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The night
of July 13, 2000 will be an unforgettable night for many people;
it was a night of mystery, of personal confessions, of a "Pequeño
cabaret ambulante." It was the night Enrique Bunbury
returned to the City of Angels. Coming off a two-year absence,
his return was highly anticipated by both his fans, and the
media
My experience
actually began on July 12, when I had the opportunity to talk
to Enrique at his hotel. To tell you the truth, I was
very nervous, and did not know what to expect, or what to
think; I only knew that I had a few minutes to interview him.
I arrived at the hotel a nervous wreck, and the more I thought
about, the more nervous I became; I opted to go smoke a cigarette
outside. When I saw him walk into the reception area, all
I saw was a man dressed in black with dark sunglasses.
During
the day of the 13th, there was a press conference at the HoB
in Hollywood, there I encountered representatives of SGAE,
and artists such as Bunbury, Santiago Auseron
from Juan Perro, a member of the Angelino group Bayu,
and direct from Argentina, Maria Gabriela Epumer. They
spoke of the state of music today both in their respective
countries, as well as the world. It goes without saying that
a local On-air personality was present and became infuriated
when it was said that Los Angeles radio is the worst. Unfortunately,
it is a sad truth that those of us that live in Los Angeles
have to face.
Moving
on, I arrived at the location, HoB, at 9 PM. I missed Bayu's
presentation because I was waiting for my press pass so I
could take my equipment in. I did, however, catch Juan
Perro's presentation and was very surprised. Santiago
had the audience in the palm of his hand, and in the words
of a fan that was under the influence of I don't know what,
"He is very charamastic" You can enjoy everything from rockabilly,
to a tale, plain rock and roll, all the way to reggae when
you see a Juan Perro show. It's a shame he does not
come stateside much, as he is a much-needed breath of fresh
air.
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Once
again, the wait was intolerable, what seemed like an
eternity, was only a few minutes. People were eager
to see and hear the Zaragoza native sing his songs,
speak his words; they wanted to see the man who radiates
mystery everyplace he goes. While people waited I made
my way up front to where the other photographers and
security were, needless to say, the security team made
everyone's time a miserable one.
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Suddenly,
the ambience changed from anxious waiting, to a mysterious
feeling. Only the meow of a cat that seemed in search of something
was heard. For a few minutes all that was heard was the cat,
the energy was electric in the venue. Shouts of "Enrique,
Enrique" shook the building, as if begging him to play his
music, speak his words. My skin ran cold with anticipation
of what I knew, better yet, what I didn't know was coming.
In an
instant, the curtains parted and the show starts off with,
Infintio, from there, "De Mayor", and "El
Extranjero" Only three songs were permitted for the photographers
in front of the stage, and flash was not permitted, good or
bad thing, I don't know.
A song
in tribute to Santiago Auserons ex group, Radio
Futura was played, along with a good portion of songs
from Bunbury's previous work entitled Radical
Sonora; these songs were adapted to Bunbury's
new sound, gone are the electronic instruments, replaced by
wind and string instruments. Because the sound was adapted,
does not mean the songs lost any intensity or quality, on
the contrary, they sound BETTER.
Only three
songs from the Heroes del Silencio era were offered,
they were: Tesoro, from the record El Espiritu
del Vino, Apuesta Por el Rock and Roll, from
Rarezas, and Iberia Sumergida, from
Avalancha. These versions were very distinct
from the originals, but like I said earlier, no energy or
quality lost. During the playing of Iberia Sumergida, Bunbury
jumped into the crowd causing an already frenzied crowd to
go more over the edge. From his position atop the crowd, he
tried to introduce the musicians.
I'll seize
the moment, and talk about the famous security guards; it
seems as if at every show, every concert, the fans have less
of a right to enjoy themselves. More and more frequently there
are incidents between the crowd and security. I noticed a
sign when I walked into the locale that said, "No moshing,
no stage diving, no crowd surfing." They might as well have
put up a sign that said, "No fun allowed." I saw a few people
make a circle and jump around without bothering anybody, almost
immediately linebacker sized security guards went and separated
them. When Bunbury jumped into the crowd the security
guards took a while to get him back on the stage, after a
while they finally did it; that should be it, right? NO! Now
security will teach people that you just don't mess with them,
it got to the point where Bunbury told them to leave
the fans alone.
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second time was when a fan got onstage with him, immediately
all the security team went after him, Bunbury had
the fan and did not let him go; needless to say, it was
obvious he was not bothered with him being on stage. Tell
that to security, it got to the point that Bunbury
threw the mic down, and walked off stage, not to come
back until a few minutes later, offering an apology to
the fans. One has to ask himself, why? Is it ego? Why
do they, the security, have to act that way towards people?
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At nights
end, Bunbury played "El Jinete" a song from
the world famous Mexican Jose Alfredo Jimenez, the
king of "rancheras." It is rare that a cover is as good as
the original, but with this song, I left with my mouth open.
He left a huge impression with the crowd, not only proving
that he still has a lot of talent, and a lot to offer to his
fans; but most important of all, that he is much more than
Heroes del Silencio, that he exists outside of that
entity.
With time,
Bunbury only gets better. In my opinion, this record,
is much better than Radical Sonora, although
that is also a very good record. His presentation was much
better than when I saw him two years ago at JC Fandango's.
True, the songs are a lot calmer, but the intensity is double
of that era because of the personal confessions that come
with the songs. To be honest, I am having a hard time writing
words that will do him, or his presentation justice. The best
thing is if he is in town, go see him, and the magic he weaves
during his presentations; you will not be sorry.
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