Saturday night at the Cruïlla had Placebo as its main course, which appeared at 11:15 p.m. before an expectant audience to see the English after 6 years without going through Barcelona and nine, until last year, without publishing new material. They did it with Never let me go, a record that played profusely last night (they played 9 of the 13 songs on the LP) to the bewilderment of some fans who hadn't heard it much, which didn't prevent the songs from finding a connection with the public thanks to catchy melodies like those of Beautiful James or Try better next time, which they know preserve the classic sound of the band.
Brian Molko came out on stage in rigorous black, long hair and a small mustache. Next to him Stefan Olsdal, in a tank top, played bass, changing it on occasion to guitar. Without saying a word, they launched into the heavy guitars of Forever Chemical, the first song from their new album that served as a preview of the paths the hour and a half concert would take.
The good connection of the band with the public was soon noticed, which did not stop dancing and celebrating the songs as soon as they were offered as Scene of the Crime, Hugz or Happy Birthay in the Sky, the song that Placebo wrote as a tribute to David Bowie after the death of the genius. In turn, Brian Molko, who changed his guitar for practically every song, expressed his satisfaction at the good reception of the new songs, going so far as to say "molt bé" on up to three occasions after performing Sad White reggae to the uproar of the public, who he was having a great time. This was helped by the enveloping game of lights and images with a strong presence of Matrix green, magenta and copper colors, as well as some distorted and blurred images of the concert that transferred a psychotic atmosphere in some bars of the performance.
Without detracting from the success of the band's new songs last night, the real winners found themselves in the past, a trip back that monopolized the second part of the concert since For what it's worth was played, followed by Slave to the wage and Song to say goodbye, chanted by the public as was the fast pace of The bitter end. After Infra-red, the band said goodbye to return (something rare at festivals) with the long-awaited encores by Shout and Running up that hill to close a concert that left those attending Cruïlla with a very good taste in their mouths.
Before the English began their performance, Leiva had done the same, guitar in hand and with his inseparable hat started the concert performing I love you indecisively before an audience of unconditional fans who did not stop chanting the songs by the Madrid native who played last night as Estrella Polar, Princess, Terribly cruel or Lady Madrid. The musician, who arrived at the festival as part of the "when you bite your lip tour", recalled that he had given his first concert after the pandemic at Cruïlla, with the audience still wearing the mask.
Around the same time, Amaia Romero presented the songs from her latest work, When I Don't Know Who I Am, on the Vueling stage. The Navarrese artist used her delicate voice to charm the audience with songs like I like the world, while she performed some songs alone on the piano, like in Quiero pero no, accompanied only by a spotlight that was pointed at her face, or The song that I don't want to sing to you, chanted at the beginning of it by the public.
The atmosphere became more festive after midnight with the appearance of Parov Stelar, the Austrian dj who made the thousands of people who gathered in front of the Oxfam-Intermón stage dance with his offer of Electro-swing, a proposal that It was complemented by the one offered at the same time by the Stay Homas. The trio made up of Klaus Stroink, Guillem Boltó and Rai Benet offered their effective formula of casual rhythms and positive lyrics to make the thousands of people gathered on the Vueling stage dance, just like they did running from one side to the other, haranguing the public and shooting gift t-shirts. For a long hour, hits such as The bright side, Let it out or No vull Baixar played, along with songs from his second album, Homas, with the same festive and sing-along theme as Ese beso, the Caribbean La Platja or Morir Viviendo, all performed in an effective way. Songs that attracted a young audience until the end of the performance, with Ho tornaria a fer and the track filled with the lights of mobile phones.
