The much anticipated Festival Imperial finally kicked off Saturday in front of thousands of music fans at La Guácima near Alajuela, northwest of the Costa Rican capital, San José.
I joined 50,000 people over the course of the two-day festival, one of the biggest ever held in Costa Rica, and follows the sell-out success of a concert by metal icons Iron Maiden at the Ricardo Saprissa Stadium in February.
An ensemble of musicians from several Costa Rican bands opened the festival on Saturday, singing a variety of hits from the country’s rock scene, and were well-received by the crowd. This was followed up by a performance from homegrown group Le*Pop, who told reporters that they were “very happy and excited” to be performing at the festival. Having national bands play to such a large audience was a real treat for both the musicians and the fans.
Grammy-award-winning Mexican group Café Tacvba, who came up next, was well received by the enthusiastic crowd. Café was followed by Argentineans Babasónicos, promoting their new album “Mucho.”
However, there was no doubting that the final two acts, Californian group Incubus and Chicago-based rockers Smashing Pumpkins, were the two most eagerly anticipated performances.
Incubus played first, performing some of their best-known tracks such as “Nice to Know You” and “Are you In?,” from the album “Morning View,” alongside newer tunes such as “Anna Molly” from their latest album, “Light Grenades.” A particular highlight was their classic track “Drive,” which had vast swathes of the crowd singing along.
“Thank You, Costa Rica!” screamed charismatic frontman Brandon Boyd.
Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan, dressed in a striking layered silver skirt, was similarly willing to engage with his audience during a long set, which featured the hits “Today,” “Ava Adore” and “1979.”
“It is very nice to be here for the first time,” said Corgan. “It only took us 20 f—ing years to get here.”
I’d have to say that while both bands did a great job, Incubus came out with more energy and humility, rocking the 30,000-strong crowd with their hits that are very well known in Costa Rica.
The festival continued Sunday starting with Mexican alternative band Zoé, which was a mellow start to the night’s shows. Costa Rican group PorPartes wowed the audience with displays of national pride, with the lead singer draping a flag over his shoulder.
UK singer-songwriter Seal put on a very professional show, although I found it strange that his face was never shown on the big screens, making it hard to see his expressions while singing. He did bring a lot of energy and I did like the fact that he brushed up on his Spanish in order to say “Gracias” after each song and a few greetings in Spanish. He definitely puts in a lot of effort into his performances, and the results show.
Spanish-American pop star Enrique Iglesias was very warmly received, and the decidedly high-pitched screams coming from the women proved his ongoing sex appeal. The real highlight of his performance was when he found a male fan wearing what was pretty much the same cap, shirt and pants as himself, and pulled him up on stage and gave him the microphone to sing part of a song. Talk about an experience he won’t forget.
Headline British group Duran Duran, a 1980s rock icon, closed the festival with their classic hits such as “Hungry Like The Wolf.” Sunday night was decidedly more relaxed than Saturday, which worked out well because those of us who went to both days were definitely winding down from copious amounts of beer and plenty of standing around, which made a mellow finish more enjoyable.
All in all it was a well-planned and executed event. Compared to Festival Imperial 2006, improvements were in how the stage and deck was set up; everyone got a good view of the performers this time. Also good was the transportation options, with buses going to the festival from Alajuela and San Jose every 10 minutes, and many of them waiting outside after the concert was over, which made it easy to leave the car at home.
Negatives were the beer prices — last time they were much cheaper than regular bar prices, which made sense given that the brewery puts on the show. This time a can of beer cost 800 colones, which indicates they must have made a killing on this year’s festival. They didn’t start serving beer until 4pm, which left a lot of people standing around with empty cups waiting for the beer sales to start.
All in all it was a can’t-miss historic festival that puts Costa Rica on the international map for concert venues. Along with Iron Maiden’s smashing success in Saprissa, Festival Imperial’s success ensures that top-billed rock and pop acts will be coming to Costa Rica for some time to come.
