WOMAD

Unravelling the Ukelele

18:15 12th November on the Guagua

The lyrics and ukelele playing of Guillem Gisbert are at the heart of this hugely popular quartet from Barcelona. Manel will demonstrate how this instrument which travelled from Portugal to Hawaii in the 19th century, now brings it's distinctive sound to the Spanish charts of 21st century

Manel Biography

Far from language barriers and socio-politic problems, Manel are what lovers of pop were waiting for. In less than 18 months the Barcelona quartet have been acknowledged in almost all lists published by music magazines and have played more live performances in 2009 than any other band.

Talented and fresh are two adjectives that the critics have used, associating them with Beirut, Sisa, Herman Düne, Pau Riba or Bob Dylan…
They won the Pop Eye for the Best New Artist group of the year and have the best songs sung in Catalan in the Top 100 records sold in Spain.

They performed for the first time in the Primavera Sound Festival in 2008, and started a tour that saw them on the same stage as The Divine Comedy at Faraday 09, then onto the Great Escape Festival in the UK. They have seen their fans grow in every concert, from a Madrilian square to the sold-out concert in Apolo (Guitar Festival in Barcelona).
To sum up, if you need a new pop phenomenon here it is.