Jul 63 min read

Gabrielle Sets Tower Of Fire Alight!

Gabrielle Gets Tower Of Fire Off The A Great Start.

GABRIELLE SHARES HER THOUGHTS ON HER RECENT TRIP TO MANCHESTER TO PERFORM THE OPENING SET AT TOWER OF FIRE!

On Saturday 29th June I was very lucky to take part, together with my bandmates Gustavo Martín (guitar) and José Luis Gallera (bass), in the Tower of Fire Festival in Manchester. I have to say that the festival was perfect from every point of view. The organisers (Bruce Mee and Greg Dean) couldn't have done it better, the venue (Rebellion) and the sound were amazing and all the bands that participated in the festival were superb.

I've never opened a festival acoustic before and I loved the experience.... just my voice with backing vocals from my mates, an acoustic guitar, a bass guitar and my tambourine, which I really enjoy playing. Everything has been completely new. From the beginning I loved the idea of this format, of which I am the biggest defender. For the audience it's an excellent way to start a festival in which later there will be bands unloading all their energy in electric and for us, the musicians, it's a real pleasure to be able to listen perfectly to what we are doing, perceiving every little detail. It's a very sincere and direct proposal that, if I go by what the audience told us, was a great idea to start the festival.

With Gabrielle de Val opening the proceedings in a gentle, hauntingly beautiful manner with an acoustic set that featured the likes of ‘Candle In The Window’, ‘Moonlight Shadow’ and ‘Kiss In A Dragon Night’. It was an effortless and smooth set that bodes well for her full, electric set at Firefest in October.

Rob Evans

It has also been a great opportunity to meet many lovers of the genre who had come from many different countries to the festival, to make new friends, to meet in person many of those I had been in contact with on social media and to meet up with friends I hadn't seen for a long time, like the renowned music critic Rob Evans, who I met playing in Bolton with The Val in 2011 and some years later again in Nottingham in 2015 when we were playing with Robert Tepper. I've also had the chance to catch Nick Foley and Keith Atack, two of the incredible musicians who have played on my album ‘Kiss in a Dragon Night’, in concert and chatting. It was also a great pleasure to meet the members of Remedy.... an amazing band!

Walking around Manchester is always wonderful and we didn't want to miss it, so before and after the festival we spent some time wandering around the city and letting ourselves be enchanted by its streets full of mystery. One more time I have spent the weekend in my beloved Victoria & Albert Marriott Hotel.... I always feel at home there when I am in Manchester and my bandmates loved it too. Our last stop before returning to Spain was in Stockport, where we shared a wonderful meal with our great friend Bruce at Miller & Carter...an unbeatable restaurant!

There's not long to go before we're back in the UK, as on October 11th we'll be playing in Wolverhampton with the wonderful Kingdom of Madness and on October 13th we'll be playing at Firefest in Manchester. We're already looking forward to it!

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