By Francisco Camero.
Seville. Coldplay and Oasis sound over the public address system. U2 is missing until someone at the control table clicks One (which otherwise yes, excited as before). A night of stadium rock. Are 20.30 and in the already practically full stands of the Estadio de la Cartuja the public spends time cheering the planes that fly over the venue regularly. When the third passes, thousands of people listen to Heroes, and the moment is beautiful, because the aircraft flies relatively low, oblivious to the crowd (one thinks, in any case, that with this Bowie song in the background even a betrayal could seem beautiful or evocative).
There are a lot of black t-shirts, lot band logo, also an immense bottle that leaves the surroundings of the stadium at the end of the concert with an appearance between post-nuclear and filthy.. There are many young people who, given their apparent age, are going to see a Héroes del Silencio concert for the first time., a group wrapped in an aura that is difficult to explain, related to a proud and passionate fidelity, manufactured much more with the affection of its followers than with a thoughtful count of virtues.
It may seem obvious, oh well, we'll say it anyway: shows like this would not be without the public, in the end so important (if not more) like the musicians in a gigantic mise en scène tacitly agreed upon by everyone as an act of reciprocal sentimental and biographical recognition. And in summary, the unanimous cry of more than 70.000 moves people. This happened at 21.08, time when the five musicians came out (Enrique Bunbury, Pedro Andreu, Joaquín Cardiel and Juan Valdivia, classical training, plus the addition Gonzalo Valdivia) They made an appearance on stage. There were those who cried and there were those who dedicated the remaining time to singing the night's repertoire in their partner's ear..
The pond, with the band's characteristic arpeggios, opened the concert, which lasted for about two hours and forty-five minutes. Plenty of time for those from Zaragoza to play all their anthem songs and the odd surprise (Blessed and Awakened, two songs normally banished from their live shows).
out to sea, The letter, Undo the world, The Stranded Mermaid and The Appearance acted as lightning bolts in the first batch of songs.. Then, thirsty and melodramatically exhausted, Bunbury asked the audience that surrounded the catwalk along which the singer ran up and down for a drink, like a gesticulating doll, Well, that's what it seemed like seen from the very distant stands.. The cup was given to him, but do not think that immediately (an idol is an idol, but he doesn't pay for the drinks and he also usually earns many more euros than one, And of course the public also knew this.).
They took a while to give him the cup, vaya, but everyone vibed with Bunbury, hopelessly leader and showman and attention hog and kisses and cries. There will be many more reasons, and the next one may not even be the main one, But one of the reasons why Bunbury tends to be disliked by non-fans is his proverbial vocation as a rock star., epic ringleader, eccentric and theatrical at one time (the nineties) against the grain in which the model was more that of Thom Yorke apologizing for being alive, let alone on stage.
How there is a time for everything, y alarde tecnológico mediante (de repente, en el extremo de la pasarela que se adentraba en el público, surgió desde el suelo una batería y varios micrófonos), Bunbury condujo a sus viejos colegas a este sitio, donde los presentó –con especial entusiasmo a a Juan Valdivia– y recordó el pasado y según él la verdadera condición del grupo: “Una banda de bares con barra de cerveza y cuatro focos. Así empezamos”, said, antes de que la formación se dedicara durante un buen rato a interpretar un cancionero más pop, más sereno e intimista (en la medida de lo posible, clear, teniendo en cuenta el lugar), en el que se incluyeron composiciones como La herida, Héroe de leyenda y, entre otras, Apuesta por el rock & roll, su momento aproximadamente country.
El tramo final fue coser y cantar. Nueva partida de temas emblemáticos: The sea does not stop, “uno de los favoritos de todos nosotros”, aseguró Enrique Bunbury, Entre dos tierras, Maldito duende, Iberia sumergida, Avalanche, Nuestros nombres… A la fiesta se sumó Phil Manzanera, cofundador de Roxy Music y productor de algunos discos de Héroes del Silencio que ayer tocó la guitarra con sus amigos. Y así se sucedieron las batallas ganadas de antemano hasta que llegó En brazos de la fiebre y con ella, el fin de este apéndice fugaz en la historia del grupo (de las descorazonadoras causas de la necesidad de las discográficas de confiar sus éxitos apabullantes a bandas resucitadas hablamos mejor en otra ocasión, aunque no hay mucho que rascar y son evidentes).
Otherwise, pasada una hora y media del final del concierto, una cantidad importante de personas aguardaban en las inmediaciones del Estadio de la Cartuja la llegada de autobuses, insuficientes según algunas de las presentes. A lo mejor alguien de este grupo vio a Juan Valdivia asomado en un balcón del hotel de este recinto, con la cabeza apoyada en su mano y gesto cansado y emocionado, cuentan quienes lo vieron. Y entonces, de nuevo, corrieron lágrimas. Emoción a flor de piel, in the end.