Judeline from Caños de Meca, Costa de la Luz, her urban-Latin songs went down very well. © Sharon Lopez |
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Cala Mijas Festival 2023 - Day 3 Saturday 2 September 2023
- About Cala Mijas Festival 2023
- Day 1 - Thursday report from Cala Mijas 2023 Festival
- Day 2 - Friday report from Cala Mijas 2023 Festival
- Contemporary music and dance festivals in Andalucia
by Alex Cutts
 La Plazuela electronic flamenco music takes inspiration from their hometown of Granada © Oscar L Tejeda |
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La Plazuela opened up the main stage on Saturday, to say they were the third act of the day they drew a fairly big crowd. Their electronic flamenco music takes inspiration from their hometown of Granada and proved to be a top hit with the Spanish audience. Their hour long set had the crowd singing, dancing and jumping along. The front man of the Duo made performing look easy as he puffed on a cigarette whilst playing along.
 José González mellowed out the crowd with his indie-folk tunes played on the acoustic guitar. © Oscar L Tejeda |
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On the Victoria stage José González mellowed out the crowd with his indie-folk tunes played on the acoustic guitar. The Argentinian-Swedish singer performed in English and was joined on stage mid-set by a trumpet player. His music is reminiscent of the UK’s indie folk artist Ben Howard.
Another local artist showcased on Saturday’s line up - Judeline from Caños de Meca, Costa de la Luz, Cadiz coast, once again her urban-Latin songs went down well with the Spanish audience. Her heavily auto-tuned vocals give her flamenco pop tunes a trap influence, following on from her feature on a hit from Latin trap star Bad Bunny.
 Duki, leading the new wave of Argentinian Rappers on the main Sunrise stage at sunset. © Alex Cutts |
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Continuing the Latin trap theme, Duki took to the main stage as the sun set on Saturday evening. The Argentinian rapper is dubbed as the lead voice in Latin trap music in South America. He pulled out all of the stops with a performance featuring flame throwers, smoke machines and colourful strobe lighting. Duki has more than 12 million followers on Instagram and is one of the top listened to artists on Spotify currently. His set of loud trap music was broken up with the occasional acapella rap between songs.
 Ethel Cain received a loud cheer when she arrived onto the Sunset stage. © Sharon Lopez |
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Ethel Cain received a loud cheer when she arrived onto the Sunset stage, the roar of the crowd could be heard from the other side of the Sonora Mijas site. Her sound is very similar to headline act Florence and the Machine, who Cain featured on 2022 song Morning Elvis with. She had the voice of a siren, with wailing vocals setting a dark and dramatic scene. Later on into her set Cain announced to the crowd their next song was “a bit of yeehaw” before she took out a harmonica and began to play. The mermaid like singer was joined on stage by a rock band on the drums and electric guitar.
British electronic music group Metronomy made their way onto the Victoria stage as birdsong played. Their electronic rock music drew a larger crowd than Ethel over on the Sunset stage however the audience appeared to be remain pretty tame, with the occasional loud cheer. Frontman Joseph Mount described the group, playing on the drums, guitar and keyboard, as “The party band of the century”. The addition of synth tones added a lo-fi feel to their set. Mount addressed the crowd once again to thank everyone for joining them at their “last festival of the year.
 Florence and the Machine, barefoot and clad in a long, sparkly, copper gown with a flowing cape to match. © Sharon Lopez |
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Crowds had began to form by the main stage an hour before headline act Florence and the Machine was due to up the weekend of music. When they eventually arrived on stage, Florence was barefoot and clad in a long, sparkly, copper gown with a flowing cape to match. When the group performed their song Dream Girl Evil, leading lady Florence Welch headed down from the stage to the barriers lined with fans who had been waiting and held their spots all day. She chose one young lady behind the barrier to serenade while caressing her face before running along the sea of people and brushing every single person’s hand. She stopped again to serenade another member of the audience and went on to hold hands with a fan while she sang Big God. She let the audience know that Cala Mijas was in fact the last show of their tour and shared her gratitude for the positive response on the band’s most recent album. Her whimsical performance, siren vocals, and folk sounding music set a whole fantasy fairytale scene. Florence addressed the crowed once again and stated: “I know you did not come to this festival to stand still, so I want you all to dance” as they performed Dog Days and got the whole crowd jumping. They went on to perform their live show ritual asking the entire audience to put away their phones and to enjoy the moment. The band performed a three song encore and closed with Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up). Before the song began she asked the crowd to offer human sacrifices, in true witchy style, meaning she wanted as many people up on their mates’ shoulders as possible.
Saturday’s line-up was less catered to an international audience with a heavy emphasis on Andalusian and Spanish speaking acts taking the stage.
 Cala Mijas Festival 2023 Saturday Schedule |
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Niños Luchando opened on the Victoria stage Saturday, Delaporte performed late on the Sunset stage Friday, both played at the Andalucia Big Festival in Malaga city last year.
La Caleta stage
 Alvva, founder of the Diverso Club in Barcelona's Razzmatazz, Laura Fernandez is from San Sebastian. © Sharon Lopez |
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Over on the La Caleta, or “The little Cove”, stage, tucked away in the trees, place a summer rave took place with speakers blasting with tunes from DJs such Alvva, Tom VR, Axel Boman, L. Jordan, and Helena Hauff.
La Playa - Afternoon at La Cala Beach
 Cala Mijas Festival 2023 - La Playa beach site Schedule |
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Day three of Cala Mijas actually began in 'La Playa' (La Cala de Mijas village), where a showcase of free-to-watch performances took place for the public and ticket holders to enjoy. Small stages were set up by Torre de la Bateria; El Torreón stage hosted up and coming live bands such as The Deniros, Sistema de Entrenmiento and Aiko el Grupo. The Oasis stage situated on the sand, just metres from the seashore, had a schedule of DJs taking to the decks as the waves crashed in the background.
Related pages
- About Cala Mijas Festival 2023
- Day 1 - Thursday report from Cala Mijas 2023 Festival
- Day 2 - Friday report from Cala Mijas 2023 Festival
- Contemporary music and dance festivals in Andalucia