The second day of the Cruïlla was cloudy and surrounded by humidity tempered by the sea breeze that gave the space a tropical climate. It would be because the meteorology had the poster in mind, dominated by music of Latin origin and Caribbean flavors that made the thousands of attendees dance to the rhythm of reggae, salsa and cumbia.
Latin was not, however, the only thread to be pulled during Thursday’s day, as demonstrated by Judit Neddermann, who opened the concerts by thanking those who had gathered in the early hours. The singer from Vilassar de Mar performed with a silky voice the themes of Lar, the new album that played in front of a small audience, in accordance with the intimate atmosphere of the lyrics.
In contrast to the expansive wave that soon erupted on the Vueling stage with the arrival of Los Van Van, the Cuban orchestra that has been exporting sound for fifty years with classics such as Vamos a pasarla bien, Después de todo or the Potpourri, which made the whole audience dance. “Everyone who wants health, hands to the sky”, cried Mandy, and Robertón asked for a round of applause for Rubén Blades (that the Panamanian returned in his concert) and Omara Portuondo, who at the age of 92 went out to the stage holding the arm of two companions. Seated and with a fine voice she presented a repertoire of salsa and boleros where they played classics such as Decídete, Quizás, quizás, quizás or 20 años.
Beyond the tropics, the Cruïlla offered music for all tastes and colors, a journey from Olesa de Montserrat, where the electronic and festive pop of Lal’ba comes from, passing through Navarre’s Iseo
Minutes earlier, at 9.30 p.m., the Parc del Fòrum was full with 16,000 people and the spotlight was concentrated on the Estrella Damm stage to illuminate the star in his own right of the evening, the Panamanian Rubén Blades, who was returning to the Cruïlla for the second consecutive year to certify the love between the city of Barcelona and the king of salsa, tireless at 74 years old.
Blades showed up on time, wearing a suit and hat, and surrounded by the Roberto Delgado Big Band, a line-up of 18 musicians of which he speaks wonderfully, highlighting the ability to change registers on the fly without losing an iota of quality. A large section of winds and percussion gave presence to the themes of the recital, in which, as he warned, he repeated few themes compared to his performance last year, although he started with the same Mambo Gil from Salswing, the artist’s last album released in 2021.
Blades started plethoric, hand in pocket and voice in shape as he demonstrated with a review of great successes, stories with morals like Plástico, in which he added Catalonia listing the list of Latin American countries. The tribute to Ray Barretto with Vale más un Guaguancó also played, followed by the celebrated Buscando Guayaba and Juan Pachanga, from his time at the Fania All Stars in 1977, with a huge photograph of New York in the background. And this first part of the concert did not lack hits such as Te están buscando, the allegation against domestic violence En su casa, Amor y Control, or the tribute to the Venezuelan María Lionza (“Saca a Maduro de Venezuela, dale a su pueblo la libertad”).
In the middle of the concert, Blades covered the songs of Salswing with Watch what happens and Do I hear four?, two songs in English in which the adopted New Yorker showed that it was true that Roberto Delgado can become a big girl when she wants to band At the close of this edition, Blades still had to perform Tambó, Paula C. and Contrabando before it was time for Pedro Navaja, who last night was scheduled to play after Mack, the Knife, the song that served as inspiration to sing that “Life gives you surprises, life gives you surprises”. Maestra Vida and Patria had to close the concert, but not the night, since next was expected the forceful sound of Bomba Estéreo to embroider a Latin and salsa evening unlike any other.
