Camela was my second concert during the Feria in Nerja, Spain. The band is a duo, formerly a trio, consisting of María Ángeles Muñoz Dueñas on vocals, and singer songwriter Dionisio Martin Lobato. Their style is defined as electro pop, techno pop, or techno rumba, and they have strong influences from gitano and flamenco.

The band has released fifteen studio albums since their start in 1994, plus numerous compilations, a concert VHS and dvd, and is the band with the second most commercially succesful band in Spain with seven million sold albums by 2014, only surpassed by La Oreja de Van Gogh.

On stage the flamenco and gitano influences are quite obvious. The singing style of Dueñas and Lobato is typical of traditional gitano music and reminds me also of flamenco singing. The band consisted of five musicians, keyeboard, electric and acoustic guitar, bass and drums, and they were tight and followed the duo to perfection.

If you want to get to know Camela’s music, I will recommend their latest album, Más De Lo Que Piensas (More Than You Think) and the songs No La Merezco. Another good song is Quando Zarpa EL Amor from the compilation album Dioni, Angels y Miguel from 2009, when they were still a trio withw Miguel Angels Jimenez Cabrera as the third member.

I had expected the tent to be full during the concert, but there was still room for some more when the concert started. These concerts start at midninght, but everyone who has been to Spain know that the Spanish can keep up quite late, and specially when its is Feria. The party quotient was high at the concert, and the audience knew their songs well. I liked their show, with Lobato using the whole stage, swirling around like a dervish, and Dueñas just singing their songs.

All photos are © Per Ole Hagen and must not be used without written permission.