Top events this week in Mallorca!

How does one define Donallop’s music? Folk? Pop? Elements of both perhaps, but categorising them under a specific genre isn’t easy. Maybe there should be one called Donallop music, although Catalan dream pop has been an attempt at definition, with nods in the direction of the likes of The xx having been cited.

Donallop are Pere Bestard and Joana Pol. They started out in 2009 and their first EP release was in 2013. Having spent some time away from the island in Catalonia, they are now back in Majorca - in Selva, where Joana’s grandmother’s old house now doubles as a studio. They have also set up their own record label, Plas Plas, partly as a response to a burst of indie-pop creative energy in Majorca during the pandemic.

One of Majorca’s leading and best-loved acts, their latest release - ‘Cara a Cara’ - will be showcased at the Teatre Principal, where they first performed seven years ago. They are being supported by another duo - _juno, aka Zahara Gordillo and Martí Perarnau.

Tuesday, 8pm, Teatre Principal, C. Riera 2, Palma.

Songs for voice and piano

Matilde Escalas was born in 1870 into a wealthy Majorcan family with a strong artistic background. She excelled at the piano from an early age and in 1882 she moved to Barcelona, where she studied composition and became part of the city’s intellectual and artistic circles. These included names with their associations with Majorca, e.g. the painter Santiago Rusiñol and the architect Antoni Gaudi.
Her compositions included songs for voice and piano, with French and Italian influences, and an album of her music was recorded to commemorate the 150th anniversary of her birth. José Manuel Sánchez (tenor) and Francesc Blanco (piano) will be performing selections from this album in Palma.

Thursday, 7pm, Can Balaguer, C. Unió 3, Palma.

ASPANOB Festival

The international ‘Cante de las Minas’ festival in La Unión, Murcia is Spain’s most important annual flamenco festival. In order to take part, artists are selected through a form of audition process. They have to be good - “they” being young and promising. Some are particularly young - one anyway.

Antón Cortés is just thirteen. Born and raised in Majorca, he only started playing piano some five years ago and he is largely self-taught. He was runner-up at the most recent festival in Murcia, which was a remarkable achievement, and his style is all the more remarkable in that he has been influenced by the flamenco guitar and adapted it for the piano. This includes having interpreted Paco de Lucía’s ‘Antonia’.

Great things are being forecast for Antón, the flamenco and the jazz worlds already having hailed him as a genuine and original talent. Concert dates in Spain and overseas are being considered, but he hasn’t actually performed any concerts. Until now, and it was his wish for the first to be for charity - as part of the Aspanob Festival in aid of parents with children with cancer.

LeatherFest Rock and Roll Festival

Fundación Francisco Frankenstein - FFF - is the name of a four-piece punk rock band from Palma. They cite Dr. Feelgood and The Ramones as being among their influences. Their first recordings were last year, while live performances have naturally been difficult. But on Saturday, and bringing a touch of spookiness to the Halloween proceedings - if only by name - FFF will be on the bill for the LeatherFest Rock and Roll Festival in Inca.
Part of the town’s second fair (leisure and sport), this festival is now in its seventh edition. Spread over the two days of the fair - Saturday and Sunday - there is a host of live acts plus a disc fair.
The headliners on Saturday are a punk-rock band called Crim. From Tarragona, they have enjoyed considerable success in Spain and elsewhere in Europe.

Saturday, from 5pm; Sunday, from 10am. General Luque Quarter, Avda. General Luque, Inca.

Saturday, 8pm, Palacio de Congresos, Palma.

EVOLUTION! IS BACK

Highlights of this year’s Evolution! Mallorca International Film Festival include the world premiere of The Laureate (about Robert Graves) and the award to be given to Wim Wenders. While the focus is mostly on new productions, there is always a place for some classics from the past. Halloween provides the perfect opportunity for a theme, and a drive-in offers additional fun.

The scary classics are Beetlejuice (Spanish) and A Nightmare on Elm Street (English, Spanish subtitles) on Saturday and The Addams Family (Spanish) and The Nightmare before Christmas (English, Spanish subtitles) on Sunday.

Saturday, 7.30pm / 9.30pm; Sunday, 7.30pm / 9.30pm. Port Adriano.

AC/DC Tribute

The Billy Young Band will be a familiar name to at least some of you. They have been around for a good number of years, since 2008 in fact, and have played fiestas as well as halls and clubs. Their complete name is The Billy Young Band (AC/DC Tribute), so that tells you what they’re all about, if you didn’t already know.

Francesc Gomila had the idea of an AC/DC tribute - and they are very faithful to the original - because his voice lends itself to interpreting Brian Johnson’s. They formed in Sa Pobla, and from the outset the act had to look like AC/DC as well as sound like them. Hence, there is an Angus Young, shorts and all, and a Brian Johnson with cap.

Francesc has said that as well as re-creating AC/DC, their shows are all about “pure and hard dynamism on stage” and creating “good vibes” between them and the audience. And good vibes there will be aplenty on Sunday. Any evil Halloween spirits will be chased away at a Halloween gala in Palma.

Sunday, 7pm, Sala Dante, Camí Jesús 54, Palma.