Although the years do not pass in vain for anyone, there are voices that are capable of deceiving time and taking us back to the past by colliding with certain places and moments, such as the one that took place this Wednesday night in the gardens of Cap Roig with the performance by Simply Red. Keyboards, sax and the silky and somewhat flute voice of Mick Hucknall led a trip to the nineties with those soft melodies that entered the soundtrack of the late twentieth century as protagonists of romantic scenes, glasses of red wine and Full moon nights in North American series.
It was the Manchester band’s first visit to the Cap Roig festival, thus adding to its repertoire the legendary soul and pop group, which throughout its career has sold more than 50 million records with hits like Stars, Money’s too tight (to mention) or the romantic If you don’t know me by now. After a career that reached its climax in 1991 precisely with Stars, the fourth album of his career, which remained on the charts for two consecutive years, the formation said goodbye in 2010 for five years.
Simply Red returned in 2015 to commemorate its 30th anniversary. But what should have been a one-off meeting ended with the publication of a new album, Big love, and a tour that reconsidered their future. Like those couples who meet again one night and decide to give themselves a new opportunity, the group resumed a path that has led them to publish two new albums, Blue eyed soul in 2019 and Time in this same 2023, 13th studio album. An album of pop reminiscences that maintains the signature of the red Hucknall, showing that they still have a loyal audience with which to fill stages, even though they have substituted a life of excess for family and calm.
The covid modified the plans of the formation, delaying until 2022 the tour to present their previous album, which culminated at the end of the year with just enough time to publish new work and return to the road. Last June they began their Summer 23 tour in London, starring intimate settings such as the one that received them this Wednesday in some Jardins de Cap Roig with all the paper sold.
The weather was good, and the night was conducive to the cozy intimacy fostered by the songs by Mick Hucknall, 62, who came out onto the landscaped stage to applause wearing sunglasses, a white beard and blond hair, an imitation of those curls that gave the song its name. cluster. A musician who took his first steps in punk before taking a taste for soul and r
“Good afternoon, how are you, my Spanish is terrible,” Mick told an audience of what is usually called middle-aged, to explain (in English) that this was a special night because when he was 22 he came to Girona with a bag of sleep and a toothbrush and slept for a week on the beach.
Another jump back served to continue the concert with the lively Fake, from 2003, followed by New flame (1989) and its catchy rhythm based on keyboards that was followed by applause from the public. It was the beginning of a journey through Simply Red’s entire career, from that Picture book with which they debuted in 1985 to the aforementioned Time, from which they usually don’t play more than three songs on this tour. In between Hucknall seemed absorbed at times, as if playing to himself while interpreting the reggae of Night nurse, the intimate Shades or Holding back the years, the band’s first-time success that drew the rabid applause of the most declared fans. A first rehearsal for what was to come with Stars, with which he dazzled the entire audience.
These songs served as a catalyst to ignite the audience and in turn the band. From that moment on, he starred in an energetic concert interpreting the also acclaimed Sunrise to then demonstrate that he is still in shape as a composer with Just like you, a new theme marked by Steve Lewinson’s powerful and rhythmic blues bass, in which Huckney disappeared to showcase Kevin Robinson’s trumpet and Kirkham’s sax.
With Come to my aid and Ain’t that a lot of love, samples of that trademark mixture of soul and pop, Hucknall showed that he keeps his vocal power in good shape before moving on to a disco finale where they played Thinking of you and Something Got Me Started, with that funky rhythm that got the entire auditorium up and dancing before bursting into a party with Fairground, with which Huckney ended up unleashing, dancing to the rhythm of samba while asking for the public’s collaboration. in the choirs.
With the audience still standing, the encores arrived, and Money’s too tight (to mention) resounded to give way to the powerful discharge of Nutbush city limits, expressly dedicated to Tina Turner, concluding with the romantic If you don’t know me by now and the promise of this don Juan with the beautiful voice to return in 2025 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Simply Red. All to stop time on an endless summer night.
