Pineda Psychobilly Meeting 2009

The Pineda Psychobilly Meeting (originally held in the adjoining town, Calella) has it's origins in 1992, when a basic and less elaborate form of the festival brought Psychobilly to the Spanish coast for the first time.
Since then the festival has evolved into one of the most important Psychobilly festivals in the world. It is held annually during the last weekend in June and the current location of the main event is on the beach in Pineda de Mar.
The Psychobilly Meeting has turned into a full week's Psychobilly holiday with concerts and parties begining on the Tuesday before the main festival and ending on the following Monday. Aswell as the concerts at the marquee during the weekend, there are also concerts in local clubs, parties and dj's at a bar on the beach, pool parties and other activities. Sun, sangría and Psychobilly... the Pineda Psychobilly Meeting really is a perfect holiday!
This year the Meeting kicked-off on Tuesday, June 23rd with a band at the Beach Bar at night. Spanish band "THE NU-NILES" kicked-off the party in style with their special brand of neo-rockabilly. DJ Psycho Rebel & DJ Sinner a gogo kept the night rocking and DJ Ghostrider 59 and DJ Koefte De Ville had us shaking till the early hours; the atmosphere was unbeatable, the 23rd is a big festival in Spain, during which we celebrate the summer solstice so there were fireworks all night... a great start to the Meeting!
On Wednesday, June 24th we enjoyed the performances of NITRO 17 and CAT O NINE TAILS in the venue Magma. DJ Psycho Rebel and DJ Sinner a gogo kept the party going all night long. On Thursday, June 25th we enjoyed a free barbeque at the beach bar and the atmosphere was set by DJ Pepe 7Wheels. That night, also at the Magma, the djing was left in the careful hands of DJ Koefete de Ville. The audience witnessed energetic and bone shaking performances form the vibrant BEAT DEVILS, Spanish old-timers BRIOLES, the classic French band ASTROZOMBIES (bosting one of the most talented base players in Psychobilly) and closing with the ever-gory, ever-rocking "DEMENTED ARE GO".
On Friday we were treated to another free barbeque at the beach bar while DJ Francis knocked-out the tunes.
For Friday 26th, Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th the venue is changed to a large marquee on the beach in Pineda which accommodates a lot more people. Here we can find bars selling food and drink, tables and benches in the open-air, a market selling t-shirts, records, clothes and other merchandise... and of course, a large stage prepared for a 3 day intensive Psychobilly onslaught.
Friday night kicked-off at 21.00 with the superb performance of GRAVEYARD JOHNNY'S. This was there first time at the Meeting, but it I hope it won't be the last. Brandishing a very fresh combination of classic Teddy-boy rockabilly combined with modern influences, folk and punk they had the extremely difficult task of being the fist band to step on the stage and has to deal with poor sound, technical problems on stage and all the problems that come with the responsability of being the 1st band. It would have been great to see them again without the technical problems, hopefully in another edition!!
After these guys it was the turn of REZUREX. Fronted by Daniel de Leon, this LA combo is increasingly popular in Spain and a regular at the Meeting. They performed flawlessly... but unfortunately the poor sound was to cause problems for all the bands on Friday night. Despite an outstanding performance form the bands on Friday night, the sound technician didn't arrive to fix the sound problems until the very end of the first night, when there were just 3 songs left!!
CARAVANS is a band that never lets down an audience, playing a folky-english style of something between Ted and Psychobilly... a great performance ruined by the sound. The same can be said for LONG TALL TEXANS and even for PAUL FENECH. Great performances ruined by the sound problems.
All in all the line-up on Friday was outstanding and the bands gave 110%, but there was no excuse for the sound technician arriving at 2.30 am when it was nearly over. DJ Tommy Drocker and DJ Calamity Man spun the tunes for the rest of the night.

On Saturday 27th DJ Ghostrider 59 played the tunes at the Beach Bar. When the marquee opened on Saturday night the sound technician was there.
There was no comparison for the sound on Friday and Saturday nights: GUITAR SLINGERS took the stage at 21.00 and rocked us to the core with their elaborate combination of 80's style Psychobilly with their own special cocktail of influences ranging from country and punk to English Pub songs.. fantastic!!
A fantastic surprise came next with the spectacular, powerful and agressive performance of Japanese band "BATTLE OF NINJAMANZ"... when the band finished their energetic set the audience was starving for more, insistently asking for encores.
The GO-GETTERS where the next band to take the stage. It was hard to follow an act such as the BATTLE OF NINJAMANZ, and especially for a band that play neo-rockabilly. The GO-GETTERS have a large fan-base in Spain, but mainly amongst Rockabilly's. The GO-GETTERS had a difficult time following-on from BATTLE OF NINJAMANZ, and the absence of their die-hard fans didn't help.
Next up was ex- KREWMEN singer "MAD DOG COLE". He returned to the scene a couple of years ago bringing us Psychobilly classics in his extremely distinctive voice and style. Although his style mainly appeals to old KREWMEN fans (of which there are plenty) his style and performance has really improved since his return and his show gets the whole audience rocking... whether you're a fan or not.
The band that closed Saturday night (an excellent choice in my opinion) was FRENZY. Frenzy has played on numerous occasions at the Psychobilly Meeting over the years, but never before as a headliner. They deserve this position. FRENZY proved once again that they are truly in a league of their own, The skill, energy and compenetration of the band is a level above any other Psychobilly band. During the song "Clockwork Toy" huge inflatable balls and dolphins were released onto the audience, causing us all to jump up and down even more... and as always, they blew our heads-off with their hit "I SEE RED".
DJ Psycho Rebel and DJ Sinner a gogo took the controls and kept the dance floor full for the rest of the night.
On Sunday 28th we were treated to a pool party at Hotel Paradis with paella and sangría while DJ Tommy Drocker and DJ Calamity Man played the tunes.
The Djing on Sunday night was left to DJ Ghostrider 59. The sudience enjoyed the spooky B-movie style of Spanish band MOTORZOMBIS kicking-off the nights concerts. This was followed by an explosive performance from THE ARKHAMS, a band from the States that's hitting hard this year... and that went down a storm at the Meeting!! Old-timers SURF RATS brought back fond memories to original Psychobillies; P.O.X. gave a powerful performance and RICOCHETS provided another treat for fans of classic old-school Psychobilly.
The 2009 Psychobilly was put to rest with one final party at the Beach Bar on Monday wher the last remaing Psychobillies enjoyed the end of their holiday with a "battle of the DJ's", plenty of cold drinks and the final few hours of sand, sea and sun... until next year!
Another fabulous edition all in all, now we must wait another year for the next one!!