Ampfest Concert in Pollenca Old Town

Hosted at Ca’n Escarrinxto football grounds in Pollenca, the concert consisted of one stage, five local bands and of course the obligatory bar serving beer, spirits and mixers, soft drinks and water. Any profits from the bar plus the €3 entry fee this year were donated to the Refugi des Animals in Pollenca. In previous years the profits have gone to other local causes. The concert was organised and hosted by AMP, the Associació de Músics de Pollença, an organisation dedicate to sourcing rehearsal space, events and gigs for local bands in Pollenca and the surrounding area.

The posters plastered around town said the event started at 22:30 but this being Mallorca I turned up and hour late and was still half an hour early for the first band. I got myself a beer and awaited the start.

Close to midnight the first band MONXOS kicked off the gig, a three piece alternative, infusion pop rock crew from Sa Pobla, these guys sang their own original songs in Spanish and got the night off to a mellow start.

They were followed by one of the highlights of the night Theverlong, a five piece Mallorcan Rock band who are veterans of at least two previous Ampfest’s not to mention a successful tour of mainland Spain. A five piece band fronted by a diminutive female singer with a big voice, this band gets constant comparisons to Paramore but their sound is also reminiscent of bands such as Rise Against and Lost Prophets. Theverlong arrived on stage with much more enthusiasm than MONXOS and proceeded to play a high energy set of their memorable original songs including ‘Arise’ and ‘The Workout’ mixed in with some covers of songs including a quirky upbeat cover of Sinead O’Connor’s ‘Nothing Compares’. They had a few technical difficulties but laughed them off and simply seemed to be having more fun on stage than any of the rest of the bands and they played one of the best sets of the night.

Following them were punk rock, ‘melodic hardcore’ No More Time and the politically motivated ‘Improvisational’ five piece DriPolar, but the crowd didn’t really get excited again until headliners 'Boiled' came out on stage with their set list of powerhouse rock and metal covers. They played a great set of crowd favourites including Metallica, Def Leopard, Alice Cooper and Kiss and returned for two encores before the crowd had to let them leave (due to the fact that it was almost 5am and they had to stop making noise). The crowd all seemed to know the bands and there was much chatting and shouted banter between songs in fact one song paused for a moment whilst the lead singer of Boiled reached down to lend a cigarette to a guy at the front of the crowd. Just like they do at Glastonbury, I’m sure.

The crowd, although sadly on the small side and made up mainly of family and friends of the musicians, seemed to enjoy the night and there was much drinking done and as the night progressed some fairly manic dancing down the front and raucous boos as the final band left the stage.

Ampfest although rather under populated was a chance to get a grass roots look at some of North Mallorca’s local musical talent and to pickup a new favourite and a few new songs to take away with me and show to others.

Five bands, one stage, cold beer and music until 5am, all in the name of a good cause! That’s Ampfest Pollenca, make sure you look out for it next year!