New this year is the Txiki ARF family programme, starting in the early afternoon on Friday and Saturday

Lisa & The Lips and The Pickin’ Boppers will bring music to the city centre with their open access performances in Plaza de la Virgen Blanca

Azkena Rock Festival, the rock & roll festival par excellence, which will be held on the 20^th, 21^st and 22^nd of June in Mendizabala, Vitoria-Gasteiz. Performing live on its stages, and covering a range of styles, will be the likes of Queens Of The Stone Age, Band Of Horses, Sheryl Crow, Jane’s Addiction, L7, Mavis Staples, Warren Haynes Band, Tarque & La Asociación del Riff, Redd Kross, Arde Bogotá, Ty Segall, PiL.T, The Real McKenzies, Lendakaris Muertos and up to a total of 56 bands.

Barry Adamson joins this lineup today, an essential musician with a solid solo career who has been part of bands such as Buzzcocks and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. Also joining is Bala, a fierce grunge and stoner band formed by two great Galician musicians.

It is in the emblematic Plaza de la Virgen Blanca where the festival merges with the city, kicking off the day around noon with live, open access live and paired with the gastronomy that the Green Capital is so famous for. On Friday it will be Lisa & The Lips’ turn, a stellar lineup with the powerful vocalist from The Bellrays as the lead and musicians from The Right Ons and Diamon Dogs. Soul and high voltage rock to vibrate from the outset. The following day, on Saturday, will be The Pickin’ Boppers; inspired by the bands of the 40s and 50s, but with an authentic and energetic style.

Txiki ARF: Azkena’s children’s programme

More and more families are coming to Azkena and for them comes the Txiki ARF programme, a space within the festival with concerts, workshops and children’s activities that generate a meeting point, leisure and coexistence revolving around rock. There will be three concerts per day recreating some of the best songs by legends who have played on the ARF stages and who form part of rock history. For example, The Who, John Fogerty, Iggy & The Stooges, Scorpions, ZZ Top, Sex Pistols, Deep Purple, and The Black Crows. Between performances, the stage will host air guitar and rock bingo competitions, both with gifts for the public. There will also be workshops for making personalised badges and picks and rock themed face painting. All this will be taking place on Friday and Saturday in the second Trashville marquee, for family audiences, from 17:30 to 20:30. Admission for children under 14 will be free once again this year, and there will be a special access lane for families.

Thursday 20^th

JANE’S ADDICTION / TY SEGALL / TARQUE & LA ASOCIACIÓN DEL RIFF / BONAFIDE / WHISPERING SONS / BRIGADE LOCO / TXOPET

Trashville: LOS SIREX / UKELELE JOE Y SUS HULA SHAKERS / OLD TIME SPOOKS / ELOY R.B.

Azkena Rock Festival kicks off on Thursday with one of the most influential cult bands, Jane’s Addiction. They are followed by the eclectic Ty Segall, a restless musician unafraid of fusing genres, and the solid band of Carlos Tarque, the most renowned vocalist in Spanish rock, Tarque & La Asociación del Riff. Hard rock from Bonafide, headed up by Swedish guitar hero Pontus Snibb. Whispering Sons’ Belgian post punk revelation, and the Basque punk and alternative rock brought to us by Brigade Loco and Txopet. Trashville, the indoor stage that recreates a room where what happens in Trashville, stays in Trashville; here it will be Los Sírex’ turn, a revered band, and authors of the anthemic Si yo tuviera una escoba. Alongside them, the frenetic punk rock, garage, and surf rhythms of Ukelele Joe y Sus Hula Shakers and Old Time Spooks’ B-movie horror show fused with traditional folk instruments. DJ Eloy R.B. will round off the evening.

Friday 21^st

QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE / L7 plays “Bricks Are Heavy” / ARDE BOGOTÁ / BARRY ADAMSON / DEMOLITION 23. / REDD KROSS / THE RAIN PARADE / THE REAL MCKENZIES / LA PERRA BLANCO / BALA / THE BLACK HALOS / DEA MATRONA / EZPALAK

Trashville: LES GREENE / JO CARLEY & THE OLD DRY SKULLS / GHALIA VOLT / THE KONGSMEN / JUAN DE PABLOS Y SUS ALUMNOS RUNAWAY / LA GUERRERO / CLARA LOBO AKA DJ WOLF-A / SR. LOBO

Virgen Blanca: LISA & THE LIPS

The day will kick off in Plaza de la Virgen Blanca with a powerful performance from Lisa & The Lips. At Mendizabala, Queens of The Stone Age, one of the most acclaimed rock bands of the moment, will be Friday’s undisputed leaders. Their California desert riffs will intersect with the raw sound of their wild neighbours L7, a milestone of feminism and grunge, performing their most successful album, Bricks Are Heavy. Arde Bogotá, a phenomenon from Murcia that is sweeping the world with its alternative rock in Spanish. Barry Adamson, singer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist known above all for his prowess on bass. The punk pearl Demolition 23, the fleeting, legendary and now defunct band formed by Michael Monroe and other members of Hanoi Rocks. They have only one album produced by Steven Van Zandt from the E Street Band and are reuniting for an exclusive concert at the Azkena Rock Festival; it will be the first ever given by the band in Spain. The one of a kind cult band Redd Kross, the psychedelia of The Rain Parade, the energetic punk-rock with Scottish folk of The Real McKenzies, the rockabilly trio La Perra Blanco, the fury of the female duo Bala, the Canadians The Black Halos with their legendary punk album The Violent Years, the classic guitar rock of the Irish Dea Matrona and Ezpalak, a present-day benchmark for alternative rock in the Basque language.

At Trashville, the invitation to the breakdown comes from a line-up that includes Les Greene, undoubtedly one of the most prodigious voices in soul, funk, and R&B today, Jo Carley and The Old Dry Skulls with their chilling touch of vaudeville; the talented Belgian artist Ghalia Volt, and the rabid gorilla-masked lineup of The Kongsmen. Playing until dawn, legendary radio host and musical eminence Juan de Pablos y sus alumnus Runaway, La Guerrero, Azkena Podcast host Clara Lobo Aka DJ Wolf-A and Mr. Lobo.

Saturday 22^nd

BAND OF HORSES / SHERYL CROW / MAVIS STAPLES / WARREN HAYNES BAND / GLEN HANSARD / ST. PAUL & THE BROKEN BONES / ALL THEM WITCHES / PSYCHEDELIC PORN CRUMPETS / THE DETROIT COBRAS / LENDAKARIS MUERTOS / THE PLEASURE FUCKERS / PIL.T. / MOONSHINE WAGON / ENTROPÍA

Trashville: THE MUMMIES / TIBURONA / FUNTASMAS / THE BANK ROBBERS / FOROAZKENAROCK DJS / PEP TONES / IKER DISCOFAGIA / AK PINTXADISCOS

Virgen Blanca: THE PICKIN’ BOPPERS

Saturday will be a day brimming with great performers. Warming up the engines at the Virgen Blanca with the unstoppable rhythm of The Pickin’ Boppers, Mendizabala will then host Band Of Horses, who will give their only concert of the year in Europe at the festival and will headline alongside the great Sheryl Crow, a legend who goes beyond pop hits and whose roots lie in a deep knowledge of American music. Also not to be missed are soul legend Mavis Staples, the leader of Gov’t Mule, Warren Haynes, with his solo project, Warren Haynes Band, and Glen Hansard, an innate and powerful performer. From Alabama comes the retro soul of St. Paul & The Broken Bones and from Nashville, the neo-psychedelia, and dark blues of All Them Witches. Psychedelic Porn Crumpets is one of the emblematic bands of the powerful Australian psychedelic rock scene. The Detroit Cobras will be joined by Zen Guerrilla’s Marcus Durant. The playful Lendakaris Muertos, the historic punk band The Pleasure Fuckers are reuniting for a one-off performance at Azkena Rock Festival featuring Scott Drake on vocals in place of the late Kike Turmix, and the return of Pi L.T., authors of the anthem Hilda jainkoa, which will round off the day. Also coming from Vitoria-Gasteiz will be Moonshine Wagon, a benchmark heavy-bluegrass band, and Entropía, a psych/space rock band with progressive and stoner rock influences.

In the parallel dimension of Trashville, the chaotic spectacle of the defiantly raw sound of The Mummies will be joined by the infectious riffs of the power trio Tiburona from Madrid, the perforated sheets of the vibrant Funtasmas and The Bank Robbers, the rockabilly project which reunites Marcos Sendarrubias and Isaac González, recalling the times of The Nitemares. The responsibility of bringing the festival to a close in style will fall to the disc jockeys Foroazkenarock DJs, Pep Tones, Iker Discofagia and AK Pintxadiscos.

Azkena Rock Festival is the Mecca of rock and roll, as confirmed by its 22 years of history. A frame of reference to experience live music, enjoy it in community in a comfortable venue and complete the experience in the Green Capital Vitoria-Gasteiz.

The festival also unveils its schedule today.