indie.life
Oct 10, 20194 min
Updated: Apr 29, 2022
The Polyvalent Hall in Bucharest hosted an exceptional musical battle on October 9: Subcarpați vs. Vita de Vie at the third edition of Red Bull SoundClash in Romania. The confrontation between underground folklore and alternative rock had an incredible, totally unexpected result: equality. The final decision was made by the public, the only arbiter, by applause.
More than 3,000 people attended an incendiary show, in which the musical battle was very close. On the two stages face to face, Subcarpati and Vita de Vie gave their best in the musical arsenal, demonstrating unsuspected valences: MC Bean sang blues, Adi Despot did freestyle, and the more other surprises were made for almost three hours, refereed by Liviu Stanciu.
In the first round, each band had to perform a cover, in their own sweet style, after the song That's the Way (I like it). Subcarpati threw MC Hammer's moves and boogie rhythms, combined with grime, into the fight, and Vița de Vie responded with a version in which disco-funk folded on the legendary "Riders on the storm" chords. At a very close score, the round was won by the Subcarpati.
The TAKEOVER, the round in which one band starts with a song from their repertoire and the other takes it on the go, made its debut with the leitmotif Subcarpathians "folklore is oxygen for an asthmatic people". The wave that swept the Multipurpose Hall hit hard on the shore of the Vita de Vie scene: the drums rumbled, and the crowd began to shake "Iamma" in unison. The take-over continued with "'84 -'85" which Despot closed on his stage with a rather lyrical moment, a guitar solo accompanied by a whistle. "Sunetul Mai Tare” also flowed. on agreements from " Trandafir de la Moldova" and taken over by the Subcarpathians on oriental rhythms.
The CLASH, the round in which the artists reinterpret 3 of their own songs in 3 different musical styles, DJ Alt Om threw the following challenges to the fighters: to sing blues, techno and drum & bass. In the glowing red light of the screens, Despot was "HaiHui" and MC Bean put his whole soul into his version of "Oamenii sunt inca frumosi". For techno, Vita de Vie bet on "MORI", with an aplomb worthy of the glory years of the genre, and the Subcarpați easily answered: "REGE PE DEAL" ... Drum & bass was played with a fiery lecture, by a deep symbolism of the Vita de Vie - the manifestul Varza, and from the opposite scene they responded first syncopated, and then in force, Subcarpati with "Rabda Inima" as their banner fluttered victoriously over the United Kingdom under the Music of the Polyvalent Hall.
The final round, The WILD CARD, was when heavy ammunition was used. Before revealing their ace up their sleeve, Misha, Afo and Motanu 'did what they know best - freestyle. Florin Vasilica together with the ensemble Teleormanul perfectly completed the underground folklore army on the refrain "Codrule Marite Domn", a song inspired by his father, rhapsodist Liviu Vasilica, and on the rock scene, Macanache packed "Bass and big drum" in his style, bringing victory for Vita de Vie in this last round.
Fans were given the opportunity to cheer on their favorites one last time while the final score was calculated. Thousands of voices shouted Vita and Subcarpati simultaneously, alternating in intensity and successively claiming the supremacy of Polyvalence. When the tension was at its maximum, the master of ceremonies, Liviu Stanciu, recapitulated the final score, and the result was ... E-V-E-N! Incredible score: 445.7.
"I think Red Bull SoundClash was "the highlight" of October! We let it sink on the Internet, we see what people say. This was one of the moments when in this dear Romania it didn't matter who won and we felt very good from the beginning to the end. Although it was a tie, we felt like we won. ”, concludes MC Bean.
"Victory was not important to us. Honestly, I find it impossible to win against the Subcarpati, they are a phenomenal band. It was an honor for us to play this game. The musical stake itself was so cool that I had to play to the end. I had the advantage of previous editions in which I was MC to know Red Bull SoundClash in more detail than the "enemy" tonight, so everything was a strategy, we played our moments very well, we orchestrated our songs exactly like as it should have been. I didn't even imagine that there was this equality option. It is the most beautiful ending that could happen. The audience saw a show we made about three times before this- after each rehearsal, the hugs you saw on stage happened today. Despite all the diss tonight, both of us tried to keep a state of love for music ", says Adrian Despot.
The first edition of Red Bull SoundClash took place in 2006 in the Netherlands, and since then it has traveled around the world, on five continents, in over 50 duels.
All information about Red Bull SoundClash is available at https://www.redbull.com/ro-ro/events/red-bull-soundclash. Stay tuned to the page dedicated to the event!