- Last Friday afternoon, Flavio Salesi, one of the owners of the Bodegas Descalzos Viejos winery in the Andalucían town of Ronda, was conducting a final group tour before handing his land over to the electronic music festival Uva. An Argentinian-Italian immigrant and architect by trade, Salesi and his business partner restored the dilapidated 16th-century monastery in 1998, in the process uncovering the original frescoes hidden by layers of limestone. Then, they set up a winery. Later that evening, after several glasses of his own red, he reflected on the magic of Ronda: "If the Carthaginians, Romans, Muslims, Spanish and now European festivalgoers want to be here, it must be a special place."
Uva is run by Moody Collective, a promoter with ties to Madrid and Berlin. The festival's third edition saw an increase in capacity and a third stage had been added. Unlike most festivals, the acts were given extended set times. Despite this growth, you could still walk across the site in less than two minutes. It occupied the cliff-side grounds immediately around the winery, making it feel more like a private garden party than a festival. It helped that the crowd was basically a large European network of friends of friends, which encouraged the up-for-it atmosphere. There was also a good gender balance and a handful of less obvious female artists on the lineup, though there could have been a few more.
Framed by the rolling Andalucían hills, Main Stage had one of the most stunning backdrops of any festival I've been to. The smaller Jungle Stage, which was constantly busy, had more of an intimate party feel, while the new Hidden Stage, connected by a labyrinthine series of steps and pathways, felt a bit less polished than the other two, mainly because the soundsystem was quieter to avoid sound bleed. This was one of the pitfalls of using a smaller site.
On Friday night, Denmark's 2 Bit Crew worked through a party friendly selection of New York house to get things going at Jungle. The real action, though, was at the roomier Main Stage, where Skee Mask was playing techno and grime, including Gábor Lázár's "Rush" and Musical Mob's "Salsa," before working his way towards jungle and juke. Zenker Brothers kept up the ravey momentum as the sun rose behind the mountains, though their selections weren't quite as impactful. At Hidden, I dipped in and out of a nine-hour set from the Berlin party and DJ duo African Acid Is The Future. Their heady mix of drumming records and percussive techno was enticing, but first night excitement meant it was hard to stay put for long periods.
When I arrived on Saturday evening, the festival was noticeably busier. I made my way straight to Jungle, where a packed audience was gyrating to Orpheus The Wizard. He delivered a selection of acidic and functional Italo that, although initially captivating, became less interesting with time. At Hidden, Donna Leake and Debora Ipekel played for four hours, dishing out obscure funk, soul, house and disco. They always look like they're having as good a time as everyone on the dance floor, and they particularly hit the mark with "Expansions" by Lonnie Liston Smith & The Cosmic Echoes. Call Super, whose parents, he told me, live nearby, had brought a group friends along for his set at Main Stage. After building the energy with warm deep house, he entered a wonderfully spacey phase, which saw him transition from Aleksi Perälä's "GBLFT1740070" into Kode9's "Sine Of The Dub."
Because of the earlier closing time, Sunday was more of a daytime affair, with only Jungle and Hidden open. Budino, a resident at the Berlin party Oscillator, found a jacking groove earlier on before settling on acidy bits like Via Afrika's "Afrika The Tiger." Jonny Rock wrapped up the festival with his brand of under-the-radar disco and house edits. At one point, he played a questionable remix of "Riders On The Storm" by The Doors, before quickly rescuing the situation with Laid Back’s house classic "White Horse." The music finally came to an end at around 1 AM, an hour later than advertised. Even so, Jonny Rock and the crowd looked like they could've go on for a whole lot longer.
Photo credit /
Fernando Valenti
Framed by the rolling Andalucían hills, Main Stage had one of the most stunning backdrops of any festival I've been to. The smaller Jungle Stage, which was constantly busy, had more of an intimate party feel, while the new Hidden Stage, connected by a labyrinthine series of steps and pathways, felt a bit less polished than the other two, mainly because the soundsystem was quieter to avoid sound bleed. This was one of the pitfalls of using a smaller site. On Friday night, Denmark's 2 Bit Crew worked through a party friendly selection of New York house to get things going at Jungle. The real action, though, was at the roomier Main Stage, where Skee Mask was playing techno and grime, including Gábor Lázár's "Rush" and Musical Mob's "Salsa," before working his way towards jungle and juke. Zenker Brothers kept up the ravey momentum as the sun rose behind the mountains, though their selections weren't quite as impactful. At Hidden, I dipped in and out of a nine-hour set from the Berlin party and DJ duo African Acid Is The Future. Their heady mix of drumming records and percussive techno was enticing, but first night excitement meant it was hard to stay put for long periods.
When I arrived on Saturday evening, the festival was noticeably busier. I made my way straight to Jungle, where a packed audience was gyrating to Orpheus The Wizard. He delivered a selection of acidic and functional Italo that, although initially captivating, became less interesting with time. At Hidden, Donna Leake and Debora Ipekel played for four hours, dishing out obscure funk, soul, house and disco. They always look like they're having as good a time as everyone on the dance floor, and they particularly hit the mark with "Expansions" by Lonnie Liston Smith & The Cosmic Echoes. Call Super, whose parents, he told me, live nearby, had brought a group friends along for his set at Main Stage. After building the energy with warm deep house, he entered a wonderfully spacey phase, which saw him transition from Aleksi Perälä's "GBLFT1740070" into Kode9's "Sine Of The Dub." Because of the earlier closing time, Sunday was more of a daytime affair, with only Jungle and Hidden open. Budino, a resident at the Berlin party Oscillator, found a jacking groove earlier on before settling on acidy bits like Via Afrika's "Afrika The Tiger." Jonny Rock wrapped up the festival with his brand of under-the-radar disco and house edits. At one point, he played a questionable remix of "Riders On The Storm" by The Doors, before quickly rescuing the situation with Laid Back’s house classic "White Horse." The music finally came to an end at around 1 AM, an hour later than advertised. Even so, Jonny Rock and the crowd looked like they could've go on for a whole lot longer. Photo credit / Fernando Valenti