How well these guys from La Ludwig Band do it

JumpBarely five months after the end of the last tour in Barcelona, La Ludwig Band returns to the stage, now at La Mirona Salt, within the Strenes Festival, with a new album under their arm, the fantastic Pel barri es comenta, which has just come out. In the live debut of the new album, the band has shown a very good tone, with drive and exuberance, singing new songs, yes, but with the shared feeling that in this minimal pause between one project and the other, not much has changed.

In fact, in recent months, old songs have been overlapping with new singles released drop by drop, and throughout this creative period, the group has never completely moved away from the spotlight of concerts. Perhaps that's why the new album, which has meaning and unity in itself, also presents a continuity that is very well aligned with the previous themes. It consciously hits the right notes to keep engaging without falling into self-satisfaction, but at the same time, it doesn't alter any of the foundational traits of its origins. Perhaps it is a bit more pop and showy, but Quim Carandell, a great poet of mundane things, continues to dance and sing with the same nasal and dylanesque intonation as always, now about heartbreak and spite, as he used to sing about the slaughterhouse of Espolla or the lands of Cal Coix.

And live, of course, it's all a party. At its premiere at La Mirona, the band sounded polished and especially compact, with a musical foundation that always moves forward. The staging is enriched with new light effects, and the six musicians, who haven't fully let loose with choreography yet, are dressed with more pomp than a while ago.

However, there are also imperfections and mistakes, because yes, La Ludwig's songs live sometimes sound out of tune or with rhythm discrepancies. With stumbles in verses and silent stanzas that the audience reproduces from memory. With Carandell's voice strained, raspy, and almost hoarse. But that's also essentially what the Alt Empordà group is: the stunned, almost mocking, demeanor of someone who feels loved and makes music with friends without the pretense of having to please anyone or be overly likeable.

The concert in Salt, almost two hours long, began with the cries of El teu amor, followed by the litany of Rapunzel, both with the bass drum off-beat, very subtle. Immediately, old songs like Judes, and Contraban, one of La Ludwig Band's hits, which were already played on the last tour, appeared. Then came the bulk of the new album, alternating upbeat songs that push the limits of tempo, fitting syllables where they don't belong, with others that are more lyrical and calm. On t’has ficat aquesta nit? was frenetic, starting with the ukulele in the style of Guillem Gisbert and a saxophone solo that isn't on the studio version; and Creu-me, impressive. From old songs they brought back El meu amor se n'ha anat de vacances, Manela, 30 monedes and S’ha mort, the latter with three very amusing volunteers coming up to sing a verse each. And, for the grand finale, the ingenious Millor amb ell, Enganyar-te dragged out like a bolero, the chorus dedicated to Xavier, the sound technician – who is now a new band legend – and, at the end, Mushka's concert ode in the purest Manel style.