The narcotic majesty of Arctic Nights closed Nacho Vegas's concert at the Mercat de Música Viva de Vic on Friday. It is the song that contains the title of the Asturian musician's second album, Music boxes that are hard to stop (2003). And it played at the Teatre l'Atlàntida in a very special format: as a trio of piano, two guitars, and vocals, with the imposing contribution of the Sant Medir Choir, about fifty voices at the service of a dozen songs, a conjunction of art, emotion, love, and politics. As Vegas said, the insistence of the Mercat's management convinced him to prepare a performance outside the script of the tour for the album the album Semi-precious lives (2026), which passed through the Sala Apolo in Barcelona. And also outside the script of the Mercat itself, which prioritizes previews of proposals so that music programmers know what is on offer before hiring them. Or perhaps not so outside the script. The inaugural show on Wednesday wondered about what live music is. And these days there have been all kinds of comments that have enriched the debate opened by that Non-concert. But one element was missing. "Without you, concerts and music would not exist," said Vegas, addressing the audience filling the theater.

More than a hundred free concerts make up the musical program of La Mercè 2026, which from September 23 to 27 will turn the squares and streets of Barcelona into urban stages for a great international festival, with musical projects from some thirty countries. Música Mercè, BAM, and Acció Cultura Viva are the three pillars that shelter a program in which, once again, the most popular names, mostly local, gather at the concerts on Avinguda Maria Cristina and those on Bogatell beach. On the first stage, among others, Maria Jaume, Els Catarres, Els Amics de les Arts, and the former singer of La Oreja de Van Gogh, Leire Martínez, will perform; on the Poblenou stage, among others, Al·lèrgiques al Pol·len, Buhos, Miki Núñez, Svetlana, and La Pegatina will perform, who according to Gisela Sais, curator of Mercè Música, will offer a concert with "a large part of the repertoire in Catalan". Two concerts for these stages are yet to be announced: a "surprise artist" on Avinguda de Maria Cristina and a "group to be announced" on Bogatell beach.

There is a gratifying solidity, in Nacho Vegas (Gijón, 1974) from the album Vidas semipreciosas (Oso Polita, 2026), recorded in Catalonia and with collaborations by Albert Pla and Rodrigo Cuevas. With a rock that touches on folk and melodic song, he crafts a repertoire that includes some of the best songs from the Asturian musician's career, also in Asturian. Furthermore, it includes "memory capsules" with the voices of victims of political and labor conflicts (Javitxu Aijón, Anna Gabriel and Adur Ramirez), because, after all, he is "an internationalist red, son of Cristina Vegas, anti-fascist", as he sings in Fíu. This Saturday, May 30, he performs at Sala Apolo in Barcelona (9 PM), well accompanied by Miren Arbaiza, Joseba Irazoki, Hans Laguna, Manu Molina and Ferran Resines.