By Santiago Rivas @rivas_santiago Photo @karinrichter
To close this special, Here are my conclusions about this Rock al Parque Festival, which brings us together every year to chat here at Zonagirante.com, with the intention that this event, which belongs to everyone, will improve year after year, or at least it should be.
1- Rock al Parque (unfortunately) always turns out well:
It sounds horrible, now that I read it out loud. My first conclusion is an old one: Rock al Parque is always good, always interesting, always productive. It's a blessing, because it guarantees that Rock al Parque will happen, but it's also a curse, because it also guarantees that can be done mediocrely.
So Rock al Parque goes well, Regardless of who closes the show, who the mayor is, what the plan was, or if the lineup is bad. Whether there's corruption, whether there are organized crime groups (which isn't necessarily the same thing), whether the press area is packed, whether people in the general admission section are suffocating, or whether the food area is awful. No matter how mediocre the execution (which isn't necessarily the case here), Rock al Parque is always good and interesting., Then they can do it any way they want, but that's not the idea.
2- Let's save Idartes:
My second conclusion is that We have no idea what we are about to lose. Idartes is fading at a ridiculous rate, and it's worth reflecting on. on the paper that This institute serves our city. If the Ministry of Culture proposes something better, fine; but it's important that we are well informed, so that they don't take away the good things that exist in the city., that facilitate our access to culture and enrich the offerings of a Bogotá that increasingly needs more and better cultural and arts programming.
3- Let's unlearn less:
As usual, There are ups and downs in the design of the common areas at the Festival. The Distrito Rock tent is a success from every angle, but it could be a bit larger to avoid everyone being crammed in. The press area was better this year, with good free Wi-Fi, which is much appreciated, but the food area, which had improved in recent years, This year it was more uncomfortable and narrower, with less supply and less variety. Metalheads, punks, hardcore fans, and everyone else deserve to eat more comfortably and better.
The proposal is simple: There should be a record of successes and failures in production design, added to the constant creative work of those in charge of putting on the festival Is it possible to make the festival more beautiful (at least change that filthy shade cloth)? What qualities should a press area have to be perfect and as economical as possible? What should a food court be like? Is it worthwhile to promote civic culture through production design? I don't know if this will be of any use to you, but I think these are questions worth answering in the years to come.
In conclusion, it is worthwhile for us to understand culture as a reflection of our city, Rock al Parque is now a fundamental part of Bogotá's soul. The city's cultural offerings should, if not replicate, at least delve into the essence of the festival, seeking the most valuable thing that the festival has given to our culture: the idea of public events and cultural management, as an opportunity to create political and social laboratories; To understand the city and its spaces as points of convergence between the diverse worldviews that populate the capital and the country. To foster encounters and dialogues, in order to utilize culture to better understand ourselves. Rock al Parque is all that, and much more, which we still don't see when we look in perspective at the way Bogota's cultural calendar is designed.
Bonus Track: My top 5 things I saw at Rock al Parque
Making lists is always a risk, especially at Rock al Parque: every band has its own fans, and The discussions surrounding them are unnecessary., But at the same time, it can be constructive, if we understand that a top list is always a subjective curation, guided by criteria that are only relevant to the person making the list. That said, Here are my five favorite performances (of the ones I saw) at Rock al Parque 2016.
5- Bambarabanda: They're my friends, and of course there's a great deal of affection in this inclusion, but anyone who's seen them knows that They're a bombshell on stage. They know how to perfectly combine all possible rhythms, from rock to southern cumbia, sanjuanito and even Balkan airs that influence them. They are a perfectly mixed and perfectly Pastuso group. But above all, they knew how to give their all on stage to celebrate their 15th anniversary.
4- Baroness: I know José Gandour will disagree with me putting them so high on the list, but for me they belong there., because my affections prioritize other genres. They are an excellent band, interesting, powerful, creative. They are what I believe should come to all festivals: a very pleasant discovery.
3- GBH: As they celebrated their 37th anniversary as standard-bearers of English street punk, It's a little embarrassing that they're among my discoveries, But what can you do? Nobody is born knowing everything, as they used to tell us in school. This band completely changed my holiday Monday and I am immensely grateful to them.
2- Filippi's hands: A band with such a long history, But the fact that it always manages to sound new is a gift. If we add to that such a fierce and honest political commitment and fighting spirit, We have a very interesting combination. Let it serve to show that Rock al Parque remains a free territory, independent of governments and their ideologies, a territory for ideas of all kinds and speeches of all colors, as long as there is respect and a guarantee of non-violence. Long live Manos de Filippi.
1- Shock Band: We had been waiting many years to see them, And I never thought it would be at a Rock al Parque festival.; Another victory against that sterile purism that does so little good for the festival and the city. In a festival that, quite rightly, favored the harder genres, These Chileans gave a lesson in forcefulness and power, with something as rock and as ours as cumbia, so mixed and so far away like the very loud music of that Chile that we still don't know.
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