[This report does not include photographs of the Alanis Morissette concert because the Canadian artist did not authorize photojournalists to take them]

The third day of Cruïlla at the Parc del Fòrum began this Friday with a typically Barcelona atmosphere. "You should tell the foreigners that the word is sha-fo-gor," Santi Balmes later recalled during the Love of Lesbian concert. Before that, shamanic rituals and the overflowing fanfare energy ofThe Devil and the Witch Africa Express opened the performance, a torrent of Mexican and African rhythms. The former, in keeping with the album's material, Bahidorá (2024). Africans, as the founding thread of the project launched by British Damon Albarn, leader of Blur, in 2007, after seeing the underrepresentation of African musicians at some Western festivals. The proposal is a constant dialogue between musicians of diverse origins, now also from Central America, with Albarn occupying a discreet space on the Western stage behind the keyboards, and with stellar appearances such as Malian Baba Sissoko and Mexican Luisa Almaguer. The impact often depends on the soloist, but as a whole it works as an exultant machine of rhythms and refreshing sounds because they challenge the hegemonic patterns at festivals, and for the emotion of the more reserved moments, such as the forays into Tuareg blues of Imarhan, the bolero duo between Albarn and Alma.Goodbye friends, a collision of Mexican and West African sounds soaked by the violins of the American Joan as in Police Woman and the Mexican Bruja de Texcoco.

A day of various tributes, this Thursday at Cruïlla, and with performances that, unfortunately, were overtaken at the Parc del Fòrum, which brought together 16,000 spectators according to data provided by the organizers. On the second day of the festival, the concert that conveyed the most enthusiasm and at the same time the most political power was that of Fermin Muguruza, who returned to Barcelona six months after the memorable show that he offered at the Palau Sant Jordi, also within a tour that commemorates the 40th anniversary of the Kortatu trio but above all it celebrates an exemplary artistic career, for the musical commitment and for the constancy of the critical spirit.

While a few years ago, the lineups for major music festivals struggled to include female representation, the situation has now reversed, or at least begun to balance out. After the Primavera Sound of the Supergirls of pop It's time for Cruïlla (July 9-12 at the Parc del Fòrum), where the highlights are three top-notch soloists: a promising young artist who's already a reality, a rocker who never tires of experimenting, and a true '90s icon (and not only that). Now, more than ever, female voices are on the rise, and those participating in Cruïlla 2025 are absolutely unique.