It started with short booming taps on the microphone as a hint that Professor Brian May was about to take the stage to deliver his lecture. Garik Israelian, the driving force behind the Stramus Festival is not just a professor but also a self confessed rock fan so he increased the tempo and it was quickly recognized and picked up as the opening beat of “We Will Rock You? That crossover between science, music, and art is what inspired 7,000 people to sign up for this years event, quite a quantum leap from the 60 at the inaugural Starmus back in 2011.

It was clear from the opening registration day at Abama Golf & Spa Resort (above) that the organizers had created a monster, but I could see it was one they were nurturing and directing well. This year saw a big increase in former cosmonauts on the VIP list as well as Nobel winning scientists from astronomy and related fields. Delegates and enthusiasts were drawn to Tenerife from all over the globe, a young lady checking in ahead of me had come from Bulgaria.

Before the serious science kicked in, I took the opportunity for a nose around the luxury resort, it certainly is flash, boarding the resort train I had a full tour down to the beach past the mirador and the views across to Playa San Juan. Locals still use the beach (they cannot be sealed off as private) but they have a long trek on foot and cannot use the sun beds and train. I bet later all the brightest minds in science would also be tempted to ride the train like a kid in a theme park.

In the main hall Garik Israelian (above) welcomed all and there was a media scrum to get photos of the big names, with Brian May the big prize closely followed by Professor Stephen Hawking, a real coup for the festival. It was an unusual mix of people as many tour t-shirts showed long standing allegiances to Queen and their famous guitarist. Brian May was well on his way to a PHD in Astrophysics before rock fame distracted him, years later he completed his thesis thanks to lengthy research at Tenerife and La Palma observatories.

The second day saw the action switch to the Magma Artes & Congresos centre just below Siam Park, but for once the big crowds were heading into the architectural icon. Brian Mays speech was “A Brief History Of Stereoscopy In Astronomy” and was delivered via the latest 3D giant screen with state of the art glasses for all us in the crowd. The glasses had plenty to focus on, not just Brian’s latest large multi coloured shirt, but also over an hour of amazing stereo produced photos of comets, asteroids, planets and volcanoes. The professor’s commentary explained the development of 3D imagery and its practical uses in measuring space sized distances and creating eye popping photos of new horizons. The Rosetta probe is currently orbiting a far flung asteroid and we were shown the newly downloaded images provided by stereo viewing techniques.

Our host didn’t quite have the same nimble command of the hi tech projector as he does of a guitar but his delivery was down to earth and easy to follow for those like me with just a loose grasp of science. It went down well with the experts like Richard Dawkins and Robert Wilson (above) sat just in front of me and the finish was greeted with a tidal wave of applause. There’s plenty more ground to cover as the delegates take in a star party up on Mount Teide and visit the observatories in Tenerife and La Palma. Then there is also the big Sonic Universe concert when former Yes keyboard player Rick Wakeman joins Brian for a musical blast. It’s all astronauts and rock stars in Tenerife these days.

Flared tempers, gift goals, and missed sitters, all wrapped up with good creative football. That’s what unfolded as CD Marino drew 1-1 at home to Mensajero, there was even a meltdown by the referee that left the La Palma team fuming.

I knew it was going to be an interesting afternoon when the swifts that swoop around the ground dive bombed me as I clicked away at pitch side. Both teams had plenty of quality so it settled into a tight contest with the reds shading the opening 10 minutes but it was Pibe of Marino who had the first decent sight of goal. The forward got into a good position in front of the net but screwed his shot over the bar. Mensajero launched a counter attack with Iray picking his way down the left before shooting wide. Pibe was cursing his luck again after finding room on the right but his shot twanged a post. Aridani joined in the shooting practice pushing forward from the left back slot to fire another wide effort. In between those near misses Aridani came to the rescue to snuff out a Mensajero raid.

Visiting goalie Kyliam was in a generous mood after 21 minutes, he made a soft pass out that was intercepted by Pibe who teed the ball up for Nestor Trujillo to grab a home lead. At the other end Alberto looked solid with confident takes from two free kicks either side of an acrobatic tip over. Aaron Darias made one of his timely runs from right back, nipping between two red defenders to put a cross over that Pibe was only able to put over the bar. Mensajero matched Marino in creativity and looked odds on to score just before half time but once in the goal area they were looking to create a penalty instead of shooting.

The second half opened with another fine stop from Alberto, this one low down at the foot of the post. Amado replaced Sesma just before Javi Machena had a goal bound strike stopped by Kyliam’s knee. Alberto stood firm again charging out of his goal twice in quick succession to thwart Mensajero – he looked unbeatable. There was a sustained period of pressure from the visitors with just over 10 minutes left and the unthinkable happened. Alberto dived to stop a cross cum shot from Fede but missed the ball and Iray was on hand to level the scores.

A strong reaction was needed from Marino but they couldn’t produce it and Mensajero’s play became desperate as they searched for a winner. The visiting bench was at fever pitch and coach Manuel Cid took his frustration out on the dug out, the ref could have just booked him but over reacted and sent him off. The ref had lost it, he dispatched Eslave for the home side with a second booking and also sent the substituted Jaime from the Mensajero bench to the changing room for doubting his word. There was one final flash point as Alberto raced out to claim an attackers ball, he beat his man and rolled some way outside his area. Furious Mensajero players and the bench claimed it was a foul and screamed for a penalty and a sending off but the ref didn’t want to know and soon after blew for time. It was a frantic end to a fluid game between two well matched sides.