It was not coffee, but the audience that Juan Luis Guerra made rain at the Palau Sant Jordi until it was completely filled, which reaffirmed the love that is felt in Barcelona for the Dominican artist, the king of bachata and the meringue Last year it achieved resounding success during its passage through the Cruïlla Festival. This time he came alone to sell all the paper (16,000 tickets) offering a soundtrack with love as a banner, songs that have gone around the world more than a satellite.
The one from Santo Domingo returned to the Ciutat Comtal accompanied once again by the band 4.40 with the Entre mar y palmeras tour, without new material or lack of excitement. Because their concerts do not disappoint, it is known that Ojalá que llueva café will play, that bachata will be danced and that the bilirubin will rise, themes that add up to years in a perfect state of preservation thanks to a musically impeccable live show.
It was clear to the Sant Jordi audience, where in the corridors you could see flowery shirts, flags of Santo Domingo, Cuba, Peru, Ecuador and Venezuela, and multiple Latin American accents could be heard as part of a representation of all ages with a female majority and many people who were not born when Juan Luis Guerra was already signing the very danceable hits that were heard last night. A hobby with a desire to move, as it was demonstrated as soon as a DJ jumped in to warm the atmosphere by playing arrangements of themes from Guerra himself.
The 90 meter tall Dominican (20 minutes late), wearing a cap, brown dress and white shirt made his appearance with Rosalía, the 1990 merengue that exploded with the 15 members of 4.40 playing at full speed. The Caribbean sound continued to overflow with La travesía and La llave de mi corazón, a mambo key that he raised in the stands, also with Vale la pena and Como yo, massively cheered and celebrated, like the rest of the songs.
The dance and the lyrics launched at full speed dominated the concert with few exceptions such as Kitipun, soft merengue that played in the first part of the performance being the only track from Literal, his last studio album, released on 2019. The rest of the evening went through the pieces of his first albums to the delight of the public, delighted to cycle through El Niágara, ask for Visa para un sueño or lament The cost of life, remembering that his country forms a ethnicity “black, white and taino” and wondering “who discovered who”. A demanding repertoire that demonstrated the good vocal level of a Juan Luis Guerra who took a break in the middle of the performance leaving the band to perform Tú i Como abeja al panal, which included a spontaneous hand request broadcast live on the screens before the ecstasy of the public.
There are so many themes over the course of Juan Luis Guerra’s career that a couple of times he opted for a mix of salsa (Razones, Oficio de enamorado, Carta de amor) “How many want to dance salsa?”, he asked, or of bachatas (Estrellitas y duendes, Muchachita linda, Bachata en Fukuoka, Mi bendición, Frío frío or Burbujas de amor, interpreted by the audience remembering what “I wanted to be a fish to touch my nose in your fish tank”).
He also did not forget to give his love to God without renouncing joy and dancing, with religious praises, such as Para ti or Las avispas, with which he said goodbye before the kisses, where it was planned to sound A pedir su mano, Pink Bachata and of course Bilirubin.
