Luck triumphed over a lack of publicity when the nostalgic guitar sound of The Kinks classic “You Really Got Me” grabbed my ears as I wandered back from my Los Cristianos beach swim. A quick word with the lead singer gave me the joyous news that The Pows were warming up for a Friday night free performance on the steps of Los Cristianos church later in the evening.

I’ve been a long time fan of Pornosurf, who started out doing covers of The Ramones, and was keen to see The Pows who have evolved from the El Medano based rockers. Originally not a poster or banner could be seen to promote the evening gig but some publicity had appeared an hour later when I returned. It turned out to be a promotional night for the new Movimiento Del Pueblo party, ahead of the local council elections a week later. They were also raising awareness of the political crisis that is ripping Venezuela apart, strong ties exist between the Canaries and the South American country and it is often referred to as the 8th island due to decades of movement between the two continents. Pressing local needs were also being addressed through food collections for the El Fraile food bank, La Buena Estrella, and Caritas, the catholic charity that does so much good work. More advance publicity would have helped all those causes and attracted more than the small gathering of curious passers by as the first band Meneses kicked off the evening.

Meneses started with some quite obscure old rock in Spanish, good stuff though, and they mixed in some classics like Queen and The Police covers. The event was aimed at a mix of nationalities, the MDP leaflets were in Spanish and English, they are actively targeting the ex pat voters. A friend enlightened me, the Meneses singer,Arturo, performs at The Moonlight Bar in Fañabe on Wednesday afternoons, and has been known to play a double bass. There´s always at least one “extrovert” at outdoor free events, one chap seemed to have had a few rock and roll Woodbines and was knelt down singing to the speakers. The bars around the plaza were doing a brisk trade and young children were dancing with their parents.

After a break for political speeches, The Pows took to the stage area and launched into “Born To Be Wild” , that set the tone for some cracking tunes from across the decades.The five piece band were a bit squeezed into a corner to the side of the church and had minimal lighting, but the sound system was up to scratch and they knew how to bang out some infectious favourites. The two male guitarists and singer, were joined by a female drummer, and female percussionist as they dipped into the back catalogue of The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, and even some Jimi Hendrix. One of my stand out tracks was a rousing version of The Beach Boys oldie, Barbara Ann.

As the music sped along, more people began to stop off in the plaza, and the more mature fans showed a clean pair of heels to many of the younger dancers. There was no messing around or show boating from The Pows, they lived up to their name. One guitar chord would just be making its exit as they launched into another up beat delivery. The Pows held court for over an hour and had the new converts bopping to their every tune. A large percentage of those in the plaza were holiday makers, as a recruiting exercise for the MDP it must have had quiet a limited effect but it was another welcome use for the church plaza to go with the classical organ nights wafting out of the building, and the frequent skateboard competitions in the plaza.

The Pows are a very busy band, you should be able to catch them in the south of Tenerife , their Facebook page will point you in the right direction, and many of their gigs are free. It’s always great to see live music, and The Pows were real crowd pleasers.