Was it the break before the storm or the storm before the break? Because this Saturday at the Palau Sant Jordi Sopa de Cabra they unloaded an intense storm of hits before the planned “indefinite stop” to prepare new songs.
Before a Sant Jordi to the flag – all sold out, 15,000 souls – they closed the celebration of the thirty years of the album Ben endins (the best-selling rock album in Catalan in history, more than 130,000 copies) with a lot of guests. They started alone. Solos understanding that there are not few: Gerard Quintana on vocals, Josep Thió and Jaume Soler Peck on guitars, Cuco Lisícic on bass, Pep Bosch on drums, Valen Nieto (guitar, keyboards and percussion) and Ricard Sohn on keyboards.
And with the “Good night, malparits!” by Gerard Quintana – que domingo cumple 58 años – started the first theme, Everything remains the same. “I don’t know if this is the beginning of the end. / I don’t know if I’m awake or dreaming. / I don’t know if tonight will end… / Everything remains the same”. We weren’t dreaming, no, and the night was just beginning so it wouldn’t be the same.
Later, Bloquejats, the theme that opened his first album. With Blujins rock –but with pants, not as the lyrics say– and the Guillem Solé de Buhos company began the parade, which continued with Mai trobaràs and Solé himself, The Tyets and Ginestà and some arrangements looking at the younger audience than He no longer believes in prince charming or princesses. All San Jordi in choir singing.
With the Estonian song I don’t want to change my skin, they were joined by Xarim Aresté, who when the Sopa returned in 2011 accompanied them on stage. And back to the origins, El Carrer dels Torrats, in Girona where it all started, to face, now with Suu, another classic – and few themes of the night were not it–, If you stay with me. Afterwards, a L’Estacio de França reduced in intensity but with an ending still at the limit of the original heavy. The ballad of Dicky Deeming, the legend of “heavy más frío y tranquilo”. The Friends of the Arts came out to participate in Under a Star.
“This today will last forever,” Quintana said before recalling his beginnings, the first concerts outside of Girona. With Alfred Garcia and David Rosell they did a low-speed El boig de la ciutat. Some remember the day in 1989 when they heard the song for the first time and discovered that rock could still be made in Catalan.
With an emotional memory of the Ninyín, Joan Cardona, who extended the losses of Pau Riba, Amadeu Casas, Joan Vinyals, Marc Grau and Carles Sabater, faced Seguirem somiant, with Els Catarres and the mobiles bringing the Palau out of darkness. And with the great Aresté, the version that they endorsed so many years ago and that unfortunately is always up to date, Bob Marley’s War.
And the turn of the most controversial song of its day came, and not because it was in Spanish: Sex (which makes me happy), just before their great anthem, L’Empordà, with the audience at the top of its lungs.
Next, No hurry Dausà), Your dreams (Ramon Mirabet) and Circles. In the encores, Si et va bé, Camins and, again, L’Empordà, now with all the guests on stage. A memorable night, really. A good storm.
