by Maja Gojkovic

Chambao are the hottest Spanish acts around, with their continuing success and more coverage, the band are making their way further into the mainstream music scene.

If you are thinking, “I have never heard of Chambao”, not to worry, my predictions tell me we will be hearing and seeing a lot more of the band in the future.

In terms of genre the band would categorize itself as Flamenco-Electronic. Their flamenco chill sound fuses the flamenco and palos (a musical form) with electronic music.

The name of the band comes from an improvised wind-breaker that is used on the beach to provide shade (and stop the wind, of course).

The band is made up of a trio from Malaga El Mari, Edi and Dani. The group were discovered by the Dutch musician Henrik Takkenberg. Together three of them featured as part of a double CD by various artists that was released by Sony under the title “Flamenco Chill” in (2002). On the CD Chambao recorded eight songs and sold 90,000 copies and led the record label to release subsequent instalments, this time without Chambao.In 2003, the band’s first record on their own, “Endorfinas en la mente”, came out. It was released in more than twenty countries, sold over 80,000 copies and won the Premio Ondas (Ondas Award) for the Best Musical Creation in 2003. After their song release “Pokito a poko” in 2005, Dani left the band, but La Mari and El Edi continued to create the original sounds that make the band so eclectic and fresh.

European Vibe will be meeting Chambao to get the lowdown on  the latest from the band, as well as an exclusive interview. The interview will be featured in the June edition of European Vibe Magazine.  

For those of you who cannot wait until June and if the sound of Chambao tickles your musical tastebuds then you can find out more about the band on their Myspace page www.myspace.com/chambao. The band will also be playing at Palacio de Deportes on Friday 11^th April.

 by Khilen Mehta

As a Liverpool fan, all I can say is that sometimes I wish my team wouldn’t make life so dificult for their fans, let alone themselves! Last night both sets of fans were witness to another glorious European night at Anfield…a night when hearts are worn out on their sleeves, and players have the chance to make a name for themselves.

This was a typical European second leg. What a night. What a series of comebacks. What a goal from Fernando Torres!

When faced with this kind of assignment, with home advantage in a tense European tie, Rafael Benítez sends his Liverpool team out with the instruction to set a tempo that the opposition cannot live with. But Arsenal only know how to play football one way and they responded in a ferocious manner. The pace was frenetic, the noise was incessant and the football was marvellous to watch. In the opening 20 minutes, Arsenal threatened to run riot. Their passing was fluent, and they tore through the Liverpool defence. The movement of Alex Hleb and the energy of Abou Diaby exposed the pedestrian nature of the liverpool defence, and allowed the African to open the scoring.

So Arsenal were in front. But the goal not only woke the Liverpool players up, it woke up the Kop. And they roared. They sung their hearts out and soon the pressure told.  Big Sami Hyypia equalised with a fierce header when Philippe Senderos should have been marking him at the back of the area. It was not the last time the Swiss defender was to find himself culpable. The turning point of the match came in the 42nd minute when Flamini was stretchered off and when Gilberto came on, Arsenal seemed to lose all rhythm.  In all honesty, Liverpool never threatened to run riot against Arsenal but the pressure was unrelenting and in the 69th minute the game changed when Fernando Torres put his mark on proceedings. Picking up the ball from a Peter Crouch flick on, he sent Senderos to the cleaners, and fired an unstoppable shot into the top corner. Liverpool were heading through but this was never going to be the end. Wenger responded with a double change and it was Theo Walcott who would have grabbed all the headlines this morning if Arsenal had hung on. His run in the 84th minute was incredible, leaving 4 liverpool players in his wake and squaring the ball across for Adebayor to make it 2-2.

And so Arsenal must have thought they were through. Surely with five minutes to go there was no way back. But Liverpool had their own saviour. Ryan Babel stormed past Kolo Toure and was hauled down in the penalty area. Captain Fantastico Steven Gerrard stepped up with an unstoppable penalty. And now it was Liverpool who seemed to be going through. Arsenal pressed in the final minutes but the Kop roared and the ball stayed out. Then the final act: a hoof forward by Dirk Kuyt and Babel out-sprinted the last covering man Fabregas to slip the ball past Almunia. 4-2… Game over.

So the fans left still finding it hard to believe what they had just encountered. But this is Anfield…strange things happen here on a European night…

by Khilen Mehta

Ian Brown, the former lead singer of hit band The Stone Roses, will be performing solo this Friday at Joy Eslava. Even through an rollercoaster career, public spats with celebrities and a jail sentence for air rage, Brown still remains one of the most influential artists of his generation. Since the band’s acrimonious and prolonged break up in 1996, Brown has released five solo albums. He has appeared on several club tours and has performed at the Glastonbury festival three times since 1998 and this will be his first performance in Madrid.

Ian Brown was born in Warrington, Manchester in 1963 and his active music interests were inspired by the great Manchester bands of the time, such as Slaughter and the Dogs, and of course Joy Division. He shared his interests with his friend John Squire, who later become another infamous member of the Stone Roses. Brown joined Squire’s band The Patrol on tour as a bassist before they grouped together to form the Stone Roses. This decision was influenced by a meeting with Geno Washington, a soul legend and a personal hero of Brown’s, who told him, “You’re a star. You’re an actor. Be a singer.”

Life hasn’t always been plain sailing for Brown. Brown has had no contact with his former song writing partner and childhood best friend John Squire since the band broke up in 1996. Brown’s key reason for the band not reforming is his lack of contact with Squire along with Squire’s cocaine abuse and their differing musical tastes. In September 2005, Ian appeared to rule out a Stone Roses reunion saying “there’s more chance of me reforming the Happy Mondays than the Roses” and in June 2007 John Squire said he wouldn’t reform the Roses even if Ian Brown phoned him up personally. Brown has also had many run-ins with the law. In 1998, he was sentenced to 4 months in jail after threatening to cut off an air stewardess hands with plastic cutlery on a flight.

One thing cannot be denied, though, and that is Ian Brown still attracts the crowds. He undertook a sell out UK tour in 2005, even managing to sell out the 16,000 capacity Manchester Evening News Arena and this gig in Madrid is guaranteed to be huge.

Ignore the hype, the publicity and the rumours… It is his delivery of lyrics, his charisma and presence on stage that make him stand out. as one of the greatest artists of his generation.