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, and technological display through (suddenly, at the end of the catwalk that went into the public, a battery and several microphones emerged from the ground), Bunbury led his old colleagues to this site, where he introduced them – with special enthusiasm to Juan Valdivia – and recalled the past and, according to him, the true condition of the group: “A band of bars with a beer bar and four spotlights. “This is how we start”, said, before the group dedicated themselves for a long time to performing a more pop songbook, more serene and intimate (as far as possible, clear, taking into account the location), which included compositions such as The Wound, Legendary hero and, among others, Bet on rock & roll, its roughly country moment.
The final stretch was a breeze. New game of emblematic themes: The sea does not stop, “one of our all favorites”, assured Enrique Bunbury, between two lands, damn elf, submerged Iberia, Avalanche, Our names… Phil Manzanera joined the party, co-founder of Roxy Music and producer of some Héroes del Silencio albums who yesterday played the guitar with his friends. And so the battles won beforehand continued until In the arms of the fever arrived and with it, the end of this fleeting appendix in the history of the group (We will talk better about the discouraging causes of the need for record companies to entrust their overwhelming successes to resurrected bands on another occasion., although there is not much to scratch and they are obvious).
Otherwise, an hour and a half after the end of the concert, A significant number of people were waiting in the vicinity of the Cartuja Stadium for the arrival of buses., insufficient according to some of the present. Maybe someone from this group saw Juan Valdivia leaning out on a balcony of the hotel in this area., with his head resting on his hand and a tired and excited gesture, say those who saw it. And then, again, tears flowed. Emotion on the surface, in the end.