Inside Amplifest: Ana Póvoas (Hard Club)
Hard Club
Hard Club
Hard Club, with its blood-red painted iron structure, is the very heart of Amplifest. An historic building that dates back to the 18th century, it stands in one of the most beautiful parts of Porto, with a view to the Douro river and only minutes away from the city center. Originally intended to function as a market, it has been renovated as a music venue. Hard Club holds two rooms, Sala 1 and Sala 2, with a capacity for 1000 and 400 people respectively. Between these two rooms, a large corridor – the mainfloor – will welcome the Amplitalks, merchandise stands and the record stalls and also serve as a communal area to hang out between shows.
Ana Póvoas, the programmer, shared a few words about this year’s edition:
This is the 4th Amplifest editon held at Hard Club, but what do you expect of the Amplifest audience?
As the editions pass by, there’s for sure a much more close relation between the audience, the festival and the venue. As always, we expect them to come to watch great bands and great shows and that they can enjoy themselves.
As Hard Club’s manager, what can the audience expect from the venue?
The audience can expect great infrastructures and conditions, this is a venue that holds two rooms (400/1000 standing people), an exhibition area, a restaurant, a terrace, merchandise store, bars, so nobody needs to go out and miss bands to fulfill their needs. Housed since September 2010 in Mercado Ferreira Borges, building classified by UNESCO as World Cultural and Arquitectural Heritage and by IGESPAR as Building of Public Interest, visiting Hard Club means, as well, to visit a Portuguese monument that receives more them 600 shows per year and that shows itself as a touristic attraction and a stage of emotions.
What band do you really want to see at this year’s edition?
To come to Amplifest is more than to come to watch bands playing live. This is an event that works, as well, as a meeting point between all the music lovers around the world, and that is a big achievement for the organizers. In what my music taste is concerned, I’ll enjoy a lot to watch again one of my favorite bands, Cult Of Luna, but I’m sure that I’ll do my best to see, at least, the biggest part of them!
What records have you been listening to lately?
Maybe you’ll find it strange, but, besides all the metal related music about which I’m always aware, lately I’ve been listening to a more indie approach, bands such as Wild Beats, Darkside, Warpaint, Woodkid, etc. Just to be different!
Enough about music, Amplifest is also about other arts. What books have you been reading and what movies have you been watching lately that you want to recommend?
I always start the year reading a book of a Portuguese author, in this case was “In Your Desert” written by Miguel Sousa Tavares. Unfortunately, as the time is not allowing me to do anything besides to work, that’s it: no tv, no cinema, no books!