It was not the first time he had performed in an arena in Los Angeles, California. We remember seeing it at the Staples Center – with a capacity of around 20,000 people – 10 years ago, as part of one of those editions of the Super Star Blowout that have already passed into the memory.
However, on that occasion, Enrique Bunbury was part of those extensive line-ups that are offered at festivals and in which, in addition to having little time on stage, the guest artists cannot set up the scenery that they would have in their own concert, in addition to being affected by all kinds of sound problems due to the constant change of musicians on the stage.
None of that happened last Saturday at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, an auditorium for more than 17,000-plus people that was completely filled during the Spanish singer’s solo debut in the same place, favored by the desire that his fans had to see him after a break that was due not only to the inevitable pandemic, but also to the health problems that the vocalist himself faced, and that led him at a certain point to announce his retirement from the stage.
Overflowing with excitement at the return of an idol who has lived in Southern California for 14 years, the fans present – including not only people from this city and its surroundings, but even visitors from other countries – gave a particularly special framework to a show that felt like a unique event. beyond the fact that it was part of a return tour that has already toured seven Latin American cities, that has always used the same repertoire and that has had much more multitudinous dates (in Mexico City, it brought together about 70,000 people, and in Guadalajara, about 30,000).
In that sense, no human being with a basic knowledge of the internet and a clear devotion to Bunbury should have been surprised by the list of songs, nor by the fact that two versions of those songs by Héroes del Silencio – the original band of the same individual – have been presented, which do not usually abound in his concerts.
The most novelty, in any case, was the interpretation of “Entre dos tierras”, the most popular piece of Héroes, which had apparently not been presented by Bunbury as a soloist until the beginning of this tour and which, at the Forum, aroused a hubbub as complete as it was understandable, given that it is one of the greatest songs in the history of rock in Spanish.
Despite having undergone one or another modification, “Entre dos tierras” maintained its original style-defiant and rock-, unlike what happened with “Maldito duende”, another indispensable creation of the Heroes that was present on our friend’s previous tour, which was played later and adopted a rather strange ‘groove’, while the singer got off the stage to sing the corresponding notes in front of the first rows of the auditorium.
Of course, as we indicated before, most of the show was dedicated to the songs written after the dissolution of that band, produced in 1996. And it is not surprising that this has been the case, because the Aragonese has an individual discography of 12 albums in the studio, although the songs of the first (“Radical Sonora”, from 1999) are conspicuous by their absence in the current presentations.
Apart from this caveat, and as Bunbury himself said almost at the beginning of the show, the choice of repertoire was intended to promote the different stages of his career, which means that there were from cuts from the second album, “Pequeño” (1999) -as was the case of “El extranjero”, imbued with a festive cabaret spirit- to pieces from his most recent production, “Greta Garbo” (2023) -like the rockers “Nuestros mundos no obeyan a tus mapas” and “Invulnerables” and the more relaxed “Alaska”-.
It is likely that, to Anglo-Saxon ears, what the Zaragoza native does when he moves away from fusion does not sound too original, because it can remind us in more than one moment of the art practiced by exponents who present all their works in English.
However, for the Latin audience that is interested in the guitar genre and its variants, having an artist of this level who can be perfectly understood is a huge advantage, beyond the fact that what was heard in Inglewood has at times recalled David Bowie, Leonard Cohen and Nick Cave, that is, musicians for whom Bunbury has openly declared his admiration (and who, if you ask us, are phenomenal examples).
That does not mean that the Spanish singer is free from the influence of Iberian and Latin American creators. His voice, which was heard clear and precise, has unquestionable debts to the mythical Raphael, and, to mention only what was heard at the Kia Forum, there are compositions of his that are deeply marked by sonorities of our culture, as is the case of “Que tienes suertecita”, whose rhythm is reminiscent of that of the chacarera, or “Al final”, that has an unmistakable ranching inclination.
In this way, Bunbury offered a varied show that justified the two hours of concert, although, unlike the instrumental section -which was performed by his usual band, Los Santos Inocentes-, his own voice did not look too versatile, anchored as it is in that grandiloquent and cocky style that he has used since Los Héroes became known and that does not have to be to everyone’s taste, whatever your less tolerant fans say.
What he has not left aside either, despite the changes in music and collaborators, is that attitude of a rock ‘n’ roll star that may be annoying for some, but that exalts his staging through expressive poses and that, on the other hand, does not translate into other areas of his life, at least before us. Because in every interview he has given us, we have found a sensitive, charming and simple guy.
In the midst of the voice problems he was going through, Bunbury faced criticism after certain posts of his on social networks that questioned the relevance of the vaccines against Covid-19 and that, according to his detractors, had conspiracy inclinations.
In the concert described here, the Spaniard completely avoided comments on this kind of subject, although the distrust he has of the established order was evident during the performance of “Despierta”, a song from 2013 whose title could not be more eloquent, and which was accompanied by images of television newscasts on the giant screens.
Just a few months ago, the Aragonese thought that his time on stage had come to an end. Afflicted by an ailment that took away his voice every time he offered a concert, and whose origin seemed impossible to determine, he decided to leave the stage until further notice, but maintaining his creative process anyway, since, in the midst of the painful trance, he went into the studio to record “Greta Garbo”.
After finally finding a doctor who determined that the problem was due to an allergy to glycol, a substance present in the smoke machines used in this type of presentation, Bunbury opted to resume the shows, although he did so very cautiously, initially scheduling 10 performances instead of the long series he used to offer every time he took the route.
At the Forum, his throat behaved wonderfully, and it does not seem to have given him any inconvenience in the previous shows, which suggests that there will be more opportunities to see him live. And that is worthy of celebration.
Photo Credit: Andy Keilen
