In a couple of generations, a concert of rock Has gone from being too groundbreaking to go with your parents to very classic to go with your childrenbut there are milestones that not only remain, but multiply: there is ‘Rock & Ríos’, the show that in 1982 taught the Spanish rock that might be as ambitious as the international ‘star system’. If then he armed himself with reasons on two nights at the Real Madrid Pavilion, 40 years later he doubles the capacity at the Wizink Center, where the man from Granada revived the old rite in a big way, surrounded by the “sons of rock’n’roll” ( profusion of guests) and slipping a gratifying fidelity to the essences.
Concert of anniversary of an anniversarysince already then Miguel Ríos was, at 37, a “young float” (in the language of the time) that, in times of post-punk and new wave, celebrated its 20 years in the shed. Astute, he managed to see his winning record live, a more contagious vibration than that of studio albums. Crossing the barrier of time, he returned to demonstrate in Madrid using the bulk of the old gang (two mournful losses, Sergio Castillo and Paco Palacios), with his natural drive, a plus of technique and wisdom, and all the literature devoted to the “allies of the night” from the ‘Welcome’ porch.
yesterday’s futurism
The script was sung, and ‘Year 2,000’ and ‘Generation limit’ invited to draw historical parallels and put the lever so that Miguel Ríos will cry out ‘no to war, no war’ between evocative images of the path traveled: the ‘change’ of 1982, the Olympic Barcelona, the Felipe-Aznar debate, the indignados. But the night was going to be long (close to two and a half hours) and, monologues, just.
Mr. Ríos remains, perhaps thanks to rock’n’roll, in a luck of eternal youth, and at this point the (indispensable) artistic ego was compatible with displaying the pedigree of the beloved accomplices: from Antonio García de Diego, a discreet presence on the cover of the album ‘Rock & Ríos’, to the Dutch keyboard legend Thijs van Read, focus. And to share the microphone with widely-extracted voices, starting with Anni B. Sweet, Javier Vargas and Víctor Manuel, this one in his ‘bus blues’.
Ballads, metal and Andalusian lyrics
In other times, ballads made pro rockers frown, but the old postures were left behind at the time of ‘El Río’ and ‘Santa Lucia’. Substantial contrasts, such as the metal touch of ‘Banzai’ (Jorge Salán, exMägo de Oz’, substituted for Salvador Domínguez) and the dreamy lyricism of ‘Al Andalus’, with Javier Ruibal and the heel tapping of his daughter Lucía.
There were more compadreos, with Carlos Tarque (M Clan), Mikel Izal or members of Vetusta Morla, although the most exciting tunes came in a long encore with which Miguel Ríos came to give a tribute to rock veterans in Spanish. The Argentine connection with Ariel Rot (quoting Moris in ‘Saturday Night) and Alejo Stivel, exTequila; Johnny Cifuentes in ‘Move your hips’, by Burning; the retired Rosendo invoking Leño in ‘Ways to live’, and José Luis Jiménez and Lele Laina, from Topo, dedicating ‘My friends where will they be’ to long-awaited figures: Antonio Vega, Manolo Tena, Antonio Flores and many more.
Genuine climax, face to face with the inalienable past and with death, marrying transcendence with impulse to continue dancing rock’n’roll as long as possible.
