The death of Joan Roca, the bassist of Antònia Font, was one of those low blows of life that fit badly. Last Saturday his friends and bandmates – Joan Miquel Oliver, Jaume Manresa, Pere Debon, Pau Debon – paid him a tribute on the last day of Mobofest, the festival born and raised in Sant Joan, in Pla de Mallorca. It wasn't just any concert, nor is Mobofest just any festival. Mobofest celebrated its tenth edition this year, which will have been its last, because it is a festival that was born with a very well-defined spirit (collaborative, non-profit, understanding culture as a form of coexistence, knowledge, collective improvement) and despite the impressive success it has had in each of its editions, it has managed never to deviate from this foundational spirit. When Mobofest began, Antònia Font was already a star band, and they bet on this small festival because they felt a full affinity for it. Joan Roca wanted to do this concert one way or another. For a few days, it was no longer possible. The tribute (a mini-concert with the enormous Bathyscaphe Katiuscas performed by the choir La Corrala; the previous day Maria Jaume offered a beautiful version ofSamurai climbers, another flagship song from the Antònia Font repertoire)will always be remembered. Mobofest too. Joan Roca too, but we would have liked him to be on stage, the tall, strong man with white hair, an indestructible smile and an inner metronome.Before the tribute to Mobofest, the premature death of Joan Roca had been news in the media.Some of the headlines had repeated a rather cliché phrase: “the discreet and reliable bassist”, they said. Discreet for sure not, and not only because his physical presence was striking. His artistic personality was also striking, and without his bass, albums that are true peaks of Catalan pop music –A Rússia, Alegria, Taxi, Batiscafo Katiuscas, Lamparetes, let me add Vostè és aquí and Un minut estroboscòpica– would not sound as they do, nor would the more than a thousand concerts the group has offered in the years Joan Roca has been its bassist, from 2000 until now. Joan Roca was a bit more than reliable: he possessed a talent and musical knowledge as inexhaustible as his ability to improve the lives of the people he loved."Things aren't easy for anyone / inside this igloo", says the lyrics of one of the many hits by Antònia Font, songs that make you smile but also tend to carry a touch of melancholy, as with good pop songs. Now things will be a little less easy, without Joan Roca. I know it's basic and whatever you want, but every time a good, brilliant, talented person who loved life and made it better for others dies prematurely, I can't help but think of the overwhelming list of boring and dangerous scoundrels who overwhelm us every day. I think Joan Roca would have agreed.
