Well, as you probably have already guessed, this year I attended the FIB (International Festival of Benicassim) and it was such an amazing, crazy and musically wonderful experience that I feel like I must share it with everybody, what I saw, what I listened, what I lived in my very first FIB.
So, who would have said to me that this year I will be going to the FIB?
It was all coincidence; I was travelling with my family when I was offered three free tickets for Sunday (the biggest day at the festival). I didn’t even think about it. I took the tickets, two of my friends and we went ahead to enjoy the festival. On the bus route to Benicassim, you could already feel the excitement and vibration of all the people who went there. It was a great feeling, it seemed that everyone knew each other for years( well, now that I’m thinking about it, maybe those people REALLY knew each other…Anyway, I like to think that it was because of the festival :)
Once we got in town, we went walking to the site enabled for the fib. Benicassim seemed like a Little England due to the fact that there were so many English people. The terraces, bars and even every little restaurant were full of people and the streets were almost unable to walk without bumping with people around.
One of the things that most caught my attention was the number of people who were already drinking alcohol at four in the afternoon, a lot of them were almost drunk, but I thought that in my short experience at festivals, maybe this is the environment that usually goes with those events. Another thing that struck me was that all the ‘fibers’ (people who attends the FIB = fibers) that were going to the site we all formed a very long queue, one after another across the road, singing and dancing. From the outside this would have been a strange view: thousands of people singing and forming a huge row along the road.
One of the things that most caught my attention was the number of people who were already drinking alcohol at four in the afternoon, a lot of them were almost drunk, but I thought that in my short experience at festivals, maybe this is the environment that usually goes with those events. Another thing that struck me was that all the ‘fibers’ (people who attends the FIB = fibers) that were going to the site we all formed a very long queue, one after another across the road, singing and dancing. From the outside this would have been a strange view: thousands of people singing and forming a huge row along the road.
I remember that day was very hot and the air was heavy and stifling, and as we walked, I could not stop to cover my head with a handkerchief, in fact, more than one person suffered a heat stroke that Sunday. Finally, we got to the festival site and I remember I was impressed by how big it was, and the number of people who were there. This was an area of 90,000 square meters, distributed in different areas and where there were about 36,000 fibers.
We quickly went to the post where you put the wristband to enter the site, and after looking at the schedule of concerts, we found ourselves completely in the center of the festival. What I saw fascinated me. Thousands of people (I have not seen so many people together in my entire life) of any race, color, style, all together. There were punks, rockers, preppies, indies, hippies, even rappers. That was something that I loved: people of all kinds having a good time, enjoying themselves with good concerts and better atmosphere. The thing is that apart from a few rude and disgusting people (I will relate in detail later), people in general was very nice, friendly and fun.
So, as soon as we arrived, we went straight ahead to the first concert which was the amazing Catpeople, who acted in the green stage. We actually didn’t know much of their work, but I liked their performance very much. For a group of Spanish-indie rock, the truth is that they do it very well, good music and good show
After Catpeople, came one of the great, in fact, the reason why we stayed to see Catpeople: the British alternative-rock band White Lies, who played in the green stage as well. In short, OMG WHAT A SHOW! Although I knew most of the songs, listening to them live, was incredible and the atmosphere was unbeatable. We all jumped, shouted, sang and danced to the tune of ‘To lose my life’ or ‘Death’ key moments in the performance of the British group.
After Catpeople, came one of the great, in fact, the reason why we stayed to see Catpeople: the British alternative-rock band White Lies, who played in the green stage as well. In short, OMG WHAT A SHOW! Although I knew most of the songs, listening to them live, was incredible and the atmosphere was unbeatable. We all jumped, shouted, sang and danced to the tune of ‘To lose my life’ or ‘Death’ key moments in the performance of the British group.
After the concert, we went to recover some energy and because of there was enough time for the next concert we wanted to see (Friendly Fires), we dedicated ourselves to investigate the festival site. There were many food and beverage positions selling different sandwiches, pizzas, kebabs, vegetarian, etc... all at a good price and many of them were open until late at night (you need to eat something at 5 in the morning when you’re exhausted and just craving for something eatable). After filling our stomachs, we went to a resting area, full of green and grassy zones where you could simply lie on, relax and enjoy the environment.
After being there for a while, we noticed that the concerts’ schedule was changed and that Friendly Fires were going to be acting in 5 minutes! So we stood up as we could, got our things and run to the Fiberfib.com, the stage where the English dance punk group was already performing. After moving, pushing and bumping the huge crowd, and getting wet with beer and other liquids that I-don’t-want-to-know-what-exactly-they-were from people around us, we eventually got close to the main stage. Although I expected Friendly Fires to be better (I hardly could hear the singer, and even worse was the guitar and keyboard sound), I really enjoyed their hits like’ Your Love’, ‘Paris’ and the genius ‘Skeleton Boy’.
I can’t exactly remember when it suddenly got dark and we were in the middle of the night, I just know that in some moment I found ourselves wandering around with no fixed direction and sitting in front of the VIP entrance waiting for the next concert, the lovely Lykke Li. We were there for ages, and as we hadn’t seen the remaining part of the festival site, I decided to go for a walk to see the shops that were there, as the Fib shop (products and official festival merchandise), the fib market area with loads of clothing stores, music, posters, photographs, and so on.
The truth is that there were a lot of things to do between each concert. From playing the Guitar Hero, to dance until death in the Silent Disco, an original disco where you heard the music with a headphones.
And then, after almost 2 hours, we finally were enjoying Lykke Li’s performance in the Vodafone Fib Club stage. I must say that this was one of the best performances I had ever seen in my life. This girl is completely crazy! She appeared into the stage without shoes, saying ‘excuse me, I have no shoes, somebody stole them’ obviously she was joking..isn’t that sweet? Her performance was brilliant and her attitude on stage is unbeatable. She even played the cymbals with one single drumstick as if she was possessed for some kind of demon! That was really funny and we all passed a great time.
But then, I hated the FIB’s organization more than ever. They moved forward The Killers’ concert almost without announcing and we were in the middle of Lykke Li’s one, so we had to leave that wonderful show and run desperately to the green stage, hitting people and receiving more swearwords than ever. I did learned useful English that day! (In fact, that really helped me to be understandable a few minutes later…)
Eventually, we got to the green stage. Or where it was supposedly standing because literally I couldn’t see it. If I before said that I had never seen so many people together in my life, I was lying. It was in that specific moment, in that concert where I got shocked because of the massive crowd of people around me. In fact, The Killers’ concert has been the largest in FIB’s history. And I believe that! I was there!
Of course, the show was superb. They played the magnificent ‘Mr. Brightside’, ‘All the things I’ve learned’, ‘Human’, the awesome ‘ Somebody told me’ (where all the people, including myself, obviously, went crazy) and ended up with the great ‘When you were young’. Incredible and wonderful show. I can’t even explain it with words, I mean, Brandon Flowers didn’t stop moving throughout all the concert and oh god, those guitar solos! Best experience ever. That’s all.
Of course, the show was superb. They played the magnificent ‘Mr. Brightside’, ‘All the things I’ve learned’, ‘Human’, the awesome ‘ Somebody told me’ (where all the people, including myself, obviously, went crazy) and ended up with the great ‘When you were young’. Incredible and wonderful show. I can’t even explain it with words, I mean, Brandon Flowers didn’t stop moving throughout all the concert and oh god, those guitar solos! Best experience ever. That’s all.
Finally, and by the time we could escape from that mass of people, we came back to the Fiberfib.com stage to enjoy a bit of dance and electronic music. The thing is that we stayed there, almost dead, until 6 a.m., when I decided to go to one of those resting zones, because I couldn’t stay awake, not even standing, any more. And then, at 7.30 in the morning, we left the precincts, with mixed feelings. On the one hand, it was so sad to leave that place where we had spent the greatest time of our lives, but, on the other hand, we were terribly tired, starvation processes were beginning and I was craving for a shower.
So that was my ‘little’ experience at the festival of Benicassim. It was special because it was my first time there. It was even more special because it was the 15th birthday of the festival and everything was absolutely brilliant. I would repeat it again, doubtless. And again and again.
OH! I almost forget. I should explain why I was nice to know some English swearwords in that moment: I had a little argument with some English bad-mannered clearly drunk boys that were bothering us in the middle of The Killers’ concert. They tried to spoil our enjoyment but they did not succeed. We had the best time of our lives!
