Even the God of the rain respected RosalÃa, leaving a downpour for shortly after her concert that cooled a night that had been moved at the Fòrum, with a large number of people and concerts of all kinds, from legends like Laurie Anderson to emblems of the alternative music like The War On Drugs, going through the neo soul diva Kelela or the reggaeton star Tokischa.
The new leg of RosalÃa’s tour of festivals arrived at Primavera Sound as its absolute headliner, closing the night on the main stage on Saturday, the day of maximum audience. An impressive crowd was waiting until 2 in the morning, in a schedule that strangely placed her behind a ‘mainstream’ floor-filler like Calvin Harris. But, not for nothing, the stage where she performed had the name of Estrella Damm, the maximum sponsor. When the time came, the expectation was maximum, even for those of us who had attended her two concerts at the Palau Sant Jordi during the official tour of “MotoMamiâ€.
It was basically the same show, with the repertoire adapted for the occasion, although in the distance from the esplanade, colloquially known as Mordor, the show was somewhat diluted between the ambient noise, the movement of spectators and the shouting of the staff, due to a lot of screen and subjective camera that there was.
In addition, the sound did not accompany, to the extent that the emotional moment of the Hentai ballad had to be stopped due to public complaints that it could not be heard. And she had no choice, a diva like her, but to ask the sound technician to turn up the volume, something very unglamorous, before starting the song again. And there were no surprises in the form of guests either; like the expected appearances of the Dominican Tokischa -who performed that same day- during the interpretation of Linda, nor her boyfriend Rauw Alejandro in the new Vampire.
The emotion that she said she felt for being at home and at Primavera Sound seemed sincere, and even more so after remembering that not so long ago she was moved as a spectator seeing Grace Jones on the same stage. She spoke a lot, especially in Catalan, damaging the rhythm of the concert, whether it was remembering what her “avi Jaume” told her, which stuck with her: “how sad is the artist’s life”. She said that she didn’t believe it, but that the phrase had hers that hers, before emphasizing how much she misses her land and the people she loves. She also did not forget to reproduce the Christian and family harangue of her grandmother, before addressing the ballad Héroe by Enrique Iglesias.
The pros of the concert were her unbeatable songs, which have justifiably placed her in the spotlight, judiciously mixing ultramodern electronics and flamenco rhythm, reggaeton -with the emblematic Saoko as the spearhead- and other danceable herbs with ballads of break and tear , without forgetting his tribute to bachata that is La Fama or flamenco deconstructed with a De aquà no sals por bulerÃas. And of course, last night’s night was not missing, his duet with Bad Bunny, Despechá, a funky and at the same time mechanical remix of Con Altura, nor a finale linking Badly, Chicken teriyaki and a CUUUuuuuute in which a theme is allowed to mutate with a hectic rhythm in a ballad to the ear, to continue crossing drum’n’bass and electrobatucada, with a power that makes the negative details of sound and excessive sentimentality remain in the background.
On Saturday night it was also possible to hear the great Americana by the group The War On Drugs, which refers to both Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan, with harmonica, sax, piano and crescendos of great intensity, all crowned by the mournful and devoted voice of their singer, guitarist and frontman Adam Granduciel.
On the same stage the Italians MÃ¥neskin performed, causing with their hard rock noise the interruption of Kelela’s concert, which had started considerably late and was offering her elegant electronic soul solo with a message of black queer femininity, oscillating between downtempo and dance floor with a suggestive and superlative voice.
There are performances that are worth a festival and that was the case with the presence at the Auditori del Fòrum of Laurie Anderson, veteran and mythical singer, composer, violinist, experimental and multimedia artist and an accomplished “storyteller”, who came to present the show “Let x=x†together with the New York avant-garde jazz group Sexmob, a quintet of veteran musicians led by Steven Bernstein (cored trumpet), in charge of the arrangements, and completed by Briggan Krauss (sax, guitar), Tony Scherr (bass ), Kenny Wollesen (percussion) and Doug Wieselman (guitar and horns).
With such decisive help, the author of O Superman -which is not lacking in the repertoire, converted into a kind of minimalist lullaby from outer space- submerges us in her poetic world, conscientious and full of sense of humor, singing songs and explaining stories, like the ancient storytellers; talking about her heroes, like Philip Glass or Yoko Ono; thus, remembering one of her actions, she asks the public to scream loudly for ten seconds. She also gives health advice and remembers Lou Reed, who was her romantic partner, stamping on a later screen the final verse of the song Perfect day: “I thought I was someone else / Someone goodâ€.
It was an impeccable performance/performance, in which he rescued emblematic themes with new arrangements, beginning with a From the air between jazz and repetitive music. She lectured on the ins and outs of technology before tackling the story of the Gravity ’s angel narrative winking at James Brown and pouring out messages like Every love story is a ghost story, who knows if she was referring to her own.
He sang and recited with a normal and deformed voice without forgetting the song Ramon, in which he dreams of hosts of angels while wondering who we are and where we come from. She also talks about how bad she feels in a Walk the dog served with the voice of a jocular pixie and the freedom of total free-jazz.
He dedicates the song It’s not the bullet that kills you to his friend Chris Burden, known for his controversial performances, with a treatment full of groove and funk, and to finish he saves his famous and hilarious Only an expert, more than a song a narrative that serves to ironize problems such as debt, collapsing mortgages, job and home losses, bankers and speculators, climate change or invasions from other countries.
The artist releases truths like fists wrapped in jazzy borders and rock distortion, being avant-garde and conscientious and without losing an unbeatable groove, showing that at 75 she continues to be a unique and exceptional artist with songs of absolute validity.
