This year, San Sebastian's Jazzaldia and the Bilbao Blues Festival partially overlapped. Fortunately, we were able to see music here during the week, before heading to Bilbao for the weekend.
For Jazzaldia, we had tickets to see The Beach Boys' Sound of Summer Tour. The concert was very fun as they played many of their hits (who knew they wrote that many songs about surfing?), along with covers of other songs mostly from the 60's. I wouldn't say they sounded great as Mike Love and Bruce Johnson are in their 80's, but it was definitely worth seeing. John Stamos appeared with the band, which was a bonus as he is a lively performer and a super fan of the group. The videos they showed demonstrated how central The Beach Boys have been to US culture for over 60 years. They also included a lovely tribute to the recently passed Brian Wilson.
Right after The Beach Boys, we went and saw Jaime Cullum perform a free concert on the beach, which was fabulous. There were lots of people on the sand, but we sat on the wall at the side of the beach where we could hear very well without having to deal with the crowd.
Finally, on Friday evening, we went to a free concert by a band from Romania (of all places) called JazzyBIT. There was a fairly large crowd, and for a band we had never heard of before, we really enjoyed their music.
On Saturday morning, we took the bus to Bilbao and headed out to watch Spanish Rockabilly star Al Dual. He was very good, and we were not surprised to learn that he is a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame in Nashville (although we were a bit surprised to learn that there is a Rockabilly Hall of Fame).
Afterwards, we went to lunch at a fantastic Asian fusion restaurant, Kimtxu. And, while we usually don't include photos of food, the duck and mushroom cannelloni was as impressive aesthetically, as it was to eat.
Saturday night, we saw Jimmie Vaughan, the brother of Stevie Ray Vaughan, perform. Unfortunately, we were less than impressed with his set, and left early, but it was a beautiful night, so it was great to just be outside.
Sunday morning, before the concerts, we went to the Guggenheim Museum to see exhibitions by two American artists: Barbara Kruger and Helen Frankenthaler. Kruger's work is very political and based on words. I am not sure how much I "like" the art, but the messages definitely resonated.
In many ways, Frankenthaler, whose exhibition is called "Painting Without Rules," is the opposite of Kruger -- abstract painting with no obvious political intent. The painting below is titled "Tutti Fruti," which was quite a contrast to Kruger's above piece about war.
While we were at the museum, we also got a couple of photos of art that we have previously seen. Clas Oldenberg and his wife Coosje van Bruggen's oversized soft shuttlecock (which we've now shown from multiple angles), and Jeff Koons' Puppy, probably the most popular permanent exhibit at the museum.
After the museum, we saw Delanie Pickering, a young American blues artist from the northeast. She was amazing! Definitely someone to watch. We also enjoyed Martin Burguez and His Rhythm Combo before heading to a Morrocan restaurant for lunch, which had a terrific menu and confirmed our desire to travel there in 2026.
As usual, we had a great time listening to the many variations of blue music performed (all for free), and enjoyed eating at the more diverse offerings of Bilbao. Shana also really appreciated the advertisments for the bull fights that will take place in Bilbao during their Semana Grande later this month, featuring a very creative use of the Bilbao metro's Norman Foster designed entrances.
More about our continuing summer adventures soon.
