Serrat and Estopa, the most (and least) desired date

Not even in these times, when collaborations are an obligatory step for any artist, it would have occurred to no one that Joan Manuel Serrat and Estopa would sing together, even less so since Serrat retired two years ago. But this Friday night the three, David, Joan Manuel and Jose, joined together on stage to perform I’m leaving on foot in the final bars of the Barcelona per Valencia concert, which brought together 15,000 people at the Palau Sant Jordi to raise money for the victims of DANA.

“I could say that I would not want to return to the stage for the reasons that have brought me here,” Serrat said this Friday night, “but precisely these reasons are what make me happy to be here.” This double feeling was what united David and Jose with Joan Manuel this Friday night, and also Judit Neddermann with Andrea Motis and Lucía Fumero, in another unprecedented meeting brought about by an evening that was held a month after the storm. It will devastate 84 municipalities of Valencia. Weeks of mourning and reconstruction in which the mud that caused the tragedy seems to have spread to words and reproach. Fortunately, these bad times have been accompanied by gestures like this concert, which raised 775,000 euros for those affected by the storm.

“Now it’s your turn to listen to the people’s pain,” Serrat reproached the political leaders.

Like the Hollywood hero who returns to do justice (“Never say never again,” he said at the end of his performance), a smiling Serrat reappeared on a stage he had not set foot on since hanging up the microphone in December 2022. The Dry Town Boy He showed good form to open with Cançó de bressol and a perfectly recognizable voice amidst the acclaim of the audience.

Accompanied by six musicians (Ricard Miralles did not miss the event) and on a spartan stage where his traditional stool stood out, Serrat concentrated the best of his completed career in one hour, with Everything passes and everything remains, Mediterranean, Time era time, Pare, my street, Today could be a great day in words of love. The musician showed good form, especially in songs like For Freedom, rewarded with an ovation, and had time to remember Raimon, who said that in his country the rain did not know how to rain. “Rain cannot be taught,” acknowledged Serrat, to lament that “those who have the skills to solve problems cannot be taught to be competent to do so either.” He reminded these officials: “Now it is your turn to listen to the people’s pain, and it is our turn to accompany the victims with our consolation.”

Fumero, Neddermann and Motis took over in a group performance where the three performers, accompanied by viola, bass and drums, came together to offer a piece of their repertoire, which included I come from a villagefrom the eldest of the Neddermann sisters. Fumero left lovewhere he remembers that “he who sings frightens his sorrow”, while Motis showed off his trumpet in the cumbia How much do you have, how much are you worth? to end the performance with the emotional In the country of the olive tree from Obrint Pas.

The eclectic musical triad was completed by Estopa, encapsulating in 60 minutes the almost three hours of concert that they gave at Sant Jordi last month as the closing of their last tour. “Estopa Valencia,” said David Muñoz before opening with Tu calorro. Rumba rock download to activate the audience, who proved to be as much a fan of Serrat as they were of the Muñoz chanting piece by piece, The slit in your skirt o The one in the middle of the Chichoswhich played while Chichos themselves played right next door, at the Sant Jordi Club.

“We have taught the world a lesson,” said the eldest of the brothers while remembering the victims of Paiporta and Algemesí. “Let’s be a mountain, granite by granite,” added Jose while his brother caught a Valencian flag from the public in the air. There were no messages this time, Serrat had already sent them (“fuck them,” they simply said), who reappeared to sing I’m leaving on foot with those from Cornellà, a musical unit to send a message of unity to Valencia because as David said, “the poor unit will never be defeated.”