There’s something beautifully frustrating about Quicksand, the new single from Nashville singer-songwriter Mia Van de Loo. It doesn’t hand you the escape route immediately. Instead, it pulls you deeper, letting the tension build as Van de Loo wrestles with ambition, frustration and the fear that the life you desperately want might remain permanently out of reach. It’s an effective trick, because Quicksand isn’t really about being trapped. It’s about refusing to stay trapped. Van de Loo uses the song’s central metaphor brilliantly. The quicksand becomes everything that holds you back — expectations, circumstance, other people’s plans and that particularly nasty little voice in your head asking whether any of your dreams are actually going to happen. The lyrics are personal without becoming self-indulgent, turning teenage frustration into something much bigger: the universal desire to break free and make something of yourself. Musically, the track takes its time. It’s a slow burn, deliberately holding back the payoff while the pressure keeps mounting. That restraint makes the eventual lift all the more satisfying. When the bridge arrives, interconnected strings, confident acoustic guitar and increasingly powerful percussion create a sense of movement, while Van de Loo’s vocals rise above it all with the conviction of someone who has finally decided that standing still is no longer an option. And that is where quicksand really finds its strength. This isn’t a song about waiting around for somebody else to throw you a rope. It’s about finding the strength to keep moving when the ground beneath you is doing everything possible to pull you under. The repeated vision of the “emerald city” gives the song an almost cinematic quality — a distant destination representing everything Van de Loo wants to become and everything she refuses to give up on. There’s vulnerability here, certainly, but there’s considerably more determination. By the final stretch, the song feels less like a cry for help and more like a declaration of intent. At just 23, Van de Loo is already showing an impressive ability to turn personal experience into songs with a wider emotional reach. Quicksand follows the themes running through her 2026 releases, but there’s something particularly visceral about this one. It captures that horrible feeling of knowing exactly where you want to go while having absolutely no idea how you’re going to get there — and then deciding to go anyway. The result is an uplifting piece of singer-songwriter pop with genuine emotional muscle. Quicksand may begin with Mia Van de Loo sinking, but by the time that final chorus rolls around, she’s already looking towards the sky. And you can’t help but believe she’s going to get there. For more information: Mia Van De Loo

Nearly 7,000 fans packed Roig Arena as Puerto Rican urban star Bryant Myers ripped through more than 50 tracks, taking Valencia on a whistle-stop tour through the sounds that helped shape Latin trap. Bryant Myers didn't exactly ease Valencia into Wednesday night. He hit the Roig Arena running, unleashing more than 50 songs across a career-spanning set that had nearly 7,000 people singing, shouting and bouncing along from the opening bars. For an artist whose name is firmly welded to the evolution of Latin trap and contemporary música urbana, it was a suitably heavyweight setting. Roig Arena might be Valencia's newest giant venue, but for one night it became a very different beast, with Bryant Myers supplying the soundtrack. The set reached deep into the catalogue, pulling out some of the collaborations and tracks that helped push the Puerto Rican sound far beyond its Caribbean roots. “Cuatro Babys” was one of the big early detonations, the global hit providing an immediate reminder of just how far Latin trap has travelled, having passed the billion-stream mark. Then came “On Fleek”, his collaboration with Anuel AA, followed by “Gan-Ga”, the viral phenomenon that spawned a string of international remixes and became another defining moment in the genre's rise. The crowd had plenty to sing about, too, with “El Efecto Remix” and “Hasta Abajo” landing with the sort of recognition that needs no introduction. The words came from the stage; thousands of voices supplied the rest. But the night wasn't simply about maximum-volume trap. Myers also shifted gears for the more melodic and introspective side of his catalogue, bringing “Un Ratito Más” and “Pa Ti”, his collaborations with Bad Bunny, into the mix. That change of pace offered a glimpse of the broader range behind the artist, moving between hard-edged trap, melodic urban music and the collaborative tracks that have become such a defining part of his career. And then came the closer. “Tanta Falta” — arguably the most emblematic solo track in the Bryant Myers catalogue — brought the night towards its final peak, with the Puerto Rican star signing off in front of thousands of fans inside Roig Arena. More than 50 songs, nearly 7,000 people and a catalogue that stretches across some of the most recognisable sounds in Latin urban music: Bryant Myers came to Valencia with plenty of history to cover, and Roig Arena was more than big enough for it. .

Some bands arrive in town with guitars, amps and a serious-looking press release. Steve ’N’ Seagulls arrive with banjos, fiddles, acoustic guitars, double bass, a healthy disregard for musical boundaries and the ability to make a Metallica riff sound like it has just wandered in from a Finnish barnyard. The Finnish five-piece are heading back to Spain this October, bringing their The Dark Side Of The Moo tour to Rock City Valencia on Friday 23 October, with doors opening at 20:00. Advance tickets are €25 plus booking fees, rising to €30 at the door. And if you've somehow managed to avoid the Steve ’N’ Seagulls phenomenon until now, prepare to have your musical expectations thrown into a woodchipper. The band first emerged around 2010 with a simple but brilliantly unlikely idea: take some of the biggest songs in rock and metal history and rebuild them using the sounds of bluegrass, newgrass and Finnish folk. What could possibly go wrong? Their videos have now clocked up more than 346 million YouTube views, while their peculiar brand of acoustic mayhem has taken them across more than 30 countries and four continents, including appearances at some of the world's major festivals. Their latest adventure, The Dark Side Of The Moo, continues that tradition while pushing the band's own material and reworked classics into the same wonderfully strange territory. Expect virtuoso musicianship, huge riffs wearing rural disguises and songs that can leave you wondering whether you're watching a bluegrass festival, a metal gig or the world's most dangerous village fête. The answer, naturally, is all three. For Valencia, the setting couldn't be much more appropriate than Rock City, the Almàssera venue at Carrer dels Coheters 6 that has become one of the city's essential stops for touring rock and metal. Rock City has a knack for putting bands where they belong: close to the crowd, loud enough to make the beer vibrate and without the cavernous distance that can turn a great rock show into an arena exercise. And Steve ’N’ Seagulls are precisely the sort of band that should be experienced up close. This isn't background music. It's a full-contact collision between genres, with the musicianship doing as much of the heavy lifting as the comedy. One minute you're hearing something that sounds like it belongs beside a campfire in the Finnish wilderness; the next, a familiar metal monster comes stomping through the door wearing a checked shirt. The Valencia date is part of a six-date Spanish run that also takes in Santiago de Compostela, Bilbao, Zaragoza, Granada and Seville, with Rock City sitting right in the middle of the band's October assault. So, if your musical tastes normally demand that bluegrass stays bluegrass and metal stays metal, this may be the night to reconsider the rules. Bring your friends, bring your sense of humour and prepare for some seriously impressive musicians to completely rearrange your idea of what a rock show is supposed to sound like. For tickets and more information: Rock City

British music icon Joe Jackson brings four decades of sharp songwriting, sophisticated pop and restless creativity to La Rambleta on 21 October, with his acclaimed new album Hope and Fury taking centre stage. Some musicians spend their careers chasing the sound that made them famous. Joe Jackson has spent his refusing to stand still. On Wednesday 21 October, the British singer-songwriter heads to Valencia’s La Rambleta for a night that promises to bridge the generations, bringing fresh material from his latest album, Hope and Fury, together with the musical intelligence and restless energy that have made him one of the most distinctive figures in British pop. The concert begins at 9pm. With more than 40 years in the business, over 20 studio albums and a Grammy Award to his name, Jackson has never been an artist content to sit comfortably inside one genre. From the punchy new-wave attitude of his early career to the sophisticated, jazz-inflected sounds of Night and Day, his music has always been driven by sharp observation, restless curiosity and a songwriter’s instinct for a killer melody. Now, Hope and Fury finds Jackson reconnecting with the sound he helped define while bringing fresh energy to the mix. Released in April 2026, the nine-track album is described by Jackson as a return to his own mainstream, blending familiar melodic instincts with contemporary touches. It is a reminder that, for an artist of his calibre, experience need not mean standing still. Recorded in Berlin and New York with co-producer Patrick Dillett, the record features Jackson alongside his trusted band: Graham Maby on bass, Teddy Kumpel on guitar, Doug Yowell on drums and Peruvian percussionist Paulo Stagnaro. The lineup promises a rich, dynamic live sound, giving the new songs room to breathe alongside a catalogue spanning decades of adventurous songwriting. For Valencia audiences, this is a chance to experience an artist whose influence stretches well beyond the original new-wave movement. Jackson belongs in the company of songwriters such as Elvis Costello and David Byrne: musicians who have consistently challenged expectations, moved between musical styles and built careers on individuality rather than fashion. And while Hope and Fury provides the immediate focus, the sheer depth of Jackson’s back catalogue makes this a particularly enticing date for longtime fans and curious newcomers alike. Expect the sophistication, wit and musical precision that have remained central to his work, delivered by a band with the experience to make every arrangement count. One of British pop’s genuine originals is heading to Valencia. With Hope and Fury, Joe Jackson is looking forward, not back — and that is precisely what makes this concert worth catching. For tickets and more information: La Rambleta

German power-metal veterans Primal Fear are bringing their Domination Tour 2026 to Valencia on 11 October, turning the Roig Arena into a cathedral of riffs, thunderous drums and high-voltage heavy metal. Forget subtle. Forget understated. On Sunday 11 October, the volume goes up and the leather gets a serious workout as Primal Fear storm into Valencia for a major night of classic German power metal, bringing more than two decades of steel-forged anthems with them. The band will hit the Roig Arena at 19:30 as part of their Domination Tour 2026, with the set built around their latest album, Domination, alongside the songs that have established Primal Fear as one of the enduring forces in European heavy metal. Formed in Germany in 1997, Primal Fear have spent the years since hammering out a sound that sits squarely between traditional heavy metal and full-throttle power metal, powered by enormous riffs, twin-guitar attack and the unmistakable high-register roar of frontman Ralf Scheepers. Think classic metal DNA, sharpened with German precision and delivered with the subtlety of a sledgehammer. And this tour comes with some serious firepower behind it. The current line-up features the return of guitarist Magnus Karlsson to the live fold, while founding bassist Mat Sinner has returned to the band following his absence from touring. That makes this Valencia appearance particularly interesting for anyone who has followed the band's evolution over the years. Domination brings the newer material into the set, but Primal Fear's catalogue is packed with the kind of songs designed for a room full of raised fists and shouted choruses. The band's Spanish run includes dates in Burgos, Madrid and Pamplona before arriving in Valencia for the final show of the run on 11 October. And while the Roig Arena has already established itself as Valencia's giant new home for everything from international pop and rock to major touring productions, Primal Fear offer something rather different: pure, unapologetic heavy metal. No trends. No gimmicks. Just guitars, drums, bass, vocals and enough horsepower to make the walls sweat. If your idea of a Sunday evening involves Rammstein-sized riffs without the pyrotechnics, Judas Priest-inspired vocals, fists in the air and several thousand metalheads shouting along to the same chorus, then 11 October belongs in the diary. Get ready for some serious German steel! For tickets and more information: Roig Arena

Break-ups usually come with the standard package: anger, denial, bad decisions, questionable text messages and enough emotional debris to keep a therapist busy for years. Eva Rose has taken the whole mess and turned it into a seriously infectious debut album. Released through Nettwerk Music Group, The Last Laugh is a 13-track alternative-pop record that takes the complicated aftermath of a relationship and flips it into something witty, guitar-heavy, melodic and, crucially, joyful. Rather than wallowing in heartbreak, Eva Rose sounds like someone who has finally kicked open the door, walked away from the wreckage and discovered that life on the other side is actually pretty good! The album moves through the whole emotional demolition job, from anger and denial to new crushes, awkward encounters and the eventual freedom of moving on. There is plenty of emotional honesty here, but very little self-pity. ‘Next Girl’ delivers a brutally direct warning to her ex's new girlfriend, while ‘All Your Friends’ turns the bizarre experience of discovering that your former partner's mates actually miss you into an instantly relatable, singalong-ready anthem. Elsewhere, ‘Scaring Everyone’ finds Eva poking fun at the ridiculous stories we invent when we start falling for someone new, while ‘Give Me A Good Reason’ tackles the uncomfortable realisation that sometimes people simply grow apart. It's the kind of emotional territory that could easily become heavy going, but Eva's instinct for melody, humour and guitar-driven hooks keeps the whole thing moving. Sonically, the influences are an intriguing mix, with Weezer, Taylor Swift, Alex G and Brandi Carlile among the reference points, while Eva's earlier musical education included plenty of Avril Lavigne, My Chemical Romance and Paramore. You can hear the resulting collision in the record's combination of distorted guitars, sharp songwriting and big melodic instincts. What really makes The Last Laugh work, though, is its attitude. This isn't an album about pretending the heartbreak never happened. It's about taking control of the story afterwards. Eva describes the record in terms of triumph, empowerment, gratitude and freedom, and that sense of liberation runs right through it. With longtime collaborator Ben Zelico serving as executive producer alongside a team of co-writers and producers, the album captures an artist who sounds increasingly comfortable turning very personal experiences into songs that other people can recognise themselves in. And that's probably the album's biggest strength: Eva Rose doesn't just write about getting over someone; she makes getting over someone sound like the beginning of something better. After building an audience and millions of streams through her independent EPs Out of Lives, Everything You Wish Forand Whatever Helps You Sleep, The Last Laugh marks a significant step forward with her first full-length release. for more information: Eva Rose

There are bands you go and see because they're touring a new album. Then there are bands like Reincidentes, who have spent nearly four decades building a catalogue that can still make a room shout, sweat and question the state of the fucking world. The legendary Sevillian rockers are heading to Rock City in Almàssera, Valencia, on Saturday 17 October, as part of the Directos Vibra Mahou series, with Annacrusa also on the bill. Doors are scheduled for 21:00, with the concert starting at 21:30. Formed in Seville in the late 1980s, Reincidentes emerged from the city's punk-rock underground and quickly developed a sound built on hard-driving rock, punk energy and lyrics that refuse to politely look the other way. Their first concert under the Reincidentes name took place at the University of Seville in 1987, and the band have spent the decades since turning social commentary, political frustration and everyday reality into loud, direct rock songs. Fronted by Fernando Madina, Reincidentes have become one of the defining names in Spanish socially conscious rock, with a catalogue stretching from their self-titled 1989 debut through albums including Ni un paso atrás, Tiempos de iraand their celebrated live material. Their songs tackle everything from inequality and political power to violence, media manipulation and social injustice, delivered with the sort of blunt-force honesty that has always been central to their identity. And this is precisely why seeing Reincidentes in a proper club matters. Their music was built for people standing shoulder-to-shoulder, shouting lyrics back at the stage, beer in hand and volume somewhere north of sensible. The Valencia date brings them to Rock City, one of the city's established live-music venues, located at Carrer dels Coheters 6, Almàssera, just north of Valencia. Rock City describes itself as a major venue for live music in the area, having hosted more than 900 musicians across national and international acts, and its location is around seven minutes from central Valencia. It is also a venue where the audience stands rather than sits, which feels entirely appropriate for this particular Saturday night. Annacrusa will also appear on the bill, making this a double-header rather than a quick Reincidentes drive-by. (Planomato) The night forms part of Directos Vibra Mahou, Mahou's live-music programme bringing artists into established venues around Spain, with the Valencia Reincidentes show officially listed for 17 October at Rock City. Expect the classics, expect the newer material, expect plenty of noise and expect the crowd to know the words. Because Reincidentes aren't really a band you watch from a safe distance. Their songs have always demanded participation, and Rock City's compact club environment should provide exactly the sort of pressure cooker atmosphere they've been thriving in since the late '80s. For tickets and more information: Rock City

There are festivals where you spend two days trying to work out where you’re supposed to be, which stage is running late and whether you can physically survive another trek across a field for a lukewarm beer. Then there’s VISOR FEST, where the whole point is rather simpler: turn up at La Marina Norte in València, find your people and let the songs do the travelling. Across 25 and 26 September, more than 10,000 music fans descended on the waterfront for two days that managed to feel less like a conventional festival and more like a particularly well-organised musical time machine. Eight bands, one stage, no clashes and a crowd that clearly understood the assignment. The result was a weekend packed with reunions, discoveries, nostalgia, noise, emotion and some seriously good live performances. Friday started under a merciless Valencian sun, with queues stretching towards the entrance and Hoodoo Gurus shirts everywhere you looked. The Australian garage-rock legends had the honour of opening proceedings, which might sound like a tough gig when people are still arriving, but Sydney's finest wasted absolutely no time reminding everyone why they've survived more than four decades in the business. Their mix of garage rock, power pop and gloriously infectious songwriting immediately got the festival moving, while also delivering one of VISOR FEST's most important ingredients: discovery. More than a few people walked away thinking, Why the fuck haven't I been listening to these guys for years? New Model Army followed, and the relationship between this band and their Valencian audience is something rather special. Justin Sullivan and company delivered the kind of intense, emotionally charged performance that makes you understand why people follow this band from city to city. There was no sense of simply turning up and running through the greatest hits; this was a proper connection between band and audience, built over decades. Then came The Damned, celebrating their 50th anniversary with all the elegance, menace and glorious eccentricity you'd expect from one of British punk's great survivors. Dave Vanian and Captain Sensible remain a formidable combination, and the band's appearance proved that fifty years after they helped kick open the doors for punk, their music hasn't been quietly placed in a museum. It still has teeth. By the time Ocean Colour Scene appeared beneath the moon, VISOR FEST had shifted gear again. Simon Fowler and the band took the audience straight back to the 1990s, with Moseley Shoals turning into something considerably bigger than an album anniversary. Those songs have spent three decades lodging themselves into people's lives, and hearing them live — particularly on its 30th anniversary — produced one of Friday's most emotional moments. Saturday was a different beast altogether. There was already a queue before the gates opened, with fans determined to get close to the stage for Martin Rossiterand Gene, and the appearance of Gene was one of those festival moments that doesn't need much explanation. At last year's VISOR FEST, fans had spontaneously turned up wearing Gene shirts and effectively issued a very polite musical demand: bring them back. One year later, somebody had clearly been listening. The London band delivered an extraordinary set, and the reaction from the crowd was visceral. There were tears in the audience, tears among people working around the festival and a palpable sense that something people had genuinely wanted had just happened in front of them. Gene didn't simply return to València; they reminded everyone exactly why their songs still matter. Before them, The Wannadies had delivered another long-awaited reunion, bringing their infectious Swedish power-pop brilliance back to Spain after years away. Hearing “You & Me Song” blasted across La Marina Norte was exactly the sort of moment VISOR FEST is built around: familiar, joyous and just slightly surreal when you realise how long you've been waiting to hear it live again. Then RIDE walked onstage and proceeded to blow a sizeable hole in everyone's expectations. The band had already played VISOR FEST in 2018, but whatever memories people had carried from that appearance were about to be upgraded. The performance was huge, immersive and intensely played, with guitars washing across the venue and the crowd disappearing into the music. By the end, conversations were already happening among people who had seen RIDE multiple times in different cities and different eras, with the same conclusion coming up again and again: that was fucking special. And then there was Manic Street Preachers .As festival closers go, this was heavyweight stuff. Arms went up. Voices went up. The audience sang from the first note to the last, while the giant screen delivered messages including “Libraries Gave Us Power”, a reminder that this has always been a band interested in ideas as much as amplification. And then came “You Love Us, Richey” — an emotional moment that underlined just how deeply the Manics' history is woven into their audience. By the time the final notes disappeared over La Marina Norte, VISOR FEST had done what it set out to do. It had brought together eight bands from different generations and different corners of the rock spectrum, yet somehow made the whole weekend feel coherent. Hoodoo Gurus, New Model Army, The Damned, Ocean Colour Scene, The Wannadies, Gene, RIDE and Manic Street Preachers weren't simply names on a poster; they became chapters in one long weekend of rediscovery. That is probably the secret of VISOR FEST. It isn't really about nostalgia, although there was plenty of that. It's about what happens when songs survive long enough to become part of people's lives and then, years later, thousands of people gather in the same place to scream them back at the people who wrote them. There were reunions. There were discoveries. There were songs that hadn't been heard live in years. There were people travelling from across Spain and beyond, strangers becoming temporary friends over a shared love of a particular band, a particular album or a particular moment in musical history. And there was València, looking rather spectacular while it hosted the whole bloody thing. VISOR FEST 2026 wasn't about trying to recreate the past. It was about proving that the past is still very much alive when you put the right bands, the right audience and the right setting together. Two days. Eight bands. More than 10,000 people. One stage. Absolutely no need for nostalgia when the music still hits this hard. Now, where's that 2027 ticket?

The Auditorio del Parque de la Huerta in Albatera had already taken a serious battering by the time Def Con Dos marched onto the BrevaRock stage, but whatever remained of the place's structural dignity was about to be thoroughly tested. With Jódete, Error de Visión, Desklate, Afónica Naranjo and Catalina Grande Piñón Pequeño having already worked their way through the afternoon and early evening, the crowd was warmed up, lubricated and more than ready. And waiting afterwards were El Último Ke Zierre, Kaos Urbano and Laura DSK, meaning there was absolutely no excuse for anyone to be thinking about going home. Then came Def Con Dos, and the temperature went through the fucking roof. There is something gloriously unhinged about watching this band in full flight. Punk, hip-hop, metal, satire, attitude and several decades of accumulated mischief are thrown into the same industrial blender, and somehow the result still comes out sounding like Def Con Dos. They don't stroll onto a festival stage and perform a set; they attack it. And what an attack this was! Twenty songs. Non-stop. No leisurely pauses for everyone to check their phones, contemplate the meaning of life or discuss whether the next song might be a bit quieter. From “Poco Pan” through “Pánico”, “Ultramedia” and “Heterosexual”, the band maintained a ridiculous pace that barely gave the audience time to draw breath. It was one of those sets where the gap between one song and the next becomes irrelevant because the whole thing starts behaving like a single enormous piece of musical machinery. The crowd absolutely lost its shit for “Alzheimer”. The song has been rattling around Spanish alternative culture for decades, but hearing thousands of people hammering the words back at the stage at BrevaRock gave it another life entirely. Bodies bounced, people danced, the pit opened up and the atmosphere shifted from festival crowd to collective lunacy. And the good vibes weren't restricted to the audience. BrevaRock's hospitality deserves a serious mention, with the hosts making the whole operation feel welcoming rather than corporate, while the staff and security were friendly, approachable and clearly part of the atmosphere rather than there simply to police it. That's important at a festival where the audience is going to dance, mosh and generally behave like they've just been released from several months of administrative detention. Then came “A.M.V.”, and Mara Gilbert produced one of the night's great visual moments, bringing out the A.M.V. flag as the song hit. It was one of those beautifully simple gestures that immediately connects the people on stage with the people standing in front of it. And then César Strawberry decided that normal stagewear wasn't going to cut it for “El Día De La Bestia”. Out came the crazy mask, and suddenly the frontman looked less like a musician and more like some particularly angry character who had escaped from the wrong side of a Spanish horror comic. Perfectly appropriate, really. The chemistry inside the band was ridiculous. César, Mara, Samuel Barranco, J. Al Ándalus, Alberto Marín and Kiki Tornado attacked the material with the kind of precision that only comes from musicians who have spent a lot of time playing this stuff together. Kiki's drums drove the whole thing forward like a runaway train, Alberto's guitar work supplied the metallic shrapnel and the vocal front line bounced between rap, punk fury and theatrical menace. And just when everyone thought they might finally get a breather, “Armas” arrived to close the set. It was the perfect final punch. The crowd were already cooked, the band were still going like they'd just been plugged into the national grid, and when the final notes disappeared into the night, the response was immediate: fans wanted more. Of course they did! Twenty songs had just been fired at them at approximately the speed of an out-of-control shopping trolley, and somehow it still felt like the set had finished too soon. That's the trick with Def Con Dos. They don't simply play the songs you came to hear. They turn them into a shared physical experience — something involving sweat, shouting, dancing, flying limbs, ridiculous masks, flags, beer, memories and the occasional suspicion that the mosh pit may have developed its own weather system. BrevaRock gave them the Auditorio del Parque de la Huerta. The crowd supplied the madness. Def Con Dos supplied the ammunition. Twenty songs later, nobody was asking for subtlety. They were asking for another fucking twenty! Words and photos: Rhyan Paul

Three bands. One stage. A room full of supporters. A voting system that had already produced three rounds of nail-biting results. By the time Sita Rizzi, Protocol Shift and Moscow walked into Hard Rock Cafe Valencia for the Hard Rock Rising final, nobody was pretending this was going to be a polite Wednesday night with a few guitars and some polite applause. This was the final, and the atmosphere had been building for three weeks. The three finalists had all arrived by very different routes. Sita Rizzi was the first through the door, winning Round One with her alternative pop-rock sound, mixing rock and electronic influences with a strong stage presence and an obvious ability to connect with a room. Moscow had taken Round Two after bringing their hard-rock indie attack, guitar muscle, attitude and swagger to a packed venue, edging out City Of Fury and Horrorwolf in another brutally close public vote. Then came Protocol Shift, who had survived the full pressure cooker of Round Three, battling through an evening of heavy music, torrential rain outside and a seriously lively mosh pit inside to secure the final place. So there was no obvious formula for this final. Three bands, three identities and three very different ways of attacking the stage. Sita Rizzi opened the final, bringing the alternative pop-rock/electronic blend that had already carried her through Round One. Having been the first finalist to qualify, she had the advantage of knowing exactly what the Hard Rock Rising stage could throw at her, and she looked completely at home in front of the crowd. Protocol Shift followed, bringing the heavier edge that had earned them their place in the final. After surviving the storm-soaked third qualifying round, they arrived with plenty of momentum, and the crowd down the front certainly wasn't interested in standing around quietly. The mosh pit was back in business, bodies were bouncing, people were dancing and the whole place had that increasingly dangerous feeling of a gig where nobody is particularly interested in behaving themselves. Then came Moscow, the Round Two winners, and by this point Hard Rock Cafe Valencia was properly rocking. Their hard-rock indie sound had already made an impression during their qualifying performance, and the final gave them the chance to crank everything up another notch. The brilliant thing about the whole night was the crowd. Every band arrived with a serious army of supporters, but this wasn't three groups of people standing in separate corners glaring at each other. Friends, fans, musicians and curious punters all piled into the room, cheering, dancing, singing, shouting and getting behind the performances. The atmosphere had the kind of communal energy that makes live music work in the first place. And then came the voting..... If the previous rounds had taught us anything, it was that Hard Rock Rising Valencia doesn't do comfortable results. Round Two was incredibly tight. Round Three went right down to the wire. The final followed exactly the same pattern, with the voting exceptionally close and every supporter suddenly becoming a campaign manager with a mobile phone. When the numbers were finally counted, Moscow had done it. The reaction was fantastic! Pure elation from the Moscow camp, followed by congratulations and genuine camaraderie between all three finalists. That's probably one of the nicest things about the whole Hard Rock Rising experience in Valencia: the competitive edge is real, but so is the feeling that these bands are part of the same local music community. After three rounds of fighting for votes, the finalists could still celebrate the fact that they'd shared the stage and made the whole thing considerably more interesting. And Moscow now have some serious rewards to go with the victory. Their Valencia Hard Rock Rising prize includes €500 cash from Hard Rock Cafe Valencia, an exclusive gig at Hard Rock Cafe Valencia, a professional photoshoot with rock photographer Rhyan Paul, plus an exclusive profile, interview and review in The Music Mole Magazine. They also progress to the next stage of the wider Hard Rock Rising competition. A massive thank you to Vittorio Dugarte and the team at Hard Rock Cafe Valencia for bringing The Music Mole Magazine into Hard Rock Rising and for Vittorio's continued support of the Valencia music scene. Giving local artists a proper stage, putting an audience directly into the decision-making process and creating an environment where emerging bands can actually be seen, heard and photographed is exactly the sort of thing that keeps a music scene moving. Four nights, nine acts, countless beers, a storm, a mosh pit, a mountain of supporters and some seriously close voting later, Hard Rock Rising Valencia has its winner: Moscow. Congratulations to Moscow — and huge respect to Sita Rizzi and Protocol Shift for making the final such a fucking good night. Valencia's bands brought the music. The supporters brought the madness. Hard Rock provided the stage. Moscow took the crown! The Music Mole Magazine – Hard Rock Rising coverage Words and photos: Rhyan Paul

Break-ups have a nasty habit of leaving souvenirs behind. You can throw bleach at them, attack them with KH7, scrub until your knuckles bleed and they’ll still somehow be there, lurking in the corner of your brain like that last conversation you wish you’d never had. J.Vega understands this particular kind of emotional grime perfectly on ‘La sien’, the latest single from his forthcoming debut LP NED!. Dark without disappearing completely into the shadows, ‘La sien’ is a beautifully claustrophobic piece of guitar-driven melancholy, built around keyboards, brooding guitars and a melody that gets under the skin rather than simply passing through your ears. There’s something satisfyingly stubborn about it; the song refuses to give you the clean break that its protagonist clearly wants, instead dragging those memories back into the room every time you think you’ve finally managed to shut the door. That sense of being trapped inside your own head carries straight through into the video, directed by Mónica Agudo of Gummo Studio. J.Vega’s head remains imprisoned in the rooms he once shared with someone else, surrounded by the everyday objects that have somehow acquired the destructive power of emotional landmines. It’s a smart visual match for the song, turning familiar domestic spaces into psychological territory where every chair, wall and forgotten object seems capable of dragging the past back into the present. Musically, there’s some serious pedigree behind the claustrophobia. ‘La sien’ was recorded in November 2025 at Paco Loco’s studio in El Puerto de Santa María, with Rafa Camisón of G.A.S. Drummers behind the kit, Paco Loco on bass and J.Vega handling guitars, keyboards and vocals. Loco also takes production duties, giving the track enough weight and atmosphere to make those lingering memories feel almost physical. The result is a single that manages to be gloomy without becoming miserable, melodic without getting sentimental and dark without disappearing up its own arse. There’s a genuine hook buried beneath the emotional wreckage, and once ‘La sien’ gets into your head, it behaves exactly like the memories J.Vega is trying to escape: good luck getting rid of it. ‘La sien’ is a strong introduction to NED!, J.Vega’s debut album, which arrives on digital platforms on 30 October, with a strictly limited CD edition of just 100 copies already available. If this is the temperature he’s setting for the record, NED!could be an interesting trip through the less hygienic corners of heartbreak, memory and the mess people leave behind when they walk out of your life. Sometimes you can clean the room. Getting the ghosts out is another matter. For more information: J. Vega

Valencia's punk scene is getting another shot of adrenaline on Friday, October 9, when Kill The President! take over Loco Club with Flashback and Los Brackets for a three-band collision that should have absolutely no interest in behaving itself. The doors open at 19:30, the music starts at 20:00 and Kill The President! will be using the occasion to present their new album Face The Tide, bringing their furious blend of melodic hardcore and punk rock back to one of the city's most reliable homes for loud music. Kill The President! have been making aggressive, technically sharp punk in Valencia for years, combining the speed and abrasion of hardcore with enough melody to make the songs stick around after the bruises have disappeared. Their Bandcamp material carries the same DNA, with tracks such as ‘Unspoken’ throwing social anger, environmental concerns and a healthy distrust of the status quo into a wall of melodic hardcore. The current line-up features David on drums, Felipe on guitar, Angel on bass and Alberto on vocals, and their recorded output stretches back to the Citizens EP, through Aftermath and Unspoken, with new material continuing the story. The new record, Face The Tide, gives the evening its central purpose, but this isn't going to be a polite album presentation where everyone stands around listening attentively before going home for an early night. Kill The President!'s whole musical vocabulary is built around speed, weight and momentum, and their live reputation has been forged in exactly the sort of small-room environment where punk works best. The Loco Club is not a giant arena where the audience becomes a distant sea of heads; it is the sort of room where the band can see exactly who is losing their shit down the front. Then there is Flashback, adding another angle to the evening, while Los Brackets bring their own particular brand of guitar-driven chaos into the mix. Los Brackets have been around since 2008 and describe themselves with the sort of self-deprecating humour that suggests they have long since accepted that punk rock and adulthood are fundamentally incompatible. Earlier this year they appeared at the revived Spring Roll Fest alongside F.A.N.T.A. and Sugus, where their deliberately nerdy pop-punk approach sat comfortably alongside some of the Spanish punk scene's more established survivors. That makes for an interesting bill because nobody needs to spend the entire evening listening to variations on exactly the same flavour of punk. Kill The President! bring the hardcore muscle, Los Brackets bring the melodic, mischievous side of the equation and Flashback add another ingredient to the mix. It is the sort of three-band bill that makes considerably more sense in a sweaty club than it would on a glossy festival poster. For Kill The President!, however, this is their night. The band have been part of Valencia's underground hardcore scene for years, and their music has always had one foot planted firmly in the idea that punk should actually have something to say. Their songs tackle social and environmental issues, but they deliver those ideas with enough velocity and aggression to prevent proceedings from turning into a lecture. There is also something appropriately old-school about the whole setup. Three bands, one room, cheap enough tickets to make the decision fairly painless and a Friday night in Valencia with no need for lasers, VIP platforms or a twelve-metre video wall. Advance tickets are €12, rising to €15 at the door, which leaves plenty of money for beer and the inevitable post-gig argument about which band kicked the most ass. Loco Club has become one of those Valencia venues where you can reliably expect to find something interesting happening just beyond the mainstream radar, and this particular Friday fits neatly into that tradition. The club is at Calle Erudito Orellana 12, only a short walk from the historic centre and close to Ángel Guimerà metro, making it dangerously easy to get there and considerably harder to justify staying home. So if your idea of a Friday night involves guitars turned up too loud, drums played too fast, melodies fighting with distortion and absolutely no requirement for anybody on stage to look remotely sensible, Loco Club has the answer. Kill The President! are bringing Face The Tide to Valencia, Flashback and Los Brackets are joining the assault, and by the time the first pint hits the floor it should be fairly obvious that nobody came here to sit quietly at the back. For tickets and more information: Loco Club