MEDINA AZAHARA in Miranda de Ebro

The town of Miranda de Ebro recently received widespread public attention because of the tragedy that struck the Romanian community in Spain. But now it's time to talk about happier moments: the concert of Medina Azahara, a renowned Spanish band originating from Córdoba. La Fábrica de tornillos is an old sports hall turned into a concert hall, with a stage and a great sound system, as I was about to find out later. With a small, 20 minutes delay, the band started the concert.
 
Medina Azahara (23:20h. - 1:35h.):
 
The Arabian introduction Bidaiah (comienzo) from the Árabe CD (1995) is the starting point of the concert, followed, also like on the CD, by Favorita de un sultán. The sound was not very good, as usual, but the large crowd of fans that came from a lot of different towns in the north of Spain applauded and sang along with singer Manuel Martínez, who came on the border of the stage. A little pause and Palabras de libertad is the next song, with all the audience singing along the keyboard melody. Guitarist Paco Ventura went near the border of the stage for each guitar solo, while the rest of the band was running across the stage, specially the new bass player Charly Rivera.

Abre la puerta, from their last CD at the day of today, was the first cover of Triana (an influential Spanish band of the 70s), with an almost perfect sound, maybe a little too loud. Manuel M. made a few jokes as an introduction to Tierra de libertad, always getting close to the border of the stage, making the audience sing the chorus. Great interaction with the crowd, and by doing so, he was also making things easier for Manuel Escudero, the backing vocalist of the band! Getting back to Árabe, to play Hay un lugar, with great keyboard melodies by Manuel Ibáñez. Hijos del amor y de la guerra, from Sin tiempo, was the next number of the concert, with an exceptional Manolo Reyes on drums. Next came El pozo de mi sed, with Manuel Martinez forcing his voice to hit the difficult high notes, but with a great result.

Sin tiempo came once again in the setlist, this time with Junto a Lucia, and all the band and the crowd got together again to sing the chorus. The next song was a cover of the 70s Spanish pop band Los Modulos, No quiero pensar en ese amor, taken from Dónde está la luz album. The beautiful Córdoba, a song that the band dedicated to their hometown succeeded, very appreciated by a certain part of the public, thanks to the orchestrations pieces played by Manuel Ibáñez on keyboards. For the first ballad of the night, vocalist Manuel Martinez takes a seat to sing Solos tú y yo. I've never heard a ballad played at this volume. Then came a second cover of Triana, taken, as well from the last CD Se abre la puerta. Following on with Triana, but this time is Manuel Ibáñez’s turn to play with the audience, starting with the melody of El lago, but suddenly stopping and going into a solo moment, with the melody of Lazy (Deep Purple) included. Finally the band started El lago, to the great satisfaction of the crowd. After this it’s time for the drum solo, with an amazing Manuel Reyes; I really wouldn't like to be in the place of his drums... back to the Árabe CD once again, this time for the covers on the bonus CD, to play Al padre santo de Roma, with a little touch of flamenco music. "Quereis velocidad?... Velocidad!" was the introduction of the next track, with Manuel Martinez inciting the crowd to scream as loud as they could. Of course, he got what he wanted. The hard rocker Navajas de was the heaviest piece of the night, with a excellent guitar solo from Paco and an overall great guitar sound.

One of their biggest hits, Necesito respirar, and again the audience singing along the entire chorus, preceded the last song of the first encore, A toda esa gente. The band left the stage but the crowd was asking them to return more. Some minutes of waiting and Paco takes the stage with his guitar solo, playing the guitar introduction of Burn from Deep Purple then following with a solo obviously inspired by Yngwie Malmsteen. Another visit to the Sin tiempo CD, this time with the ballad Solo y sin ti, and another ballad, Siempre estarás en mí, from the album XX, the album of their 20th anniversary. Now they are near to the 30th!! Their first and biggest hit Paseando por la mezquita was the last before Manuel Martinez invited some girls to jump on the stage to sing Todo tiene su fin, another cover from Los Modulos. The band started the song playing the same rhythm as the original (slow), and finally ended with the band cover (faster).

The last track was in fact dedicated to introduce the members of the band, mixed with little fragments of Smoke on the water (once again Deep Purple), Whatever you want (Status Quo), and Jump (Van Halen), with everybody – audience and band - jumping around. A final bow and the concert’s over. Great band, great songs, great concert, maybe the best concert I've ever been to (and I’ve been to a few), and the band from Córdoba went home to continue working on their new CD.
 
Set list:
1- Bidaiah (principio)/ Favorita de un sultán.
2- Palabras de libertad.
3- Abre la puerta.
4- Tierra de libertad.
5- Hay un lugar.
6- Hijos del amor y de la guerra.
7- El pozo de mi sed.
8- Junto a Lucía.
9- No quiero pensar en ese amor.
10- Córdoba.
11- Solos tú y yo.
12- Una noche de amor desesperada.
13- Keyboard solo
14- El lago.
15- Drum solo
16- Al padre santo de Roma.
17- Velocidad.
18- Navajas de cartón.
19- Necesito respirar.
20- A toda esa gente.
21- Guitar solo.
22- Solo y sin ti.
23- Siempre estarás en mí.
24- Paseando por la mezquita
25- Todo tiene su fin.
26- Cierre (Smoke on the water, Whatever you want, Jump).
 
I want to dedicate this review to the five members of a Romanian family that died in the fire in Miranda de Ebro (19 February 2009).