Emerging and established
The Magdalena Peninsula once again became the musical heart of Cantabria for two days in which more than thirty thousand people traveled between the two stages of the festival. He Santander Music 2026 opened doors with lines already formed and a summer temperature that eased as the night progressed.
Connecting rod They inaugurated the Repsol Stage with the energy of someone who has nothing to lose and a great desire to prove it. The people from Madrid started with the drums, hitting hard from the first bar of “Un Día Más”, establishing a vocal duality that worked as the engine of a dynamic and danceable set. Their song shared with La Milagrosa “Si tu Corazón Fuera para Mí” was one of the first moments of real connection with the public, although the high point came with a version of “El Encuentro” that they took completely to their field, demonstrating that they have criteria and personality to reinterpret without complexes. The Repsol stage already had a notable reception for the opening hour.
The Dove They took over on the Estrella Galicia Stage with a proposal that asked for a little more attention than the festival format sometimes allows. They started with a contained power that took a while to fully unfold but gained consistency as the set progressed. The keyboards announced the turn: when the audience began to really get into the concert singing, the band relied on three guitars on stage. They are accompanied live by Tomás Rojo and Ade Martí. The final section was the most rocking with “Bravo Murillo” or “La Año que Tengo”. They went from less to more, and so did the public.
The Punsetes They came out, did their thing and left. Without downtime or chatter between songs, the band got to the point with a set that alternated its seemingly happy rhythms with the usual depressing lyrics. The bass shone in “Idiota”, the melodic guitars gave some unexpected highlights in “Tu Puto Grupo” and the audience came out especially in the most recognizable sections of the repertoire “Tus Amigos”, “Una Persona Suspechosa”. Its formula still has followers, although it is no longer as surprising as when everything was more groundbreaking.
Rigoberta Bandini It was one of the moments of Friday. Paula Ribó displayed a highly choreographed show, with her constantly playing with a subjective camera in the microphone to project herself on the screens, costume changes, dancers who came down to interact with the public and an ability to connect with the venue that is rarely seen at a festival. The set went through its different faces: from the most electronic and techno moments “Simpatica pero Problemático” to the acoustic version of “Mayonesa” with Las Ketchup, passing through slower cuts that were somewhat duller live than in the studio “Amore Amore Amore”. It presented new material with a certain ambient electronic air. “Ay mama” and “I’m looking for a permanent center of gravity” closed a show that was, without a doubt, the most varied of the first day.
Ketchups They functioned as a festive intermission between the two big headliners on Friday. The three sisters, with a sober scene and recorded music, reviewed their catalog of rumbas between dedications and nostalgia. “Aserejé” unleashed what it had to unleash and “Kusha las Payas” confirmed that there are songs that do not need context to work.
Guitarricadelafuente offered one of the most complete and dynamic concerts of the two days. Álvaro Lafuente demonstrated from the first song that he knows how to move between the intimate and the extravagant without anything being forced: he started with “Full time papi”, went through a modern rumba, sat down at the piano to climb towards the epic in “Puerta del Sol” – with the fog of smoke filling the stage -, he lowered the euphoria again to raise the sentimental with him and the guitar, and started dancing with his most festive cuts. There was an especially human moment when he interrupted “Guantanamera” to ask for medical attention for someone in the audience, returning to it alone with the guitar minutes later. “Tramuntana” closed in a theatrical manner, with him held high behind the large screen in the background, in what was probably the most rounded closing of the night. Together with Leeches, the clear winners of Friday.
Guadiana leeches They transformed the stage into the exterior of an Extremaduran garage and turned that space into the most lively place in Magdalena during their performance. The band from Casas de Don Pedro arrived with stage 2 completely full and played a set that ranged between modern flamenco rock with dense guitars “Puñales de Plata” and more purist moments “Yesca”, passing through their most rocking and hard-hitting records “100 Amapolas”. There was an organ, guitars that oozed intensity, there was a dedication to Robe Iniesta that warmed the hearts of those who knew what it meant. The audience sang the beginnings of their songs. best-known songs while cell phones filled the air. The electronic fusion of the closing “take me to my Extremadura”, with some Crystal Castles mixed with their own style, was the best finishing touch to a performance that confirmed that Sanguijuelas are already playing in another league.
Rusowsky He closed the night on the Main Stage with a show that started out being more experimental than expected and got back on track as it progressed. “ALTAGAMA” started with a lot of base, sample and few lyrics, with the musicians still not fully positioned behind the instruments, in a phase more of a laboratory than a concert. When he announced the “romantic moment” and got on the keyboard, the show found its place. The best-known cuts, including “Her” and the closing Latin rhythms, unleashed what the public had been waiting for for a while. He ended up extending “malibU” as long as possible, with the people completely devoted, in a farewell that seemed to never want to end.
Saturday arrived with the venue fuller from the first hour and the feeling that the poster had a lot to say. Xoel Lopez He opened the afternoon on the Estrella Galicia Stage with a larger audience than there usually is at that time. The Galician built a set of songs that walked the line of pop rock with steps diverted towards the sounds of the world in a subtle way, with a lot of chorus and a perfectly meshed band of four musicians that did not need more words than just the right ones. The first chords of his best-known songs “Historia Universal” or “Tierra” raised the first jubilations of the afternoon, and the final stretch, with “Campos de Castilla para siempre” gaining momentum and an almost Juan Luis Guerra closing in “El tigre de Bengala”, was one of the most celebrated of the day.
The USSR They provided the roughest counterpoint of the afternoon. Post-punk, punk-rock, all at the same time and at a lot of volume. Its singer soon freed himself from the microphone stand and surrendered to his usual rhythmic spasms while the harshly critical and acidic lyrics married perfectly with a dense and pounding sound. The guitar of “Cristal” was one of the moments where the instrument acted as another main actor. Intense and without concessions.
Carlos Ares It was Saturday’s great performance. The Galician arrived on stage with his usual lineup—among them the Cantabrian Marcos Cao—and a very measured show that changed the usual intros of his songs, giving a twist to the usual structure that at first left the audience somewhat misplaced but which ended up functioning as a declaration of confidence in his own material. The bass started alone in “Materia Prestada”, there was an interlude without lyrics that raised the tension before the most emotional moments. “La Boca del Lobo” was the collective outburst: the audience’s “lololo” sounded so loud that Ares remained silent on stage for a couple of minutes before taking up “Peregrino”, leaving the people to sing alone. Without a doubt, Carlos Ares rivaled Siloé in songbook and audience.
Bizarre Love Triangle They came to the Repsol Stage to do exactly what they have been doing for years and for which they continue to be irreplaceable. Veterans seasoned on hundreds of fronts, their whirlwind of sound—with Isa’s bass as the backbone—functioned as a wall of intensity that moved those who were willing to let themselves go. His lyrics continued to match his rough and unadorned style. “I Steal Your Time”, “Kill a King” or “My Cathedral” shook heads, tamed hips and propelled arms high.
Siloam (cover photo) were Saturday’s undisputed headliner in their own right. The band from Valladolid arrived at the Estrella Galicia Stage with the most dedicated audience of the two days and they returned it with interest. The set started with “Emotional Terrorism” and a contained sound, but of enormous quality, which grew to stadium moments, supported by live projections with good effects that blended with the omnipresent red with which they built their own visual universe. Fito Robles interacted, lived each song and motivated the rest with an energy that spread throughout the venue. Carlos Ares took the stage in “Esa Estrella” and received one of the best reception of the night. The set drifted towards its more electronic side with Depeche Mode textures before returning to more direct emotion with “Quédate Esta Noche” and “Campo Grande”. The encore came with a plea in favor of music and live shows and venues, with Fito getting into the audience, before “All the kisses” put the final point to one of the most complete concerts at Santander Music.
Rat They generated expectations before leaving and did not disappoint. The Murcian band arrived with the audience already positioned and with t-shirts that rivaled those from Siloé in number. There are only two musicians on stage and sometimes someone else was missing, but Dani Sabater on drums was a spectacle in itself: he didn’t stop for a second. They have songs that work, an almost stoner moment with “De Mal en Peor” in which the guitar sounded like pure Queens of the Stone Age. “Tipos Duros” showed off that vocal duality in the lyrics that they boast of. They lowered the intensity with “Making Love” before closing with “Yo de Mayor Quiero ser Yo” that unleashed the most continuous pogo of the night, with Félix lowering the bass to the audience. Still green in some sections, but with everything necessary to grow.
Pignoise They arrived late to the stage, with more than five minutes spent troubleshooting the in-ears before they could boot. The start with the melody of Oliver and Benji was the declaration of intentions of a band that played the nostalgia card honestly. Their concert was canonical for a rock band, with the trio supported by an additional second guitar that gave more body to a sound that had its best moments in the most punk-rock sections with “Cama Vacía” or “ Quiero”, when the bass and drums accelerated the pace towards latitudes close to Sum 41 with “Por Verte”. “Sube a mi Cohete” sought interaction with the audience, who sang the chorus with devotion while the guitar was perfectly defined in volume. “Nothing to lose” was the most emotional moment: they started without singing, letting the audience do the work, before Fito Robles from Siloé came up to share the chorus in what was one of the best moments of the two days. The final “Back to 90s” certified that there is a generation that still needs these songs.
