Gizmo Varillas

One Liner: Low-key Black Keys vibes for a Spanish/Welsh groover
Wikipedia Genre: Singer Songwriter, Indie, Funk, Latin, Tropical, Acoustic, Folk, Rock
Home: Wales (via Spain)

Poster Position: Bottom Quarter - Line 25
Day: Sunday.  1pm on the AmEx Stage.
Weekend One Only.

Thoughts: GIZMO KAKA!!!

Just to make sure I was getting that quote right, and there is no way I was getting it wrong because I have said that line from Gremlins about 300,000 times in my life, I googled it.  I would be embarrassed if it was actually "dudu" or something.  Anyway, the four "People also ask" items on Google, after a prompt of just "gizmo kaka", are as follows:   (1) What does Gizmo kaka mean?; (2) Why does Stripe hate Gizmo?; (3) What is Gizmo's full name?; (4) Does Gizmo have a gender?

Gizmo's full name?  Have human beings ever actually asked that dumbass question?  Really?  "Well, actually, his middle name of Terrence was given to him to honor Mr. Peltzer's great-grandfather, who was actually the first Peltzer to try his hand at the age-old pasttime of invention."  WTF google.

Anyhoo, sorry, I digress for sure.  But this is pretty sweet guitar rock action kind of like a lower key Black Keys, if they frequently lapsed into Spanish lyrics.  Guillermo Varillas Kortabarria was born in Spain but then raised in Wales.  His first single was in 2014, when he was 24 and looked like he was 11.  4 albums - 2017's El Dorado, 2018's Dreaming of Better Days, 2020's Out of the Darkness, and 2025's The World in Colour.  That last album is honestly great.  Top song on there is "End of the Line" with 1.3 million streams.

"No War," from his first album, sampled John Lennon with the permission of Yoko.  That disc still had his top five streaming songs - while his 2020 album is definitely the ignored little red-headed step-child with very few streams.  "Paraiso" from the debut disc is his top streamer at 47 million.

Reminds me of those brothers who were here last year.  Hermanos Gutierrez.  Their sound was cool as hell.  The second album sometimes has a Lord Huron flavor to it.  "The Truth Will Be Heard" very much sounds like a cover of some other song that I have heard before (but Google didn't help me figure it out).

I like it.  I'd go check it out, except that the 1pm Sunday show is a tough sell!