Rodrigo y Gabriela
Quick flamenco enhanced with rock and heavy metal made the duo Rodrigo y Gabriela one of the most popular Mexican bands. It was the interesting combination of Latino music and harder music genres that made them beat the greats such as Arctic Monkeys and Johnny Cash in the Irish charts after the release of their eponymous album. They participated in the soundtracks of the Pirates of the Caribbean, series Breaking Bad, and fairy tale Puss in Boots; they also played in the White House. These unique musicians will show extremely fast fingers and cutting-edge guitar technique at Pohoda 2017.
02. March 2017
Rodrigo Sanchezʼs and Gabriela Quintero’s taste in music was shaped in their childhood especially by parents who listened to flamenco, jazz, and rock. In teen years, this mixture absorbed a very important inspiration - Metallica. Rodrigo and Gabriela met when they were fifteen: Gabrielle was fascinated with her later (personal and professional) partner’s huge passion for music. In early 90s, Rodrigo and his brother started metal band Tierra Acida, which included Gabriela as a new member in 1993. After their recording contract failed, the couple left the capital of Mexico and started making living playing in Ixtapa resorts on the Pacific coast. In 1999, with no sufficient knowledge of English, they moved to Ireland. They earned extra cash playing on Grafton Street and Dublinʼs bars. Their repertoire of cover versions was gradually increasing with their original works, which attracted more and more fans and friends. One of them was also Damien Rice, who invited them as opening act for one of his concerts and introduced them to other influential people. In 2001, they recorded their demo Foc. A year later, they were released re-Foc, which hosted artists such as Lisa Hannigan and Zoe Conway.
They had a considerable success with their 2006 album Rodrigo y Gabriela, which brought them on the top of Irish charts, which was followed by an appearance on Late Show with David Letterman, live albums, music for series, and in 2009 by another acclaimed album 11:11. According to Billboard, this recording is a “winning showcase of exotic instrumental brilliance.” Other media such as The Guardian, Q, and Mojo rated them 8 out of 10, and the band has also played in TV shows on BBC (Jools Holland) and NBC (Jay Leno). The following year they were headliners of The West Holts Stage at Glastonbury 2010 and have also played on the main stage at the Latitude Festival. Year 2011 saw their cooperation with aces of film music such as Hans Zimmer and Henry Jackman. They released another album, Area 52, in 2012. The Independent wrote they are “seething, soundtracky, high-gloss, high-energy orchestral Latin fusion, full of licks and stabs and twiddly bits.” In 2014, they released so far the latest album 9 Dead Alive. Rodrigo y Gabriela have already proved their qualities and convinced members of our team at various events. Their passionate play and extreme speed of fingers was wittily commented on YouTube under song Tamacun by one of their fans (K31TH3R): “Do not try this at home! These are trained professionals and they are prepared for the risks involved while using an acoustic guitar like this. Just out of frame there is a team of fire fighters ready to hose down the guitars should they catch fire.” We at Pohoda, too, have a water tank ready, so that nothing prevents the phenomenal couple Rodrigo y Gabriela to showcase their art at our festival.