Mushkaa's big night at the beach

BarcelonaTMB staff controlling access to stations on Metro Line 4 to avoid crowding on platforms and in corridors. Crowds of very young people checking their mobile maps at the Llacuna metro exit to find the shortest route to Bogatell beach and wondering whether to go around the Poblenou cemetery to the right or the left. Vendors selling unregulated beer who look like assistants for a cycling team. Police checkpoints searching for knives. Running around trying to stay close to the stage. Parents realizing they have no business being in the rites of passage into adolescence. Security officers who can't help but follow the rhythm of the music. The mayor of Barcelona, ​​Jaume Collboni, and people with more or less famous or powerful credentials moving around trays of food in the reserved area of ​​Estrella Damm next to the stage. Very young people checking the time to know when they'll have to leave in order to be on time for the concerts on Avenida Reina Cristina. Hungry journalists, who could be the grandparents of these same young people, are struggling to explain why a 21-year-old artist is capable of gathering a crowd on the beach on a humid night.

This was the landscape of the first night of concerts (Friday) on Barcelona's Bogatell beach: the triple bill programmed by Estrella Damm with Mushkaa, Rigoberta Bandini, and Lia Kali; that is, Irma Farelo, Paula Ribó, and Júlia Isern, three Catalan artists, three distinct sounds, and at least two quite different audiences. Mushkaa and Lia Kali, each in their own way, connect with the world of so-called urban music. Rigoberta Bandini is a reformulation of pop that mixes up concepts that appeal to a less youthful audience. Of course, she stayed at Bogatell. When Mushkaa started the concert at 9 p.m., the front rows were occupied by minors and banners like one that read: "My dream is to sing with you." Like a choreographed changing of the guard, when Rigoberta appeared at 11 p.m., she was met by a front row of people who had already been eligible to vote when Barça won the last Champions League.

The La Mercè concerts at the Bogatell, like Maria Cristina's, are crowded venues that aren't always easy for artists to manage. Admission is free, no one pays to be closer to the stage, and the music is the draw, but not the only interest of the people who come. It's a major festival, and that's the charm. They aren't artistically special concerts either: there's no premiere of repertoire or show. But in many cases, it's the apotheotic culmination of the summer tour. "It's one of the last concerts I'll do for a long time," said Mushkaa, who did take advantage of the performance being in Barcelona to bring guests such as Guillem Gisbert, Maria Jaume, and Julieta on stage. The Maresme concert had a great night, far surpassing other concerts, like the one she offered. at Sónar in June With a more experienced live performance, he unleashed enthusiasm in front of a very young audience. He started off on a high note with Zigzag: "Catalonia gets sexy when I start a tour," he sings. He attacked the salsa excitement of Mimenina And, with Gisbert, the cumbia; he managed to make the night call "sexy sex" as if world peace depended on it; and, in general, he displayed his repertoire with instrumental generosity, now with greater rhythmic consistency and, as always, with that casual charisma that accompanies him when he runs around the stage.

Before the concert, the Mercè public address system broadcast a message of "solidarity with the Palestinian people." Rigoberta Bandini also expressed her support for Palestine. "We all agree that genocide is being committed in Palestine. Our former mayor [Ada Colau] is on one of the flotillas, and from here we send our full support to her and to everyone there. I hope that together we can make some noise and get the governments to do something and stop this turmoil." This was the distinguishing feature of a concert that followed the script of the show associated with the album. Jesus Christ Superstar, with which he already filled the Palau Sant Jordi on June 28. Perhaps with less public waiting, but still with a crowd, Lia Kali closed the night remembering the strength of the album Kaelis (2025), with which she filled two Razzmatazz and gave a powerful performance at Cruïlla, and confirmed the step forward she has taken as a rapper and singer.