UPDATE: The Plaza de España was only missing a mirror ball
World News Update:
Governments, analysts, and media outlets are continuing to follow this situation closely as additional details become available.
It wouldn’t matter who played here. Seeing a concert in the (sorry for the cliché) “incomparable setting” of the Plaza de España in Seville is a luxury. But if those performing are Jamiroquai, the English stars of funk and acid jazz, the experience, in addition to being unforgettable, is enormously fun. The only thing missing was a large mirror ball floating above the fountain. The heat, unbearable during the afternoon, granted a respite on this evening of the Icónica Fest. The thermometer dropped to 29 degrees, which seemed lower. At 10:02 p.m., the 12,000 attendees were getting impatient and whistling for the show to start. It seemed that the British were the Sevillians and not the musicians. A few minutes later the band came out on stage, with the charismatic Jay Kay at the front, its founder and only original member who is still in the band. Known for his exuberant outfits, hats and headdresses, he appeared in a purple felt fedora, a green fringed jacket and shiny Adidas sneakers, his fetish brand. “Hello, Seville, Spain! How are you?!” he shouted in the first of his numerous interactions with the public. The concert, with ten people on stage (the singer was accompanied by two keyboardists, bassist, guitarist, drummer, percussionist and three backup singers) started with “(Don’t) Give Hate a Chance”, with its call to fraternity so appropriate for these dark times. First impressions were excellent. The band played with a lot of groove and the sound was very good: the voices and each and every one of the instruments could be clearly perceived. Singer Jay Kay during Jamiroquai’s concert this Thursday at the Icónica Fest in Seville. Niccolo Guasti Kay looked in top shape, both vocally and physically. He came out on stage with a lot of energy and throughout the concert he didn’t stop jumping, kicking in the air and dancing, with a skill right in the middle between Michael Jackson and your brother-in-law at a wedding, but only he could make the result of that mix look good. Then came a triad of great hits: “Little L” (which had to start again due to a problem with the microphone), “Seven Days in Sunny June” and “Space Cowboy”. On the main screen, in tune with the band’s disco-space-tropical-retrofuturist aesthetic, monoliths danced in the style of 2001: A Space Odyssey, with neon pyramids in the background. But the great visual spectacle was in the play of lights that was projected in sync with the music along the entire semicircular façade and the two towers designed by Aníbal González in 1929. After the initial greeting, the second time Kay addressed the public was to send a message of encouragement to those affected by the Almería fire. He said that just three days before it happened they were there taking photos for their next album, which will be released soon, and he recalled that four of their video clips were recorded there. “On behalf of all of us we want to offer our support. Our thoughts are with the people there.” Singer Jay Kay during Jamiroquai’s concert this Thursday at the Icónica Fest in Seville. Óscar Romero The next message was for a happier reason: “So you are going to the World Cup final! I have to say that you played very well the other day”, in reference to the bath that the Spanish team gave to the French team in the semifinal. The audience, as it could not be otherwise, responded by singing “oéoéoé”, and the Jamiroquai leader burst out laughing. It was not his only football comment. In a brief pause between songs, he uttered an ironic “Hydration break!”, and then said that the invention seemed silly to him. “At 22 degrees do you need a hydration break? I, who am 56 years old, don’t need it!” By then he had already changed his hat (now a beige one studded with rhinestones) and jacket (for another, of course, Adidas), and later he would put on his iconic metallic feather headdress with lighting effects. In total there were just over two hours of concert and only 13 songs, which gives an average of 10 minutes per song. Each of them is stretched with jazzy introductions, with variations, with tonality modulations, with repetitions of choruses and with solos, especially percussion and guitar. The bet seems right to us: instead of playing an endless list of lesser-known songs, they prefer to give the public their best songs in an extended version. Other hymns also entered the repertoire such as “Alright”, “Canned Heat”, “Love Foolosophy” and “Cosmic Girl”, the most celebrated of the night along with the encore, “Virtual Insanity”, that song that talks about the world being terrible, crazy. With that song “we traveled to 1997, but nothing has changed since then. The world is ruled by ten crazy people. I’m worried, but we will be fine,” said the singer. What is clear is that we will never stop dancing. As “Disco Stays the Same” says, another of the songs played tonight (and a preview of what will be their ninth album), “the world continues to burn, but disco music remains the same.”
International Perspective:
This event is already generating discussion among political analysts and international organizations worldwide.
Additional reactions from governments and international institutions are expected as the situation evolves.
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Source: This article was originally published by El Español – Home and adapted for our international English-speaking audience.
Read the original article here.