sidetracks & detours, Sunday 11th Otober 2026: forming new communities by fusing music

ISLAND LIFE

WITH AMERICA AMONG US

by Norman Warwick

As recently as  September 25, 2026, The Teguise Town Council continued to promote the programming at the Timple House-Museum as a key venue for the dissemination of music and popular culture in the municipality. The concert vividly reflected its title of America Among Us.

Tickets for this adventurous event were only 10€ and was surely deserving of five times that price, albeit that the show was delivered in a none-traditional venue.

The mayor of Teguise, Olivia Duque, emphasizes that “the Timple Museum is part of our identity and is a unique space to enjoy music in an environment that brings together history, heritage, and culture.”

Duque also underscores the importance of “continuing to revitalize a place so representative of Teguise and our musical tradition.”

For his part, the Councillor for Culture, Andoni Machín, highlighted “the continuity of an annual program that allows for constant activity at the Timple Museum and offers the public a variety of musical events throughout the year.” He also encouraged “residents and visitors to participate in and enjoy the upcoming events on the program.”

The curator of the Timple House-Museum, Benito Cabrera, himself an excellent musician, points out that “with this exhibition, the House-Museum returns to highlighting the musical links between the Canary Islands and the Americas.”

Regarding ‘America Among Us,’ he emphasizes“the convergence of rhythms and sounds that we share on both sides of the Atlantic and that form part of our musical history.”

The two musicians, Alexis Lemos and Javier Infante, (musical royalty throughout the Canary Islands) re-created and created a fusion that worked well, and they did so with a lightness of touch and a mutual tolerance and respect. Each of them was brave enough to take risks on their preferred instrument, and Alexis on a tiny timple and Javier on his guitar (left) created a soundscape that ranged from a whisper to a roar as they sought to create this new sound. However, if something didn´t quite work, they adeptly changed in search of another root, or route. That was not to dis-respect the audience but it was rather an invitation for us to join them on these exploratory sidetracks & detours.

This was a musical encounter exploring the cultural ties between the Canary Islands and the Americas, highlighting the rhythms, influences, and elements shared on both sides of the Atlantic.

The second half featured Veronica Lucia, (right) an already accomplished young vocalist.  She is not only a musician but also a singer-songwriter, born in Lanzarote and of Cuban roots, known for her versatile style that blends genres such as pop, bolero, salsa and jazz.Veronica grew up linked to music thanks to her family, being the daughter of the well-known percussionist Carlos Almaguer.

Veronica has already made a safe entry into the very competetive world of music, as she revealed recently in an interview with the excellent Voz magazine. The seventeen year old has already released an album and several music videos on You Tube.

She also recently spoke with Radio Lanzarote Ondo Cero about her studies of Art History in Madrid, and how she takes piano and singing lessons, and composes her own music. She began her career thanks to her family, influenced by her father and grandfather, both of whom were also musicians.

“I started singing at eight years old in my family’s percussion group,” 

Besides singing, she has always been interested in the world of dance. Although she initially found it difficult due to her shyness, she has managed to overcome it and become comfortable in this area.

“I was a little shy when dancing, but it has helped me a lot. Dancing has given me the ease I have now and the confidence I needed on stage,” she recalled. 

It was her father who helped her find the necessary drive to focus on music. “My father told me that when I turned fifteen I was going to start recording music, that it was my birthday present,” she recalled happily. At that moment, she “didn’t think twice” and entered the world of the music industry by recording her first album in 2020. “It was a process of discovering myself,” she revealed about the lessons she learned while embarking on that project. 

It’s an album with a variety of styles and songs composed by “her and her father,” she noted. Dedicating herself to music and working side-by-side with her father has been a wonderful experience. “Working with my father is a revelation,” she emphasized. Together they created a love song dedicated to the Canary Islands, “composed by my grandfather” and finished after his passing. “We absolutely have to include it,” father and daughter thought before releasing it.

His inspiration for writing more heartfelt lyrics comes from listening to Mexican singer Luis Miguel. “I’ve listened to Luis Miguel all my life because of my mother, and he’s always helped me to express that feeling. He’s a role model,” she explained.

The young singer has released her song “Llamas”, a powerful single that is also full of sensitivity and feeling. 

That´s quite a canon of work from a seventeen year old who remembers her somewhat more shy, younger self. from the outset it was clear that she has confidence in her voice and she impressed without stepping outside her range and pitch. Her band, of John Baranis on piano, Miguel Castaneira on bass, and versatile percussionist on wide range of instruments,Carlos Almageur.

A few friends and family were subsequently invited on to the stage as backing singers and they manged to entice the audience, of around a hundred, filling one of the beautiful rooms in The Timple Museum, with it s raised stage.

Veronica was totally comfortable with her music and it was clear that the band were very supportive of her both as a musician and a person. 

John Baranis and his piano spoke to the rhythm of the bass guitar and John and Carlos worked so well creating irresistible rhythms.

Those family and friends called up to be session singers sashayed a swayed to to the beats and were having the time of their lives.

I think  it was Daniela Gutirrez Cobos, who looked even younger than Veronica, who was called up to add the timple into this pot puorri of musical integration.She ensure the sound of the timple was heard amongst a busy range of bigger and more powerful intruments, so adding a new footstep along the trail to the fusion of rhythms and sounds from either side of The Atlantic.

The title of tonight´s  second half seemed to translate as Points of Island Rhythms, and throughout  the evening Veronica Lucia was in control of her lovely voice and obviously loved the songs she was performing that seemed to be taken from a programme of twelve or so.

As they took their bow Veronica and her band enjoyed a standing ovation by those who John Stewart would have called the loyal friends and front row dancers.

The band were all congratulating Veronica, and deservedly so, but they too should all be give praise for lending her such strong support.

John Baranis (left) had, on piano, effectively conducted his band mates and even Veronica, was responding to his leads

.There were traces of the shy young girl she has spoken of in interviews but with all her talents,and the support of such family and friends, any reticance will disappear over the next tweve months or so.

It is fascinating to dream of what she might achieve for herself and the music she and her band so clearly love. I truly believe this concert also confirmed that artists have bought into the councils ambitions for what this music might become….although musicians have been doing this for thousands of years !

This concert had been only one of several events throughout the week. In fact on the previous evening, Teguise’s cultural activities at the Municipal Tent hosted ‘Soplo de Letras. Música & Humor’ (Breath of Letters. Music & Humor), with free admission. Then, on Saturday the 26th, at 7:00 p.m., the Municipal Theater staged for ‘Letras para el alma’ (Letters for the Soul), a poetry recital commemorating the autumn equinox, also with free admission.

Likewise, the Convento of Santo Domingo continues its exhibition activity with the Juan Peña exhibition, Human Sun, expanding the cultural offer that can be enjoyed these days in La Villa de Teguise.

RITMUS DEL MUNDO in Playa Blanca

2nd, 3rd & 4th October

REVIEWS

RITMOS DEL MUNDO 2026 EN PLAYA BLANCA

2nd & 3rd October in Playa Blanca

The poster shown below promise a fantastic festival during this weekend of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th October 2026 here in our home town of Playa Blanca on Lanzarote.

Rhythms Of The World showcased dance, music and traditional cuisine. As most of us who live on the island will know, most of the dance styles listed are already available on Lanzarote in small communities whether as dance lessons, or as celebrations of lifestyles of our Irish residents and tourists, as well as those of our Argentine families. Bollywood Dancing has become a globally popular dance form in the first quarter of this century and we often see this reflected at various festivals. Traditional Chinese Dance will also be showcased and dancing to modern Latin Rhythms is always good fun. The foot-stomping, castanet clapping and the frenzy of the flamenco has always offered both entertainment and social and political comment. We have our own dances of Canarian Folklore music, of course, and the Rhythms Of The World will of course include samples of the World music that so often lifts us to our feet to dance.

Everything described in the above paragraph took place on Friday 2nd October between 5.00 pm and midnight, performed in half hour segments allocated to each dance style.

DANZA IRELANESA

REVIEW

My wife Dee and I had decided that, after what had been a hectic week, we would spend the afternoon Friday in the 2^nd October in Pontins snacks-ice creams-cocktails and beers bar along the sea front row of restaurants on the beside-the-sea walkway. Its a lovely place to be busy doing nothing but watching the ferries pull in out of the harbour, the catamarans transporting young, chic persons to Papaguyua on the other side of the headland, and after a few minutes we will turn our heads away from all that to laugh as people get splashed by a rogue wave crashing against the rocks and sea wall. You can see young mums presenting their daughters for a hair-braiding session in a chair on the sidewalk. By then its time to take a second sip of our Cervaza Sin Alcohol and look out to see the stars on the water following a sunshine trail right across to Feuarteventura. So we spent a couple of hours and a half doing all that and were so exhausted to head back to the car and drive home.

As we walked back to where we had parked we crossed the ´town square´ in front of the beautiful church. There were rows of chairs laid out, huge sound systems flashing their lights, technicians checking for sound in their two, two, tutu, too, two, one, two format and we noticed this poster written large on a cine screen at the back of the stage that could have been put into place earlier in the day. So, what the heck, we changed our plans and thought we´d enjoy the first session of Irish dancing,…..our cats would just have to wait a bit longer for their tea.

At pretty much dead on five o´clock the sound system and the lighting all clicked (loudly) in to working order, and from the wings stepped a light-footed ball of energy who seemed to be able to speak an appropriate sentence or two to people of all the nationalities included in the audience and the participants. He was enthusiast in his explanations and I will try to check out who he was, partly because he got the proceedings off to such a cracking start but also because I think he was the guy who had been commissioned to put this dance festival together and if so, he deserves even greater recognition than he gained for his master of ceremonies skills.

He introduced three female dancers and they, one by one, skipped and leapt on to the stage and two of them immediately showed us they were fleet of foot. At least one of the ladies was well-known to Lanzarote residents as she, Freya Finch, is a busy and well known councillor based in Yaiza Town Hall. We reviewed a performance she gav in a good, old fashioned pantomime in which she starred in January of this year, and you can find that free to read piece in our easy to negotiate archives here on sidetracks & detours..

When the three girls were together in all the finery of traditional Irish Dancing outfits, we were so impressed by the twinkled toes, the rigid spines and the high kicking they conveyed changes of mood, sometimes in a solo session and at other times in unison. Although I am no expert in this field I felt the dancing was precise and accurate and enjoyable to watch and it was enhanced by a backing track, and too, by Freya giving us a fewf songs as a vocalist, in between her dance routines as solo artist and as part of the dancing trio.

We therefore  heard songs like I Am My Mother´s Savage Daughter, the most famous song to-date written by Wyndreth Berginsdottir the stage name of Karen L. U. Kahan, an American musician, poet, and folk artist best known for writing and composing the viral 1990 feminist anthem.

The writer has said most of my writing in the SCA is based upon viking age cultures and the style of recreated oral traditions, I do a lot of that, yes. I study and work hard to represent what was lost to us.

I am My Mother´s Savage Daughter however, has a will and a meaning of its very own. In 1990, I woke up with the chorus in my head, and as soon as I found a pen, the rest of it poured out. The tune came the same day. It was clear to me that this was a song that wanted to be sung by anyone who found their own voice within it.

It is an anthem of empowerment–not a song meant to serve a specific blood or people or skin. If you find strength and power and your own voice in it, this is your song and I hope you sing it with the strength and rage and beauty and power that is within you–whoever you are. Women are the singers of storms, the fire made flesh, the inexorable power of the mountains, the kind warmth and the cutting lash of the wind. We are half of the world and we have been taught to speak softly and behave mildly because we are easier to control that way

I am honored that daughters of The First Peoples find a voice here. and Daughters Of The Sea Wolves. And the daughters of great-grandmothers, grandmothers, and mothers, wherever they lived and sang and died. All of you are their living legacies and they hear you singing;  be assured they are proud of you. Whoever you are, you have a voice that cannot be silenced. Together, our voices cannot be unheard.

Freya clearly understands the importance of the song, and from its women´s perspective she understood its passion and its pride. She also seemed to understand how songs leap across from other countries, other cultures and other times Admittedly there was a recorded music track playing excitedly behind her, but she carried off the song, (which I always think of as a partner to a piece called Sojourner Truth) with astonishing aplomb.

Of course Freya had decided to share with us her drop of  Whiskey In The Jar . The most famous and defining commercial version of “Whiskey in the Jar” is the 1973 hard rock rendition by Thin Lizzy, the Irish band that turned the traditional folk ballad into a massive international hit.

Phil Lynott and his group gave the song an Irish Rock Treatment. They pretty much adhered to the known lyrics of the original version, though some of its lyrics were not written down at that time. Line such as “Whack for my daddio” is a nonsense refrain or vocable with no literal dictionary meaning, Of course Freya delivered it with panache, as if reading from Shakespeare or lifting from The Bible,

She even covered the lines about “Musha rain dum a doo dum a da”  often found in Irish folk songs like “Whiskey in the Jar”.

There are over 200 documented recorded versions of the traditional Irish folk song “Whiskey in the Jar” spanning over four centuries,  

While countless folk artists and pub musicians have performed the track, a few notable versions stand out:

Early recordings include field recordings from the 1940s (such as Lena Bourne Fish’s “Gilgarrah Mountain”) and commercial renditions like Burl Ives’ 1958 “Kilgary Mountain”.

The Dubliners popularized a classic traditional Irish take in the 1960s before Thin Lizzy (1972) The Irish rock band turned the song into a major hit with their electric arrangement, defining the modern rock interpretation

In 1998 Metallica the heavy metal band recorded a successful, Grammy-winning cover based on Thin Lizzy’s version for their album Garage Inc.

Other Artists such asThe Grateful Dead, Jerry Garcia, and The Limeliters have also performed distinct takes on the song. 

Freya was taking this vocal spot as her two female companions danced around her to the melodies and the rhythms rather than trying to make a dance of the lyrics.

This Irish Dance session was captivating theatre for the audience must surely have encouraged all the acts due to follow them to engage with the audience.

I have always enjoyed the song Black Velvet Band, which is is a beloved traditional Irish ballad, telling the tale of a young man tricked by a beautiful woman (with a black velvet band in her hair), leading to his arrest and transportation to Australia. It’s a cautionary tale of love, betrayal, and exile, reflecting a time when many Irish were shipped off for even petty crimes.

The Black Velvet Band is a traditional folk song with roots in the mid-19th century.

The earliest known printed version dates to around the 1850s-1860s in England, and versions were also popular in Ireland by the late 19th century. It was part of the broadside ballad tradition, cheaply printed song sheets sold in markets, so there’s no single definitive “date of composition.”

Instead, it evolved through oral tradition, with the Irish version becoming especially well-known in the 20th century thanks to groups like The Dubliners.

The song touches on real historical themes. British penal transportation was feared by the Irish. In the  18 & 19 hundreds many Irish were often sentenced to forced labour in far-off colonies. Some were transported unjustly.

The poor choices and bad luck in the song reflect the struggles of young Irish men trying to survive in tough times. For Irish people, the idea of being forced away from home, whether by law, poverty, or famine, is a deep cultural scar.

Behind Freya singing, the two dancers, blended into a really spectacular segment of the show.

The three Irish dancers / singers showed they were actually three wise women by closing this opening programme of the festival with the much loved, if touched by controversy, Lord Of The Dance.

The song is Sydney Carter´s 1963 Christian hymn that retells the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ through the metaphor of a joyful, cosmic dance. The lyrics are written in the first-person voice of Jesus. He describes his incarnation, ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection not as grim or purely formal historical events, but as rhythmic, vital steps in a divine dance. She of the strong voice and the two of the dancing shoes somehow managed to convey the song as Carter intended, reminding us that among this solemn tale there is cause for celebration.

As they bade goodbye to their audience, Freya and her fellow creators were brought back to the stage by the audience to take a deserved bow to a round of applause.

The flag had been hoisted and the standard had been set. This opening set, would be followed later in the evening by shows portraying Arabian Dancing, and Dance Fusion from Argentina, Bollywood Dancing, Traditional Dancing from China. Modern Dance of Latin Rhythms, Flamenco, Canarian Island folk lore dancing and would a close with Dances Of The World.

We had enjoyed this opening gambit and would have loved to have stayed until the midnight closing time. However we already had further appointments tonight along the sidetracks & detours we take as we just follow our art !

So we returned the following night for what was a Festival De Musica to follow the previous evening´s Festival De Danza, enabling us to bring you the following reivews of the Canarian Folklore Group, Tinasoria as well Muica Latina, K-Pop, The Lonestar Riders, (American Cowboys) and Mariachi.

RITMOS DEL MUNDO EN PLAYA BLANCA

Festival De Musica 3rd October 2026

So we returned the following night for what was a Festival De Musica to follow the previous evening´s Festival De Danza, enabling us to bring you the following reviews of the Canarian Folklore Group, Tinasoria as well Musica Latina, K-Pop, The Lonestar Riders, (American Cowboys) and Mariachi.

At five o´clock on a lovely and very warm afternoon we found a couple of seats to see most of tonight´s free mini-concerts..

It was to be a wonderful night.

Folklore Canaria Folklorico, TINASORIA

REVIEW

At five pm almost precisely the energetic, bubbly and hard working master of ceremonies popped up on stage, like a genie out of a lamp, and explained to us in several languages the agenda for the evening and the introduce Folklore Canario Folklorico, TINASORIA.

Eleven musicians took the stage, resplendent in national costume all of them with an instrument, including the two female vocalists, with castanets and cymbals. The men had percussive and stringed instruments including timple and guitar and what might have been a lute They all seemed decidedly happy to share with us their music.

Having worked in folk clubs in the UK for several years my wife and I immediately scouted the island´s folk scene on landing here to live in 2015, and we have heard all the most celebrated artists, including groups and soloists of international excellence.

However we had never heard of Tinasoria we felt pretty sure they would deliver a good set. Good? It was great !

In forty minutes they delivered half a dozen pieces we have come to love during our time here. What made the show so great was that all the players took vocal turns as well, both individually and collectively. The group had some of the sound-swell I associate with Los Sabendinos and Acatife.

Both female players seemed to be having fun, each with a strong voice and hand-held percussive instruments. The younger lady had a huge smile and was always making eye contact with other band members and even people in the audience.

One of the guys was playing a kind of marching drum, that somehow sounded to be electric and rhythm and timing was well maintained by the coolest young man on stage, who was, like all the best bass players, in a world of his own.

Whenever singing solo each performer had a strong and tuneful voice and the choral sounds were laced with of uplifting choral harmonies.

The grey-shirted, jolly faced man, wearing a beret of some kind engaged in repartee with his fellow players and the audience and by the end of their set I had already scribbled a memo in my notebook to find out more about this group and try to track down any recordings they may have made.

I have since learned that Parranda Tinasoria is a traditional Canary Islands musical and folkloric group based here on the island. of Lanzarote. The group is named after Montaña Tinasoria , a prominent volcanic peak located in the municipality of Yaiza/Tías on Lanzarote. They operate as a parranda , a traditional format of Canary folklore focused on popular string instruments (such as the timple, guitars, and lutes) and spontaneous, festive singing.

Although they don´t seem to have recorded any albums for sale to fans there are plenty if video and You Tube and other outlets.

I´m supposed to be a journalist reporting on the arts and culture and island life on Lanzarote and I feel ashamed and angry at myself for not having heard of this band before now. Nevertheless, I am determined to see and hear more of these happy, smiley people, which means, dear readers, that you will be reading more reviews of them !

FLAMECO EN VIVO

INFORMATION

The next act due on stage at 6.00 pm was Flamenco en Vivo, but because we have so frequently covered Flamenco in both its musical and political roots I hope you will excuse us as we just nip away for a meal. If you tap Flamenco into our search engine you will find free to read and easy to negotiate archives in sidetracks & detours you will find news, previews, interviews and reviews of the dance form.

Our meals, at El  Mirador Canerio were wonderful, and, with panoramic views of the bay and beach of Playa Blanca, Dee polished off a ´delicious´ salmon steak and vegetables, plus wine and  I cleared my fillet steak ( well done) with goat´s cheese and vegetables and palma honey plus cervaza sin alcohol. The food was delicious, the helpings were huge and the staff were both formal and friendly so we were back at the stage by 7.00 o´clock, and somehow found two empty seats to listen to MUSICAL LATINA who were, by then, half way through their opeNing number

MUSICAL LATINA

REVIEW  

We soon realised that this was a bouncy young band including piano keyboards, solid percussion set by a drummer who played skins, rims and high hats, a tall bass player who walked and ran down his frets for whatever the rhythms needed. There was a very excited saxophonist, too, and together they all played sassy and sway and sunshine tunes to support the vocals of a young girl who was a non-stop bundle of energy as she delivered these irresistible songs.

However, half way through the second song, Dee´s jaw dropped as she said in astonishment, isn’t this girl the singer that we saw,…. and the guy on the piano too,…and as I looked I realised that the drummer was very familiar from a recent gig.

This was a band we had seen in Teguise only the week before, but they were unrecognisable.

We invite you to return to the top of the page and compare and contrast our review of an excellent sedate and restrained concert by a refined band before continuing to read here our review of the same band who tonight amazed the audience with irresistible Latina Rhythms and powerful vocals. Last week´s girl in a black evening dress was tonight wearing very tine shorts and a crop top and was belting out her voice like Lulu in the sixties, Last week´s formally dressed and tidy of hair pianist was tonight´s casually dressed, loose haired Jerry Lee Lewis of a pianist and the drummer who last week had kept a very tidy beat for some sober songs was tonight as if he was playing behind Buddy Holly. The bass player who last week had stood on stage looking at his fellow players rather that at the audience was today playing like Paul McCartney in Wings and tonight´s saxophonist, who wasn´t there last week, was wailing ike Junior Walker with his All Stars. Last weeks group earned themselves a standing ovation, but tonight´s group were rewarded by audience engagement throughout their set. The seventeen seventeen year old vocalist has had hitr singles and albums, and comes from a musical family and is still preparted to learn.

K POP

AN INDUSTRY REVIEW

We had a vested interest in the K Pop presentation, biven that our son has livede in Seoul in South Korea for the last twenty year with hsi wife Sue and sixteen year old daughter Olivia, who is a student at an Arts Academy and has already taken a course in K Pop management and performance.

It seemed like a high number  of Olivia´s college mates had escaped from the classroom as a gaggle of young teenagers seemingly were running amok as they took to the stage.  This was the high energy we associate with K Pop, although I was a bit surprised to see the numbers involved in this group, Infinity Dreams.

Central characters to the story that unfolded were three girls who were cute and quick, redolent of the Spice Girls and the male lead character was played by an established K pop star. There was also a five or six strong female dance crew and although the whole dance ensemble was excellent there was one that was always on point; graceful, assured and fully extended movements.

It was at the end of a set that had captivated the audience with its clear pop sounds that we were given a glimpse of the what is still a phenomenal K Pop Industry.

A cast of about fifteen members came to the apron of the stage to welcome scores of young children from six to sixteen years of age. They allowed parents or friends to take photographs of the cast and their young public fans. In fairness there was no sense of this being a commercial venture,, they weren´t charging for photographs or anything like that, but we know from our son and his family that in South Korea the stars of the genre are wrapped up very firmly in the legal contracts of K pop  companies committing their K Pop players, singers and dancers to spend this time with their fans, as that they always helps selling merchandise. K pop academies are all over Seoul and even out into the country of South Korea. So K POP has not yet been popped.

THE LONESTAR RIDERS: AMERICAN COWBOYS

REVIEW:

We came next to the 9.00 pm show to which I had been most looking forward. The music I love these days is called Americana but it used to be called Country, so

The Lonestar Riders, American Cowboys might serve up some of my favourite music.

That didn´t quite happen because their set was based on Country Rock, with songs by Johnny Cash and John Denver, (Dire Straits ´Walk Of Life´ was surely not country but it worked.)

The Lonestar Riders were comprised of three male musicians of a certain age who would probably have been as much at home in a Status Quo Rock Band

Their music was powerful though, and they gave a spot on version of Achy Breaky Heart by Billy Ray Cyrus.

MARIACHI: REVIEW

I had waited patiently for the Mariachi showcase and hoped I might hear songs that had been recorded by Tish Honijosa, and maybe even the novelty song Speedy Gonzales or Tom Russell´s endless Gallo Del Ciello.

Mariachi music is a genre of regional Mexican music dating back to at least the 18th century, evolving over time in the countryside of various regions. I consider Flaco Jiminez as a Mariachi player and associate the genre as including cowboy cattle-drive camp fire songs, and I have always felt guilty that I always felt the best Texas / Mexico music were recorded by Wes Mcgee, a British musician in the seventies and eighties, or even Hank Wangford, UK leader of The Lost Cowboys band.

Tonight we heard some livelu trills and reels by the accordian player and prominant and gorgeous music on the very silvery trumpet. However we didn´t hear enough of the under-used fiddle player, which was a shame as what we did hear sounded quite remarable.

The lead singer, and assumed Patriarch of these Lonestar Riders delivered mighty vocals and played some neat guitar, but the selected songs often seemed sad and traditional. Nevertheless, the audience were well pleased with what we heard, although my wife described the show as sombre.

We couldn´t stay for Skatoons as we had cats ro round up and put up in the coral, never an easy job on a dark midnight on Lanzarote.

That was a shame really, because Skatoons are among  the most popular and crowd pleasing groups on the island.