Zetak, the fusion of electronic music and Basque mythology that will fill San Mamés twice over.

The Navarrese band Zetak's genuine commitment to projecting themselves in Basque and fusing the most avant-garde influences with elements of Basque tradition has just reached a milestone: for the first time, a band will fill San Mamés twice. They will do so on June 19 and 20, with the third installment of Mitoaroa , a show that in its first installment filled Pamplona's Navarra Arena for two days (30,000 people) and that last weekend, with Mitoaroa II , sold out the Illunbe pavilion in San Sebastián for three days (40,000 people in total).

Specifically, Zetak announced a concert at San Mamés for their last performance in San Sebastián, and on Wednesday, they sold out all 40,000 tickets in just three hours. They immediately announced a second date, for June 19; at press time, only a few tickets remained. Until now, no international artist had sold out San Mamés for two days. Zetak will be the first band to do so, and, in fact, will also be the first Basque-language group to venture into this stadium.

These concerts will be, in this sense, a milestone for Basque culture and, in particular, for music in Basque. Never before had they reached such a high audience. Itoiz, the most successful pop/rock band of the 1980s, bid farewell with two concerts in Getxo that drew 6,000 people. Kortatu recorded their Azken guda dantza at the Anaitasuna pavilion in Pamplona in front of around 4,000 people, and Negu Gorriak, in their comeback in 2001, filled the Anoeta Velodrome for three days, far from the numbers at San Mamés. In fact, the closest thing has been experienced in recent years, with the double farewell of Berri Txarrak in Pamplona in 2019 (around 24,000 people) or, this year, with the triple ETS concert at the BEC (around 45,000 people) and the 30,000 people that Fermin Muguruza brought to the Anoeta stadium in June.

Zetak is led by Navarrese musician Pello Reparaz (Arbizu, 1990), who, after his time with Vendetta and after moving to London to study a master's degree in music composition, created a more personal project. Jon Pagola, a music journalist who has been familiar with the Zetak phenomenon, defines their work this way: "They have contributed, always speaking from the mainstream , a musical cocktail that blends pop, electronica, and urban touches. It's nothing new. There are many bands and proposals in the Basque Country that have expanded the language of pop from more minority spaces after the explosion of Chill Mafia during the pandemic. Zetak makes pop in a broad sense, like Coldplay, for example. Music aimed at the masses, contemporary, and, in their case, with a very specific narrative."

Reparaz also believes in Basque, his native language, as a genuine element that gives his music its identity in an increasingly homogeneous music scene. "Singing in Basque opens more doors for me than it closes," he noted in an interview with La Vanguardia.

In Mitoaroa, he fuses his music with an immersive theatrical performance that delves into Basque history and mythology. "Reparaz has conjured up his own unique imagery, not only fictional but also based on various elements of Basque mythology," says Pagola. In the San Mamés show, he will take audiences to 2084, a century after George Orwell's dystopian fiction.

Zetak's emergence coincides with the success of other Basque-language bands, such as ETS, Bulego, and Izaro, who have sold out venues and are capable of breaking glass ceilings for Basque music. At the same time, a new, independent, and eclectic scene has emerged, taking Basque music to new heights and engaging new audiences. These include bands like Merina Gris, Toc, Tatxers, Hofe, Olaia Inziarte, and Bengo, who in turn coincide with other groups with decades of experience on stage or with a new generation of Basque-language punk rock bands like Brigade Loco and Azken Sustraiak.

“After the pandemic, a lot of bands have emerged, especially independent ones, who have revived guitars (EZEZEZ, Borla, Tatxers...) and have become popular on the youth music scene. But there are also more innovative offerings that have infiltrated all levels and are enriching the scene, such as Verde Prato,” he adds.

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Although, as Pagola points out, the capacity of "mainstream pop" to fill arenas, including in the Basque Country, can be partly understood in light of global trends, it's hard to recall a time when Basque-language music reached its current heights in terms of audiences or stylistic variety. Zetak will mark a milestone at San Mamés, bringing together 80,000 people, a spectacular achievement, although in reality it's just the tip of the iceberg of a renewed, vibrant, and authentic scene.