The second day of the Cruïlla was cloudy and wrapped in humidity restrained by the sea breeze that gave the space a tropical climate. It would be because the weather 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.
The Latin aspect was not, however, the only thread to be stretched on Thursday, as Judit Neddermann demonstrated, who opened the concerts by thanking those who had gathered early. With a silky voice, the singer from Vilassar de Mar sang the songs from Lar, the new album that played before a small audience, in keeping with the intimate atmosphere of the lyrics.
Quite the opposite of the shock wave that soon exploded on the Vueling stage with the arrival of Los Van Van, the Cuban orchestra that has been exporting son for 50 years with classics like Vamos a pasarla bien, Despues de todo or the Medley, which they put on dance to the whole audience. “Anyone who wants health, a hand to heaven,” Mandy cried, and Robertón asked for applause for Rubén Blades (who the Panamanian returned in his concert) and Omara Portuondo, who at 92 went on stage arm in arm with two companions. She seated and with a fine thread of voice she gave away a repertoire of salsa and boleros where classics such as Decídete, Quizas, quizas, quizás or 20 años sounded.
Beyond the tropics, Cruïlla offered music for all tastes and colors, a journey from Olesa de Montserrat, where Lal’ba’s electronic and festive pop comes from, passing through Iseo from Navarre
Another option was Miss Bolivia and her mestizo music, the one that best represents the spirit of Cruïlla. A long line awaited the Johnnie Walker stage for its opportunity to see the Argentine artist who, at the same time as Rubén Blades, interpreted her repertoire where she mixes cumbia, hip hop and reggae accompanied by a group of dancers. The Miss made an audience dance that had already been moved by Nanpa Básico, who, accompanied by guitar, bass and drums, made the fans squeal with his hip hop rhymes with Latin airs.
Minutes before, at 9:30 p.m., the Parc del Fòrum was full with 16,000 people and the spotlights were concentrated on the Estrella Damm stage to illuminate the star in his own right of the evening, the Panamanian Rubén Blades, who returned to Cruïlla for a second consecutive year to certify the love between the city of Barcelona and the king of salsa, tireless at 74 years of age.
Blades turned up on time, wearing a suit and hat, and wrapped in the Roberto Delgado Big Band, a formation of 18 musicians of which he speaks wonders, highlighting his ability to change register on the fly without losing an iota of quality. A large section of winds and percussion packed the songs of the recital, in which, as he warned, he repeated few songs compared to his performance last year, although he started with the same Mambo Gil from Salswing, the artist’s latest album published in the 2021.
Blades began plethoric, hand in pocket and voice fit as he demonstrated with a review of greatest hits, self-righteous stories such as Plástico, in which he added Catalonia by listing the list of Latin American countries. He also sounded the tribute to Ray Barretto with Vale más un guaguancó, which was followed by the celebrated Buscando guava and Juan Pachanga, from his time at the Fania All Stars in 1977, with a huge photograph of New York in the background. And there was no shortage of hits in this first section of the concert such as They are looking for you, the allegation against domestic violence In your house, Love and control, or the tribute to the Venezuelan María Lionza (“Get Maduro out of Venezuela, give his people the freedom”).
Halfway through the concert, Blades opened up the songs from Salswing with Watch what happens and Do I hear four?, two songs in English in which the adoptive New Yorker showed that it was true that Roberto Delgado can become a big band when he wants. Next, songs like Tambó, Paula C. and Contrabando were played before arriving at the time of Pedro Navaja, the most anticipated song that made everyone sing that “Life gives you surprises, life gives you surprises”. Patria closed a concert that lasted a quarter of an hour longer than expected, although Blades undoubtedly would have lasted much longer. Reluctantly, he handed over to Bomba Estéreo, who made the Oxfam Intermón stage small with their danceable songs, with mixtures of cumbia and electronics, to embroider a Latin and salsa evening like few others.
