Starplex Amphitheatre, May 28
Starplex Amphitheatre, May 28
Last night was incredible! There was a large crowd, all of the reserved seats were filled and a few people were in lawn seating (this is a big open-air amphitheatre- I think I've already expressed my opinion of it!)
The night was hot, the crowd enthused (oh wait, I'm just supposed to tell you about it; not write a novel!).
Okay, to the important stuff! They started about 20 minutes late, but once they started playing, nobody cared! In order on stage from the audience's left: Pablo, Andre, Nicolas, Tonino, Patchai, Paco, and (drum roll, please) Canut. I was sitting on the left side of the audience facing the stage. Most of the guys wore black, Nicolas was wearing a silver shirt that was reminiscent of a guyabera (sp?), Patchai was wearing a wild orange print (The only splash of color!). All were in long sleeves. (I think someone forgot to tell them this is Texas!) During the second set, Canut changed into a bright blue shirt and Patchai into a white shirt. (I imagine they were soaking wet after the first set!!!)
The play list was as follows, the stars indicate new songs:
Intermission
So, four new numbers. Lo Gitano Viejo was particularly popular with the crowd. It went something like this...
Lo Gitano Viejo,
Quiere sacar un bailar
La Gitana Vieja
.......... a casar (couldn't catch all the lyrics)
My guess is that they are going to be recording during the summer break... does that mean a Christmas release of a new album???? (Be still, my heart!)
Lots of smoke, and flashing lights, a nice glitzy (but not overdone) stage performance. My daughter was overwhelmed! Turned out my mother couldn't go, so I ended up eating a ticket. ;-( Everyone wanted to dance with Micaela, though, including one girl who had obviously had too many margaritas and thought she was Fatima doing the dance of the seven veils! Oy, were there a lot of exhibitionists there! Actually, I was impressed with how eclectic the crowd was... every age, every color and ethnicity appeared to be there.
They got a GREAT reception. Most of the audience was up and dancing con sabor! The crowd was loud and appreciative of everything GK sang or did. It seemed to me that they were a lot more playful on stage than I have seen them on TV or on the videos. Pablo and Andre were clowning around, Canut, Patchai and Paco were also getting into some 'Rock 'n' Roll' type silly competitions on stage. Nicolas and Tonino were the most reserved, believe that or not! There was a younger man who played with them on a couple of songs and sang with them on Ami Wa Wa... Georges "Baule" Reyes? Is this someone's son? He was cute, but far younger... about in his early 20s, I'd guess. I think as far as watching the guys on stage, Andre was the cutest and most animated (okay, Canutians, don't kill me! Just think of me as one less in competition for Canut's attention!) Pablo and Canut did the most talking, although there was pretty little of that. I do wish they'd introduce the band members, even the backup musicians need some recognition!
I got a black t-shirt... they came in black and white with the same design; a stylized bull against textured in different colors with Gipsy in the upper-right corner and Kings in the lower-left corner. There was another "baby-doll" t-shirt that had just a plain blue Gipsy Kings logo on white. The only other souvenirs were expensive gimme caps.
All and all, it was a very wonderful show. For whatever reason, there appeared to be no restriction concerning taking pictures. Since I just happened to have my camera in my purse, I took just about an entire roll, although it was tough getting pictures around all the dancing people. I'm getting them developed, and I'll send a copy to Bob for the web page as soon as possible!
I have to "bamboleando" back to work, now! Hasta Luego!
Karen (Still singing and dancing in my head, anyway!)
How's everyone? First of all I'm not going to give a cosmetic review of the concert, Karen already did a terrific job of that, I would like to give just a little view of the concert from a personal side.
This concert seem to have a lot of Flamenconess in it, as least for me, the duende of Flamenco was definitely in the air. The highpoint for me in the show was the solo by Tonino who was accompanied by a member of the backup band who played the cajone (Flamenco percussion box) as someone who has a deep love and passion for Flamenco you can imagine my surprise at this, it was something I did not expect the GK to do, also at one time during a song Canut and I think Paco put down their guitars and played palmas during the whole song (is this something they always do in concert) anyhow for me it was a defining moment for the GK, it gave me the impression that they have not forgotten the history of their music, I say this because in their last CD Compas, there were a few songs where they seem to be experimenting with different sounds and rhythms, even a good friend of mine who plays Flamenco but is not a big fan of the GK notice this when I played the CD for him, anyway the concert was great, the music was passionate and powerful, everyone was in form, Nicolas and Tonino really have a tremendous presence on stage, Canut has a smooth and rich voice, he's a real complement to Nicolas, I enjoy his singing, but I must say it was a thrill just to stand there and play palmas along with the GK, what more could you ask for. I was a little emotional towards the end of the concert when they played Trista Pena I think it was combination of a lot of feelings inside of me, the recent passing of my father and uncle, the joy of finally seeing the GK and just the spirit of the moment, it is something I will always remember.
God Bless
OLE!
Rick Solis