There is less left to sing at the top of your lungs that “Marejada, marejada…” and to hear again hits like “Ganas de tenerte” live, since the orchestras and groups of Lanzarote are rehearsing for the expected festivals and popular summer parties.
Rikabanda, Lanzarote Swing, Los Conejeros and Los Magnéticos, among others, are even talking with some town councils to close dates, although still without many confirmations.
After two years of stoppage due to the coronavirus pandemic, the groups are very excited and eager to return to the stages and sing their audience's favorite songs at the patron saint festivities.
However, they face this period with uncertainty, since Arrecife and Yaiza did not have any local bands or orchestras for the day carnivals. Now, they hope that this situation will not be repeated in the summer, dreaming of recovering from this difficult period.
Rikabanda
Rikabanda is currently the only orchestra on the island, known for their songs “Mentiré” or “No vuelvo a sufrir”, but since the arrival of the pandemic, they have not played in any event.
“Our last performance was at the Arrecife carnival 2020, just before the confinement, we have been without performing since that time,” says José Domingo, president of Rikabanda. “When we found out that the festivals were back, we were very happy because we were clear that we were going to continue.”
From the orchestra they say that they are already rehearsing for the summer festivals with “more enthusiasm than ever”, although the team is not going to be the same as before the pandemic. “We have been rehearsing since the beginning of the year, but we have made changes,” says José Domingo. “There are people who have not wanted to continue, because it is difficult for people to commit to rehearsals without knowing for sure if they are going to perform, without closing a date”.
In addition, the president of Rikabanda points out that “they could not or did not want to count” on them for the carnival events, since they did not receive any calls. “I suppose that the town hall technicians advised that an orchestra was not the most convenient for covid reasons, but in the end there were two DJs in Arrecife and several groups in Playa Blanca,” he adds.
Now the orchestra is focused on closing the agenda for the summer festivities and promoting themselves through social networks to “seduce people”. “We are specifying performances for the summer with some councilors, both in Lanzarote and in Fuerteventura, to see if we can have the season covered,” explains the president of the orchestra.
“We will play our songs from a lifetime, but also some new songs, which could be released next month”.
Lanzarote Swing
On the other hand, the president of Lanzarote Swing did consider quitting during the pandemic and ending the group once and for all.
“I thought up to 20 times about leaving the group, because it was not profitable, my daughters even started singing on their own in hotels weekly, because it is guaranteed work, but I like music and I don't think I will ever be able to leave it,” explains Clotildo Morales, president of Lanzarote Swing. “These last years have been very hard and not only because of the coronavirus pandemic, but because of the politicians' pandemic.”
The group's last performance was at the San Bartolomé carnivals in 2020, since they were not called in Arrecife because “they brought most of the orchestras from outside”. “This continues to happen, the other day there was a day carnival in Arrecife and Playa Blanca and they brought DJs and orchestras from Las Palmas and Tenerife, charging up to 4 times more than us, and even so they didn't call us,” says the president. “The reason was because, according to them, they already had the contracts signed, but the reality is that they think that bringing them revalues the councilor who brings them, they seem to be better that way.”
In addition, he states that a councilor from Yaiza told him that “the groups from outside are professionals”. “So we are not? They don't support local talent,” insists Clotildo.
In any case, the group has been rehearsing for several months, although they still do not have any closed dates for the holidays, but its president confirms that they are already in talks with town councils to perform at festivals such as La Vegueta.
“With Lanzarote Swing we still don't have any closed dates, but then there are dates and they don't call us, they are playing with my work,” insists Clotildo. “I hope this changes, because we really want to perform and we are very excited.” “If everything goes well, we may consider creating an orchestra again, but the situation right now is complicated.”
Los Conejeros
For its part, the famous group Los Conejeros returns to the fray on May 1 in a small festival organized in La Asomada, a date they look forward to.
“We have been rehearsing for about two months now and we have some dances closed, such as the one in La Asomada, and for the summer we are also in talks with several town councils,” says Manuel Viñoly, president of Los Conejeros.
With the outbreak of the pandemic, they had to suspend their agreed performances at the carnivals of Tinajo and La Graciosa, so the group even considered dissolving completely, but in the end they managed to resist. “We considered leaving the group because the situation was unsustainable, but in the end we decided to stay in touch with the same people we had, even with some new talent,” explains Manuel. “We even made a virtual video clip during confinement.”
Los Conejeros received the news of the return of the festivals with great joy and emotion. “After two years of stopping, how are we going to live it?”, says Manuel. “From that moment on, people started driving me crazy, sending messages and asking when we were going to start playing.”
This year, the group intends to focus on practicing the old songs, such as “Noches de fantasía” or “Marejada”, because “they are songs that everyone likes”, although they are also managing new music.
Los Magnéticos
Many amateur groups are also planning to perform at the next parties, as is the case of Los Magnéticos, who are dedicated to playing music from the 60s and 70s, with hits such as "Un rayo de sol", and songs by Karina, Marisol or Raphael.
This type of group was not really affected by the pandemic, since playing is more of a weekend hobby than a job for them. "It is true that we had to cancel some agreed performances with the arrival of the state of alarm, but we did not have much problem in leaving it because in the end we do not live from this", says Patricio Rowell, singer and guitarist of the group Los Magnéticos. "But those who are professionally dedicated to this lost their jobs completely for two years".
His first gig after confinement was in October 2021, in a small room, with a lot of security and with a seated audience and with a mask. "It was a somewhat peculiar performance, since they didn't even let you take off your mask to drink water, it was a difficult situation, but at least we could play", adds Rowell.
Los Magnéticos began to rehearse when they could gather more than four people due to health restrictions, since it is a group of five people. Since then, they have been dedicated to covering private events, but they are already in talks with town councils for the popular festivals that may arise in summer.
"It is true that it has been two very bad years, so we received the news of the return of parties and festivals with great joy, it was clear that this would not be for life", says the singer of Los Magnéticos.
