Last weekend I took the train at 06:12 from Rotterdam Centraal to go to the city of love, Paris. Not necessarily to visit the Louvre or the Eiffel Tower, but to go to the concert of Guitarricadelafuente (short in the article: Guitarrica), a Spanish singer-songwriter and my most listened to artist of both 2022 and 2023. The whole evening was a confusing mess, because I speak neither French or Spanish, but nevertheless I have never been so grateful to see this artist live. In this article I will give a review of this concert in which I will talk about the live performance, Guitarrica’s oeuvre and the whole experience in general.
The evening started rainy. We got all soaked up in the waiting line outside and after that we had to wait again for the wardrobe. One hour later and the show began. Surrounded by mostly Spanish people, the atmosphere was already fun. The hall was the Elysée Montmartre, which burned down in 2016, so the hall looked all new. It had a classy industrial style, with no LED screens and used almost only light for the performance. The use of almost only light gave me the impression that it is the music that counts, not the performance.
Guitarrica’s music is somewhat pop, but mostly influenced by traditional Spanish music, like rumba, flamenco and zarzuela. From all the traditional Spanish influence the music becomes easily emotional. In combination with poetic lyrics, often associated with older writers and stories, like Don Quixote and 1001 nights, the music has some magical elements within it. His latest album Spanish Leather takes a bit of another road. This album is highly influenced by the album Something to give each other by Troye Sivan, which is an ode to express one’s sexuality and love. Guitarrica has a collab with Troye Sivan, In your room, for which Guitarrica was invited by Sivan to join him on his European tour (from which I almost got a heart attack when I saw Guitarrica live in Amsterdam at Troye Sivan’s show).
As I already said, the new album Spanish Leather has some interesting songs that stand out from his older ones. Like the song Full Time Papi, which is a sensual and bold anthem of sexual liberation supported by both Spanish folk and urban beats. One of his older songs, Quien encendió la luz (my favourite hehe), for example, is about the duality of the night, being either present in the light or absent in the dark. This song is based on the classical composition Hungarian Dance by composer Brahms. Most of the songs in Spanish leather are supported by urban beats, which compared to older songs give them more the pop music vibe. The older songs however, are clearly in line with the Spanish folk tradition, mostly supported by Spanish guitar.
To wrap up, I don’t regret going all the way to Paris just to see Guitarricadelafuente. Although a small artist in the Netherlands, he has won over my musical heart and I still enjoy listening to him daily. If you are interested in Traditional Spanish folk but through the lens of a young and sentimental artist influenced by pop music, Guitarricadelafuente might be something for you!
Recommended list:
- Agua y Mezcal
- Port Pelegrí
- Cabalito
- Quien encendió la luz
- tramuntana
- BABIECA!
- Desde las Alturas
- Full Time Papí
