For the general public, the Tanxugueiras were completely unknown until the Galician trident participated in the first edition of the Benidorm Fest, the first selection of the artists who aspired to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest. This, and no other, seemed to be the winning pennant for the vast majority of the 500 spectators –according to the figures provided by the organization– who gathered last night at the Guíxols Arena in Sant Feliu, where our artists starred in a new day of the sixtieth edition of the Porta Ferrada Festival.
The three singers performed accompanied by drummer Isaac Palacín and percussionist Iago Pico. After the obligatory intro, they opened fire with Arica, a song from their most recent album, Diluvio, in which they reformulate the deadly sins in their own way. A work appeared about a week ago although preceded, yes, by a good number of singles. This is the third full-length album released by Aida Tarrío and the sisters Olaia and Sabela Maneiro since 2018.
Our tambourine players disembarked in the Baix Empordà in the context of a very intense tour that began last March in A Coruña, and will culminate on September 23 in Lugo, with a total balance of more than fifty dates committed.
Since they gave their first concert in the summer of 2016 at the Esmorga Folk festival in Pontevedra, the Tanxugueiras have written a story that is little less than unprecedented in the case of those who work with traditional music. As surprising to some, it was that the trio in question, which sings in Galician, played a great role in the aforementioned Benidorm Fest thanks to the popular vote. Episode not without controversy, because in those days there were many voices that defended that the trio deserved more than what was finally obtained.
Songs such as Desidia, Averno or Perfidia with tambourines in all their splendor, marked the following episodes of the Tanxugueiras gala at Porta Ferrada, followed by a generationally diverse audience, who attended attracted by the group's musical formula. Aware of the importance and charms of tradition, these interpreters also seem to be clear that the secular only makes sense if it challenges us in the here and now. In this way, and placing themselves far from a museum-like gaze, they propose an update of the thing that leads them to play with electronics, urban breezes, hip-hop scraps and whatever else they fancy. For the rest, there is also a political-social vector in her work that affects issues such as feminism or the defense of the Galician language and culture.
All of which would sound even brainy if it weren't for the effective musical invoice and stage behavior of our trident, who throughout 77 minutes of concert stamped a good number of hits on the soul of those present, always with the festive attitude as a flag . The roadmap included a nice episode with a more strictly traditional cut marked by songs like O Quiero or Desposorio, to later give way to the flow of Coda and the rumba Pano Corado, which they dedicated to the struggle of LGTBI people.
In the following minutes, they also played Sant Feliu Midas, Fame de odio and the stupendous Seghadoras, the last song before encores, which they presented affirming that “we are brave women, empowered women”. Back on stage, and after giving new life to the song that they had recorded with Muerdo (Cambia todo) –which caused a great connection and arms dancing among the audience–, they rounded off their time at this festival with Figa and, to close the night, his well-known and no less contagious muñeira Terra.
