swagger of frontman Alex Turner coupled with the recognisable instrumentals was enough to draw the crowd in as they powered through a set laced with old classics such as ‘Do I Wanna Know?’ and a tease of new material in the form of ‘I Ain’t Quite Where I Think I Am’. As they raced through their set, the crowd was abuzz with excitement.
Day 2 brought mesmerising performances and fantastic audiovisual performances from Kraftwerk and The Chemical Brothers and Latin soaked sounds from Bomba Estéreo, as well as great sets from a variety of acts. After an opening day of mainly indie artists, the excitement and energy reached new heights as the crowd was treated to high energy and high impact performances throughout the night. Perhaps the best example of this was rock veterans Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. The Australian group gathered a sizable crowd who went wild for old classics like ‘Red Right Hand’ and enjoyed the more somber songs like ‘Into My Arms’. It was clear from the frenzied feel in the crowd that Cave had the audience in the palm of his hands (and at times, grasping his legs!) so much so the refrain of ‘Higgs Boson Blues’ lingered long after the song - and Cave’s set - concluded.
In spite of the collective hangover felt by many of the festival attendees, Day 3 showed the festival might have been wrapping up but there was no sign of it slowing down. Acts like James Blake and local favourites Love of Lesbian took the crowd by storm, with upbeat performances dripping with infectious beats and catchy lyrics. Although many of the crowd were there for Caribou and Nina Kraviz, the highlight was Liam Gallagher. Straight off a gig at Wembley Stadium, the indie-rock legend showed no signs of tiredness as he swaggered through a memorable set featuring his own hits, ‘Wall of Glass’ and ‘C’mon You Know’, and Oasis tracks like ‘Morning Glory’ and ‘Slide Away’. With his trademark hands in parka pockets and cheeky crowd interaction (the ad-lib of ‘but I don’t speak Spanish’ during ‘Wonderwall’ being my personal favourite), it was truly something watching a legend work the crowd. Rounding off the set with ‘Live Forever’ and ‘Champagne Supernova’, there was a real sense of the festival’s ethos - people from all different places and walks of life coming together to enjoy great music - at play during this set.
Overall, this festival was an unforgettable experience under the gorgeous Spanish sun. It might be in its infancy but there truly was the feeling that, once teething problems are ironed out, this festival could be something more, something bigger, in the future. With legendary acts, local favourites and thumping DJ sets throughout each night, it felt like every day of the festival catered to the festival goers needs. Cala Mijas Festival has definite potential to gather more of a crowd, and perhaps even bigger acts, than they managed to secure in their opening year. The biggest takeaway was that this might have been a small local festival but it had the appeal and overall feeling of something much bigger, which I only hope becomes the case.