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ENTERTAINMENT

What’s on in Sweden: May 23 – May 29

What’s on this week in Sweden: Eurovision, speedway and Paul Potts.

Published: 23 May 2008 16:59 CEST
What’s on in Sweden: May 23 – May 29

STOCKHOLM

Theatre/Entertainment:

Dance: Breaking Boundaries

Graduating students from the Royal Swedish Ballet School and Balletakademien, another well renowned Swedish ballet school, will be working with renowned Swedish choreographers to show off their freshly-acquired skills.

Location: The House of Dance, Barnhusgatan 12-14

Date: Friday 23rd May and Saturday 24th May

Time: 19:00

More information: www.dansenshus.se

John Fogerty

The one-time lead singer of the Creedence Clearwater Revival, Fogerty is in Stockholm this weekend singing songs from his new solo album ‘Revival’, as well as classics like ‘Bad Moon Rising’, ‘Fortunate Son’ and ‘I heard it through the grapevine’.

Date: Friday 23rd May, 7:30pm

More information: www.ticnet.se

Eurovision at Lino

It’s Europe’s annual fest of camp and kitsch, and Lino, one of Stockholm’s biggest gay clubs, will be celebrating in style. The contest will be shown live from Belgrade on big screens inside the club. If you eat at the club, entrance is free.

Date: Saturday 24th May, 8:00pm – Sunday, 25th May, 5:00am

More information: www.linoclub.com

GOTHENBURG</b

Sweeney Todd

Stephen Sondheim’s award-winning musical about the demon barber of Fleet Street comes to Gothenburg Opera to be performed in English with many actors from the West End cast. The nail-biting show promises to be scary and funny in equal measure.

Location: Göteborgs-Operan – Gothenburg Opera House

Date: Friday 23rd May, 7:30pm, Saturday 24th May, 6:00pm, Sunday 25th May, 6:00pm and continuing.

Price: 195-565 kronor.

More information: www.opera.se

Swedish Speedway Grand Prix

It’s fast, furious and dangerous – and makes for a great spectacle.The 2008 FIM Sapa Swedish Speedway Grand Prix is the Swedish round of the international speedway championships, and takes place at Gothenburg’s Ullevi stadium this weekend.

Location: Ullevi, Gothenburg

Date: Saturday, 24th May, 7:00pm

Price. 350 – 780 kronor

More information and tickets: www.ticnet.se

Paul Potts

The British talent show winner and former mobile phone salesman has seen his career head for the sky over recent months. This week he’s in Sweden, entertaining audiences in Gothenburg and Malmö.

Date: Saturday, May 24th.

Location: Lisebergshallen, Liseberg amusement park.

More information and tickets: www.ticnet.se

MALMÖ

Paul Potts

The British talent show winner and former mobile phone salesman has seen his career head for the sky over recent months. This week he’s in Sweden, entertaining audiences in Gothenburg and Malmö.

Date: Friday, May 23rd.

Location: Isstadion, Malmö

More information and tickets: www.ticnet.se

Aida

Marianne Mörck’s critically acclaimed production of Verdi’s masterpiece will once again be performed at Malmö Opera House on Sunday evening.

Date: Sunday, 25th May

More information and tickets: www.ticnet.se

MUSIC

Meet the Spanish rapper bringing flamenco and bossa nova into hip-hop

Spanish rapper C. Tangana was taking a big risk when he started mixing old-fashioned influences like flamenco and bossa nova into his hip-hop -- but it's this eclectic sound that has turned him into a phenomenon on both sides of the Atlantic.

Published: 23 May 2021 08:38 CEST
Meet the Spanish rapper bringing flamenco and bossa nova into hip-hop
Spanish rapper Anton Alvarez known as 'C. Tangana' poses in Madrid on April 29, 2021. Photo: Javier Soriano/AFP

The 30-year-old has emerged as one of the world’s biggest Spanish-language stars since his third album “El Madrileno” — the Madrilenian — came out in February. That ranks him alongside his superstar ex-girlfriend Rosalia, the Grammy-winning Catalan singer with whom he has co-written several hits.

C. Tangana, whose real name is Anton Alvarez Alfaro, has come a long way since a decade ago when he became known as a voice of disillusioned Spanish youth in the wake of the financial crisis.These days his rap is infused with everything from reggaeton and rumba to deeply traditional styles from Spain and Latin America, with a voice often digitised by autotune.

“It’s incredible that just when my music is at its most popular is exactly when I’m doing something a bit more complex, more experimental and less
trendy,” he told AFP in an interview.

And he is unashamed to be appealing to a wider audience than previously: his dream is now to make music “that a young person can enjoy in a club or someone older can enjoy at home while cooking”.

‘People are tired’

The rapper, who sports a severe semi-shaved haircut and a pencil moustache, has worked with Spanish flamenco greats including Nino De Elche, Antonio Carmona, Kiko Veneno, La Hungara and the Gipsy Kings.

In April he brought some of them together for a performance on NPR’s popular “Tiny Desk Concert” series, which has already drawn nearly six million
views on YouTube.

Shifting away from trap, one of rap’s most popular sub-genres, and venturing into a more traditional repertoire was a dangerous move — especially for someone with a young fanbase to whom rumba, bossa nova and bolero sound old-fashioned.

“I think people are tired. They’ve had enough of the predominant aesthetic values that have previously defined pop and urban music,” he said.

Parts of his latest album were recorded in Latin America with Cuban guitarist Eliades Ochoa of Buena Vista Social Club, Uruguayan
singer-songwriter Jorge Drexler, Mexican folk artist Ed Maverick and Brazil’s Toquinho, one of the bossa nova greats.

“What struck me most everywhere I went was the sense of tradition and the way people experienced the most popular music, and I don’t mean pop,” he said.

A new direction

C. Tangana started out in 2006 rapping under the name Crema. When the global economic crisis swept Spain a few years later, hard-hitting trap was
the perfect way to voice the angst of his generation. But after more than a decade of rapping, things changed.

“When I was heading for my 30s, I hit this crisis, I was a bit fed up with what I was doing… and decided to give voice to all these influences that I
never dared express as a rapper,” he said.

The shift began in 2018 with “Un veneno” (“A poison”) which came out a year after his big hit “Mala mujer” (“Bad woman”).

And there was a return to the sounds of his childhood when he used to listen to Spanish folk songs at home, raised by a mother who worked in
education and a journalist father who liked to play the guitar. The Latin American influences came later.

“It started when I was a teenager with reggaeton and with bachata which were played in the first clubs I went to, which were mostly Latin,” he said.

Studying philosophy at the time, he wrote his first raps between stints working in call centres or fast-food restaurants.

As to what comes next, he doesn’t know. But one thing he hopes to do is collaborate with Natalia Lafourcade, a Mexican singer who dabbles in folk, rock and pop — another jack of all musical trades.

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