Not too many people
at the entrance of the venue even though it was 9 pm, opening time, and the
small - though nice – look of the location suddenly reminded us the low level
of acceptation for these great artist by the Spanish music consumers.
As we entered first
in the line we had time to check the stage, at the height of one’s knee, the
guitar pedals, instruments, guitars, keyboards, drums... and the setlists themselves
on the floor (No surprises from Barcelona’s previous day set, where they chose Pretty
Baby as show closer, instead of What Kind Of World). Everything was ready for
Brendan and looked like no supporters were to play there.
But the show was
warmed up by Young Hines, who is produced by Brendan and works for the same
Readymade Records label as Brendan does... And most important he is a friend
his. The explanation of the stage as it were for Brendan’s band is that Brendan’s
band is the one to play with Young Hines. He sounded from noisy grunge, megaphone
in – a friend’s hand- to rockabilly but powerful all the time and really was appreciated
by the attendants. After the gig he did not hesitate go to the merchandising
stand to greet his fans.
And a few minutes
later “Mr. Folk Singer” Brendan Benson got onstage with –again- his band.
After greeting in Spanish,
and no surprises, they started over with Light
of the day. Like every gig with a certain level, the beginning was even more
powerful than the previous show by Hines.
And this has become
a golden rule: whereas the first must hit, the second song in the set must re-hit.
And it did. Good to me was even more
powerful especially the chorus by both guitarist/keyboarder/back vocals and bassist.
Then came a song
introduced by Brendan as a “cover”. It was Hands,
by the Raconteurs, band that yet not end up is living a nearly long latency. As
the songwriter said it was a cover of this song that represents the two-faced
sound of the Raconteurs, two first minutes melodic and soft and two other
complex and twisted –even darker- in Jack White’s style.
Sitting pretty, but for the backing vocals by
the guitarist doubling Brendan from time to time, we missed all the vocals in
the song especially that one saying “I can't breath!”.
Brendan asked for the
megaphone that was used by Hines before –no seriously of course-. It was the
turn for Cold hands. It sounded very emotional
and was very clapped by the public.
One of Brendan a
song with the highest number of version, Metarie,
came in one of its most popular versions, where the guitarist has to do the
female back vocals.
Garbage day, was really good but even
though strings were played by the guitarist/keyboarder didn’t have so many
ornaments and didn’t fulfil the song as in the album (god bless, because it
looked like the studio had hired a philharmonic orchestra or something).
Bad for me, was
just great, but the public clapped in advance and Brendan agreed and said it
never ends and when you think it’s over there is one more phrase. We do not
agree, Brendan, that part is to be there. People must learn your songs better.
From The
Alternative To Love album, What I’m
looking for was not one of the strongest by the American author. Specially
during this song we witnessed forgotten lyrics –for keyboarder’s laughs sake-
chords in the wrong place.
But to solve the
problem, A whole lot better came to
show why it is one of Benson’s most wanted songs. The guitar at the beginning intro
by Brendan himself was just awesomely played.
For Keep me Young Hines’ presence on the
stage was claimed by the band. Hines’ back vocals where very good, but the drum
fill in gave the drum player “A score” for the night.
What kind of world to soon for what we were
expecting but cover the place with its innovating and dark sound.
It was followed by Crosseyed, and that is why we thought they
could have mistaken the order, but it was played very solemnly and deserved the
show main part closer.
As we knew, after a not too
long break backstage with Hines they played encore.
They played an improvised song
with Hines, mostly in “vocal style”,
Tiny Spark, and Pretty Baby with awesome back vocals by Hines.
Even though the location was not the best, a very good night and an excellent
chance to see Brendan Benson live.
Arctic Monkeys en Barcelona y Madrid