The ninth edition of the festival had the best possible closing in its history, with energetic and overwhelming live performances by León Benavente, Trentemøller and Goose

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Dancing cures everything and the musical sequence between stages at the PHE Festival on its second Saturday day clung to the dance floor as if there was no tomorrow. The concerts by León Benavente, Trentemøller and Goose were great, both for the attitude and impact of these bands, each in their own style and musical concept, and for the response they received from the public. And as the PHE Festival is not only fuelled by speed and electronic sequences, the Saturday day left more intimate and bare proposals in the musical aspect, and others that move between rock and pop, funk, psychedelia and new flamenco, which had Mavica, Shego, Nala Rami and Camellos as protagonists. 

Above all, it was a night of dancing, with DJs and selectors on the third stage inaugurated this year, the Espacio Domo Jagermeister. One of those unique and unforgettable days that are the hallmark of PHE Festival, which was taken away when León Benavente took to the main stage, after 9:00 p.m., with Abraham Boba, who knows how to lead the audience to the right place. It was the second time that the band was in Puerto de la Cruz, after the 2017 edition, and their formula of rock implemented with sequences and structures that draw on the most vitamin-rich kraut got an audience on its feet, jumping and singing along, who also wanted to go crazy at the feast that León Benavente was serving up.

A complete repertoire that started with Type D and ended much higher with Yesterday I went outThe band shook up their discography, four albums released, plus EPs and others, in a concert with a notable electronic pulse, increasingly present, in which without respite and with Abraham Boba moving in and out, they sounded There is no fear, Provisional state, Like the stone that floats and I love, in a first loop of songs. Brave spirit, almost an ancient hymn in their repertoire, La Ribera, California, Shooting the horses, Our anniversary, Mythical, At the feast, Being a Brigade, Glory and the aforementioned Yesterday I went out, completed a concert that is already historic in the history of PHE Festival.

But before the story of the last dance that PHE Festival brought, with Trentemøller and Goose, we must take note of what happened in the middle of the afternoon at the opening, which had Mavica on the stages of the port area, fronted by Marta Casanova, who opened the doors to the pop melancholy, acoustic and with electronic production, with which she has dressed the album. Sometimes a person never comes back (but that's okay). After her, the Madrid-based Maite, Raquel and Charlotte, the members of Shego, gave a concert in which they made good on the label of emerging band with the album Good luck girl (2023). Among others, they sounded Forgive me, Oh Boi, Sorry, I'm crying all over, I'm horny, I'll kill you or Steak Tar Tar, with which they ran out of time.

THE MIRROR BALL

The pop psychedelia and neo flamenco that make the Sevillians Vera Fauna their hallmark (version of I blush, by Papa Levante, included) was another of the sensations of the second day of PHE Festival, in which there was also room for old school funk with Nala Rami, the group of the Gran Canarian saxophonist Alan Himar. The winner of the Sonora Las Palmas de Gran Canaria competition arrived in Puerto de la Cruz with Pasaporte Sonora and a set that embraced the mirror ball with pieces such as I died in the disco, Superficial or Sundays.

The final stretch of PHE Festival was in another league, with the Danish Trentemøller in band format, the Madrid-based Camellos and the Belgian group Goose. Without a doubt, the international triumph of this edition goes to the musician, DJ and producer Anders Trentemøller, and the musicians he came with: Diisa Jakobs (vocals, guitars, synthesizers), Silas Tinglef (drums, guitars), Brian Batz (guitars) and Jacob Haubjerg (bass). The Danish maestro made his debut in Puerto de la Cruz with a master class on dream pop, shoegaze, psychedelia, with passages of the caliber of Dreamweavers or Moan, and others where the guitars in the shadow of Dick Dale, for example, are contaminated with acidic and twisted rhythms. Superlative elegance for electronic gourmets.

Before the party electro rock of Goose, the PHE Festival lowered the revolutions slightly to welcome Camellos. The punk adjective applied to the Madrid group has to do with the songs and how the public reacts, as could be seen. From their own creation, they delivered songs such as Mallet, Divorce, Rice with things, Who is laughing now, Copper flavor or Dance factory, by Joe Crepúsculo, who they invited to sing with them to make the party complete. 

The closing of the PHE Festival was for Goose and the catchy electro rock played by the Belgians. Songs like Bring it on, title in addition to the debut album in 2006, or What you need, to name some of the hits that the quartet brought to Puerto de la Cruz, set the pace and the final dance steps for the ninth PHE Festival.