Friends of the Arts celebrate "a 20-year miracle"

BarcelonaA pastry chef dressed as a dog, an actress, forty singers, a string quartet, a wind trio, and the unwavering enthusiasm of the audience that filled the Poble Espanyol. With these tools, the Friends of the Arts celebrated twenty years of their career. Or, as Joan Enric Barceló said, "this miracle of twenty years as a group." Barceló, Dani Alegret, and Ferran Piqué appeared on stage like entertainment stars, all three wearing pastel-colored dresses and in a pop musical staging that can go from grandiosity to intimacy in a second. Opposite them were the 5,000 people who had sold out their tickets in a couple of hours when they went on sale in October 2024. The goal for all: to return home satisfied after two inevitably sentimental hours, but without the feeling of having participated in a farewell. In fact, there's nothing to suggest that it was, despite the retrospective nature of the evening.

The Friends of the Arts have the discreet charm of the predictable. Disruptive surprises, just the right ones, like the twist in the lyrics of The man who works as a dog, the self-irony ofHis big hit and bachata without going overboard Everyone separates. What matters, even more so at a concert like Friday's at Poble Espanyol, is meeting expectations with a good show and a repertoire that's, let's say, canonical, with songs that a fan of the group would choose for a playlist. They already did this, given that it was a special occasion, and wanted to reward the audience's loyalty with the participation of the Orfeó Català, which, conducted by Pablo Larraz, reinterpreted songs like All the men of Scotland and added a touch of gospel to Louisiana or the cotton fields.

What always happens live with this song is the ultimate triumph of Els Amics de les Arts and surely what so many groups would wish for. The trio announces it. The audience, only the audience, sings its first verses. Then Piqué joins in, then Barceló, Alegret, the string quartet, and finally the Orfeó Català. And when it ends, it turns out the audience has sung it from head to toe without shouting and with remarkable intonation. Surely aware of the communion that was going to occur, Barceló introduced Louisiana or the cotton fields with words of gratitude. "We would never change the life we've been lucky enough to live. We are certain that we came into the world to do this, to do it the three of us and to do it with you." It was towards the end of the concert, just after 4-3-3, who are releasing three giant balls among the public and before Jean-Luc, the figurehead of the first album by Els Amics de les Arts, and one of the songs where the influence of groups that listened to twenty years ago, like the Hefners of the British Darren Haymen.

"We are the Friends of the Arts, you are the Friends of the Arts," the group shouted like a group of friends spurred on by euphoria at the climax of a birthday party. Parties are remembered for both the good feelings and the tragedies. There were a few of the former at the concert: the structural richness ofThe Arnolfini Marriage, the acoustic color of You don't understand, the string quartet in The Sofia Affair (with the rhyme "Schopenhauer / after hours", which continues to be a legacy, but), the wind-metal trio contributing to the expansiveness of the group's pop and the audience's reaction during and at the end of each song. It will also be fondly remembered that they enticed Jordi Roca, "the best pastry chef in the world," to dress up as a dog and come on stage with a belly-mix of songs"

And there was no tragedy, because professionalism in the stage and music always prevails. But perhaps the way they dispatched a few people will be forgotten. hits based on medley"A belly-mix of songs," as Piqué said. It's also typical at parties that people lose patience and don't let the songs finish or break their introductions. In the first medley, of a character closer to musical theater, the actress Júlia Bonjoch appeared to sing Bed & breakfast; and in the second the trio took refuge in the acoustic format with the string quartet to remember fragments of songs like Reykjavik and I'd rather not.. But neither of the two belly-mixes came close to the effect they did achieve before and after with full performances of songs like The words we choose not to say and The man who dubs Bruce Willis.