Music film documentary screening
Roger Waters: Us + Them is a 2019 documentary, music film featuring footage from concerts at Amsterdam’s Ziggo Dome. Us and Them was a song from Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, one of the most critically acclaimed records of all time. The music was written by keyboardist Richard Wright and the lyrics were by bassist Roger Waters, whose somewhat fractious later relationship with guitarist David Gilmour has been well reported.
Waters went his own way and the film is evidence of this. The association with Pink Floyd, in terms of musicians, is confined to Waters and multi-instrumentalist Jon Carin, who collaborated with Pink Floyd many years ago. Otherwise, the association is great, as the concerts were packed with Floyd songs, especially from Dark Side of the Moon. Wish You Were Here and The Wall also feature.
The film is one of a series entitled ret ROCKspectiva that are being shown at different venues.
Thursday, 7pm, Fundació Pilar i Joan Miró, C. Saridakis 29, Palma.
Documentary in English
Another in the retROCKspectiva series is Nick Cave’s 20,000 Days on Earth. Cave, born in a village in Victoria, Australia, has been one of the more intriguing figures in popular culture since he first started to dabble with punk in the late 1970s. Musician, writer and actor, he had a number of film roles before the making of 20,000 Days on Earth in 2014.
The film, shot in Brighton, is essentially autobiographical and a psychoanalysis of a performer having reached his 20,000th day on Earth. Mostly all those appearing are “as themselves”. In addition to Cave himself, these include Ray Winstone and Kylie Minogue, with whom he and his band, The Bad Seeds, recorded the ballad Where the Wild Roses Grow, which had been written with her in mind.
The screening is in English with Spanish subtitles.
Sunday, 6pm, Teatre Catalina Valls, Paseo Mallorca 9, Palma.
Sant Antoni concert
The Sant Antoni fiestas may have been called off for another year, but the fire is kept burning where it can be.
In Manacor, they would be preparing for the whole congregation at the Mare de Déu dels Dolors parish church to be singing the “goigs” for Sant Antoni - one of the stand-out events for the fiestas in Mallorca - but instead they are setting for a Sant Antoni concert by the Manacor Band of Music - Músiques de Sant Antoni - which also features traditional folk music group, Tramudança.
Saturday, 7pm, Manacor Auditorium, Passeig Ferrocarril, Manacor.
New wave of Catalan folk-pop
Els Amics de les Arts are a three-piece group from Barcelona who are at the forefront of what has been described as the new wave of Catalan folk-pop. Specialising in songs with simple melodies blended with some electronics, they have been around since 2005.
Their fourth album, Un estrany poder (Strange Power), was released by Sony and recorded in Glasgow. The fifth album is El senyal que esperaves (The Signal You Were Expecting) came out in 2020 and forms the basis of this week’s concert in Palma.
Friday, 9pm, Palma Auditorium (Sala Magna), Paseo Marítimo 18, Palma.
Two concerts for this well known group
Cap Pela recently featured on this page because of what has become something of a tradition of theirs - a Christmas Day concert.
The seven-member vocal group are back and exploring their wide repertoire - folk, jazz, blues, classical. Formed in Mallorca, they are very well-established across Spain, having been founded almost thirty years ago (1994).
They have recorded various albums since then, including one called Happy Christmas and another, Moon River, which hints at the kind of all-time classic which can be expected at one of their concerts.
The current line-up is Esther Barceló (soprano), Sofia Domènech (soprano), Carol Domènech (contralto), Begoña de la Iglesia (contralto), Guillem Ramon (tenor), Santiago Francia (tenor), Joaquim Domènech (bass).
Friday, 8pm, Porreres Auditorium, C. d’en Cerdà 21, Porreres.
Monday, 7pm, Manacor Auditorium, Passeig Ferrocarril, Manacor.