Pueblos Blancos Music Festival in Ronda
Ronda is one of the more well-known towns to feature on the Pueblos Blancos line-up. Famous for its dramatic landscapes, including the El Tajo gorge and the Puente Nuevo bridge that crosses over it, the town is also known for being the birthplace of bullfighting in Spain, with the country’s first bullring standing in the centre of Ronda since the 18th century.
Perhaps the most dramatic and breathtaking stage of the entire festival was in Ronda. The acts played in front of a backdrop which could only be described as looking like something out of a movie: miles of rocky cliffs and farmland nestled into valleys below a bright orange sunset.
Many of the artists said the auditorium here was their favourite stage to play at the festival. The performers practised together backstage ahead of their sunset-lit sets. This was Donovan Keith’s fifth year at PBMF, and he said: “You don’t know how long it [Pueblos Blancos] is going to be around. That’s why I keep coming back. This festival wouldn't be the same if it weren't for the organisers.”
The festival truly is a community of artists whose sole focus is to make music that people enjoy. Keith took to the stage later that night, clutching his ukulele. The small string instrument follows him around the festival like a good luck charm. He began performing with the ukulele a few years earlier while staying with a local Spanish family who hosted him on their ranch. The family’s daughters would play ukulele with Donovan, and that is where he fell in love with the instrument and embedded it into his performances.
Donovan Keith’s performance was full of energy and charisma. He burst onto the stage, opening with 5 Years Time as his intro. His high energy never dwindled; the audience danced along to his tunes, and he encouraged them to join in as he leapt off the stage and ran into the crowd, offering high fives to attendees and even making his way to the back row to give an elderly lady a hug. His energy is contagious.
Donovan’s sound features hints of jazz and soul, inspired by music from his childhood: “I was raised on old music; 50s, 60s, 70s, since the womb.” Along with his old classics, he put a modern soulful spin on covers, including Ain’t No Sunshine, which the crowd went wild for.
Also on the lineup for the Ronda stage was Robin Mordecai, a musical Swiss Army Knife who sings and plays guitar, drums and harmonica. Despite feeling run-down and on vocal rest ahead of the show, his vocals did not waver and remained as strong as ever.
He was joined on stage by Diego Castillo-Olivares who, at just 18 years old and amidst A-Level exams, is already an expert on the guitar. The two played their string instruments seamlessly together; you would think they had been collaborating for years. Diego told Andalucia.com that he is “inspired by the musicians” around him at Pueblos Blancos.
The lineup for the night was full of variety, featuring powerhouse Leeann Atherton and son Austin, the mad-as-a-box-of-frogs performers Maddening Flames, and chilled ballads from Los Jaguares.
After the sun had set and Ronda felt calm, the show concluded with a windy bus journey back to Montejaque, where the band members linked up with locals for a few pints in the pub to unwind.
