“They are our childhood, we are from Jaén and we grew up with the Chichos”; “Whenever we went on a trip, my husband would put them on. We are missing him, but we continue and since my grandson and his friend like flamenco, so here we are.” These are some of the comments that the classic flamenco rumba band sparks among an intergenerational audience gathered at the doors of the Sant Jordi Club Barcelona. Everything had been sold out for weeks and the group’s oldest followers, but also the young ones, were warming their palms before starting. It was also useful to mitigate the cold.
The trio made up of the brothers Julio and Emilio González Gabarre, and the latter’s son, Emilio González García, after the death of ‘Jero’, gathered this Saturday in Montjuïc nearly 5,000 fans who had given in advance, who had expected, impatient, to witness the great farewell party of the kings of flamenco rumba. The goodbye will finally have a second delivery forced by the ‘sold out’: a new date has been announced for November 29. The title of the tour is an eloquent “this is how far we have come.”
Inside the venue there was a desire to party and dance. No experiments. Those present knew what they were going to see and the Chichos, after fifty years of experience, have nothing left to prove. Marginalized by the media and the industry during their beginnings for being “too gypsy” – according to the Philips label – and marginal, they were able to mark the path of a genre closely linked to the streets, with stories, with stark lyrics and catchy music. from the outskirts told to the rhythm of clapping and guitar chords with which they sold millions of records. Its melodies, the soundtrack of the prisons of the seventies, have been sung at Sant Jordi in an unusual and extraordinary musical journey embedded in popular culture.
No play of lights, no grand entrance. The chords of Sea as Sea marked the beginning of the gypsy party and the audience jumped in unison when they saw the hosts enter. “Bona nit Barcelona”, introduces Emilio González Gabarre and then dedicates Son Ilusiones to his fans. “For the artist there is no better appreciation than the public,” shouts Emilio González García, to which the room responds with a theatrical “Olé!”
Without time to assimilate it, A Compra Venta arrives, followed by Cruel Woman, Ni tu ni yo and Hate. Sant Jordi craved classics and the Chichos granted it: Don’t play with my love, sinful love, calla chiquitín, Medley, and Farruquito stand out as popular hymns.
Already in the last section of the wild celebration, one of the most anticipated songs arrives, El vaquilla. A song embedded in popular culture that invites those present to take up the choirs. It is followed by La Cachimba, Come with me Gitana and Libre, a tremendous moment of the concert to the rhythm of Julio González Gabarra’s clapping and with the audience singing practically the entire song. The Chichos are no longer up to so much trotting. With the concert about to come to an end, the trio leaves the focus to Emilio González García to sing Déjame solo, which is followed by Bailarás con Joy and La historia de Juan Castillo.
Los Chichos say goodbye, promising surprises for November 29, but a repeated “other” and “those Chichos” end up starting an inevitable last song from the trio. The finishing touch is, as it could not be any other, No more, no less. What was their first LP thus closes a round evening that fulfills its mission: saying goodbye to some giants of Spanish musical history and elevating flamenco rumba.
