Zea Mays, one of the Basque Country’s most accomplished and popular rock bands, played a powerhouse ninety minute set to the appreciation of an energized crowd at the Basque Cultural Center. The band which formed in 1997 in Bilbao are made up of Aiora Renteria (vocals), Iñaki “Piti” Imaz (guitar), Ruben Gonzalez (bass) and Asier Basabe (drums).

Zea Mays began their opening set with songs mostly from their last two albums Atera & Adore Kemena Kuraia. A high point in the evening was Kuraia where Aiora starts with a small keyboard and begins singing gently and slowly intensifies after each stanza until the end when she brings it home with all she has. The high energy tempo continued with some of the band’s best known songs such as Elektrizititatea, Oihu and Kea (see clips below). Then the audience got a pleasant surprise when the band incorporated the Human League’s 1981 hit - Don’t You Want Me - into the middle of their song Bi Bihotz, Bi Ero. The opening set closed with their famous Negua Joan Da Ta, with the crowd singing along the chorus in delight.

After Zea Mays left the stage the audience began chanting “Beste Bat” for an encore and the band returned and played Gaur, Hondarreti Ondarroara and then closed out the show with their emblematic Kukutza III, whose lyrics became the anthem of the attempt to save a youth center in the Errekalde neighborhood of Bilbao. After the show a photo was taken with the audience and the band in front of the stage and later the audience was able to mingle with the band, take selfies and get autographs.

Zea Mays left the next morning for Boise where they performed that evening at the Boise Basque Center and the next day at the Boise Brewing. These performances were part of the TreeFort music festival. They then returned to San Francisco and played an acoustic set at Sacramento’s Streets Pub & Grub, which was sponsored by Lazy Rush Records. Then it was off to Mexico for three more shows to wrap up their USA-Mexico tour.

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