Lluís Llach and Barnasants revive the spirit of January 76
Gemma Humet, Joan Reig and the audience at the Palau de la Música sing the songs from the recitals of the singer-songwriter from Verges, fifty years ago.
BarcelonaLluís Llach returned to the stage of the Palau de la Música to participate in the opening of the 31st edition of the Barnasants festival. It wasn't just any concert, but a tribute to the recitals that Llach performed at the Palau de Deportes in Barcelona on January 15, 16 and 17, 1976when the dictator Franco had not yet been dead for two months. Despite being the guest of honor, and despite singing a few songs, Llach maintained a secondary role, applauding and acknowledging the formidable work done with his songs by the singers, Gemma Humet and Joan Reig (the drummer from Els Pets), as well as the band led by Manel Camp on piano.
The audience also responded to the gesture, with thunderous ovations after the performances of Flowers need to bloom at every moment, Silence, Ithaca and April 74and singing and celebrating The little hen and The stakeAmong others. In fact, the audience, which had sold out both concerts on Tuesday and Wednesday, was very engaged, especially during the second half. When Llach appeared on stage midway through the concert, the spectators greeted him with applause and shouts of independence. "I couldn't agree more," Llach said. "It's truly wonderful to see you all here," he added before explaining that he feels indebted to those who organized the concerts of January 1976. "There's one person I'd like to mention, because sometimes those of us on the left always criticize the bourgeoisie, and rightly so, but we must acknowledge his loyalty to his people, and that deserves recognition. The organizer of those recitals was someone who could be described as belonging to the upper class, Oriol Regàs. Also present were the President of the Parliament, Josep Rull, and the Minister of Culture, Sònia Hernández Almodóvar.
The concert program, conceived by Carles Girbau, Xavier Pintanel, and Fermí Puig, was divided into two parts separated by a fifteen-minute intermission. It was based on the repertoire of the 1976 recitals, performed by a band comprised of Manel Camp, keyboardist Anna Bosch, and Bassist Jordi Gas, flautist Sofía Itriago, guitarist Borja Penalba, and drummer Lluís Ribalta. Gemma Humet and Joan Reig alternated lead vocals, each with their own tone, both benefiting from Camp's arrangements, delicate when he played and playful when the rhythm veered towards the blues, as in Flowers need to bloom at every moment and in The Day of the MiserableA piece sung by Reig and Llach with the blues demons within, and in which Penalba and Camp catapulted a very welcome Dylan-esque coda. The excellent rapport between the guitarist and pianist was fundamental in maintaining the energy of a performance in which all the musicians played a significant role. For example, Itriago's flute playing at the beginning and end of Answer me, or Penalba himself with the accordion in My sadness and accompanied by Llach on guitar April 74.
Reig has been extraordinary all night, especially in Song with no name (with what firmness has anti-war rage called) and The bandit and when it has made its own It is necessary that flowers bloom at every moment and On top of a landwhich ended with a raised fist, perfectly in tune with the spirit of the song. It's curious, the stimulating effect of some of Llach's most combative songs in contexts seemingly unsupportive of the collectivization of the means of production...
Humet has also been excellent when he has elevated Silence and Answer me, two of the most exciting moments of the concert, especially when she overflowed with sensitivity singing at the piano Through the force of nights (in a duet with Llach), and when he has assumed The little hen emphasizing "long live the revolution" and making the sexual empowerment of the hen, who no longer wants to spend boring nights, more expressive. Both Humet and Reig rounded off the night by alternating verses ofIthaca in a superb version completed by a wind section and the Escriny Choir of Santpedor, conducted by Marc Reguant. There were also two special guests: Santi Arisa, another survivor of the 1976 concerts, who played drums in The day; and Fredrik, who has sung If it arrives with Llach.
Commuter rail at the Palau
"It is not an act of nostalgia," the director of Barnasants, Marçal Girbau, had warned in a welcome speech in which he recited some verses fromThe Banyoles pincho train"The most beautiful thing there is, made of cans and pots and priests' hats." "Today we couldn't write a song about the shortcomings on a specific line," he added, referring to the rail chaos of January 2026.
Llach also echoed the commuter rail chaos when he recalled that January fifty years ago. "It was a very important moment because we were emerging from absolute darkness, and suddenly, with the dictator's death under the protection of the Virgin of Pilar, we thought a whole range of possibilities was opening up. The truth is that after 50 years, well, the commuter rail is the commuter rail, the school is what it is, it's as it is, perhaps that old saying is true: we will only be by fighting to be. But if dictatorships persecuted us before, now they want to do the same to democracies. Even if they are perverted and very poor, they want to do the same thing the dictators did before. The concert ended with the musicians and the audience singing." The stakeFinally, with the stage empty, the audience itself sang the national anthem before leaving the Palau de la Música after more than two hours of a recital that kept nostalgia at bay thanks, of course, to the enduring appeal of some songs and the remarkable artistic performance of the musicians.