1/8/2021: KANAI
First show of the year goes out to indie rock band hailing from Madrid, KANAI
It’s a normal Saturday night in Madrid. The air is electric with the locals hunting for either a club to forget their regrets, a bar to watch the weekend soccer game, and college students looking for a show that’s out of the ordinary. Tonight, my friend and I are headed to the venue Cafe la Palma to check out local indie band KANAI. The four piece rock group have been together since 2020 and recently released their full length album RIGHT BEFORE THE STORM. Tonight, they have their first show of the year at the small venue in the back of the Cafe. We had a quick drink to check out the place beforehand, and I think the vibe is perfect for this band to headline further shows here. I would come back just to have tapas & a Mahou on their record-tape tables again, the vintage prints from rock n roll legends such as Foo Fighters, Iggy Pop, and The Clash decorating the walls around us and we waited for the doors to open to the back area. Once entering the back, the small area held plenty of space for the 30 or so people waiting for the band to take the stage. The bar was backlit by red & blue lights surrounding the edge of the glass top table and the projected decorations above our heads was the lowest form of lighting in the standing room only area in front of the tiny stage. Many of the attendants were friends and acquaintances of the band, with a few of the bandmates greeting their friends before the show started. Around 10pm, the band took the stage to start their set. They began with their recent single Anxiety and the room slowly filled as attendants from the front were attracted by the low bass from Bassist Dani and vocalist Leo crooning out his sorrows onstage. They played a few more of their original songs, the English melody floating out over the crowd. The influence of 80s rock n roll (heavily nirvana and some pink floyd) was evident in their next song and their sound blended together harmoniously as the crowd picked up on their energy. Leo, the vocalist, commanded most of the stage presence with bassist Dani to the left and guitarist Jaime to the right while drummer Erik completed this amazing blend of musicians. You can’t help but bob your head with their songs. Following a pick of their originals, they immediately followed with some of their favorite covers. The intimate setting in the back of Cafe la Palma was perfect to connect with this band. It was like having a private garage show with your friends. It’ll be so much to watch this band grow over time, they definitely have the energy and longevity to sell out venues in their future. Maybe throw in a mosh pit or two and you have a band with the influence of Blink-182, the emotional maturity of Mac Demarco, and the lyrical genius of Arctic Monkeys. After several covers, they resumed to play a few more original songs starting with Secrets, which Leo described as a summer song brought some warmth to the crowd. Then they played Florescent Adolescent and admitted they improvised most of the tune, but I believe they did much better than Alex Turner mumbling over all of his lyrics. Another One Bites The Dust woke up the crowd with no signs of fatigue from the band despite my friend and I sweating through our sweaters to combat the freezing Madrid weather we’ll eventually have to face at the end of the show. As if from the trenches, they pull out some punk latin songs from their archives, the harmony electric between Dani and Leo singing about how short our measily lives are. My only criticism is having this song played more towards the beginning of their set instead of reserving it towards the end, but it was the perfect bow for the band to end their set on. After the numerous requested encores from the crowd, KANAI ended the night with a classes introduced by their infamous tag “this is KANAI motherfucker”. I truly cannot wait for this band to grow into the venue they truly deserve to play at. Reporting from the nosebleeds, this show was definitely worth it and I’ll be following this band closely as they continue to grow. Be sure to follow them on instagram @kanaitm and check out their new album RIGHT BEFORE THE STORM including singles ‘taurine’ and ‘secrets’