The Estopa have been in their career for 25 years, but they still had some places left to play: the Estadi Olímpic in Barcelona, ??the Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid… and an AVE. All three sites can be crossed off the bucket list this year. The two large Spanish stadiums will fill them in the summer with all the tickets sold and this Wednesday they premiered on board a train.
After a few days of promotion in Madrid, they returned to their home in Baix Llobregat, and they did so by train. Not just any one, but on an AVE with the first car covered in vinyl from top to bottom with the cover of their recently released album, Estopía. “We simply do our job and, suddenly, we find ourselves with our giant faces on the train, it is amazing,” Jose Muñoz is surprised when he sees himself with his brother on the train parked on the tracks of Atocha station and is greeted by the president of Renfe, Raül Blanco.
A while later, while the AVE is approaching 300 km/h, David picks up the guitar and Jose starts singing in front of a select group of followers chosen in a raffle organized by Renfe, which has become the official train of his summer tour. through different Spanish cities in addition to Barcelona and Madrid. “We left the plane a long time ago, the AVE is a comfortable, clean, efficient method…”, highlights Jose. David becomes more philosophical, rambling about this means of transportation before concluding that “the train is a metaphor for life.”
They sit by the window, travelers gather around them and the Muñoz brothers play various songs from the new album while the Monegros fleet fleetingly pass behind them. Although it is the first time they have performed in this format, they seem comfortable, with their guitar well tuned and beer in hand.
Seen like this, surrounded by people recording with their cell phones, it is clear that things have changed since they started in the world of music. 25 years ago there were neither cell phones at concerts nor a high-speed train between Barcelona and Madrid. What’s more, at that time, the Estopa launched themselves into stardom singing that they had a crash with a Seat Panda because of the slit in a skirt. Now, in their latest album, however, they put the railroad in the lyrics.
“We return on the last train that we almost always miss, we have to walk along the platform, we arrive when we arrive,” they sing in Ké más nos da, a song that recalls friendship experiences lived more than a quarter of a century ago. At that time, not even in their wildest dreams did they plan to fill the Olympic Stadium and they would walk back to Cornellà next to the train tracks when the Amnesia nightclub in Sant Feliu de Llobregat closed its doors. Things have changed so much that there is now a grandparents’ home where courses are given to use the mobile phone and there are up to 55 daily AVE circulations between Barcelona and Madrid at a lower price than the entrance fee to a concert.
