Fifteen years after Flamenco Chill, Chambao decided to call it a day. I learned about their planned farewell some six months ago. At the time, it did not enter my head to travel to Madrid in the middle of winter to see them. The last concert of Canteca de Macao changed that. I have very fond memories of Chambao’s Santander gig three years ago; here was the last chance to see them again, and I was not missing it.
Then, in mid-December, La Mari posted a video on her Facebook page explaining why she was saying goodbye to Chambao. Of the founding members, she is the only remaining one and every day she moves further and further away from “flamenco chill” style. Honestly I didn’t feel that convinced. The bands evolve, the styles change, the members come and go, the name can stay or, well, go. All these years, apart from her work with Chambao, La Mari did zillions of collaborations under her own name (Ojo de Culebra with Lila Downs and Somos luz with Macaco are the first that spring to mind). But, in the end, it’s up to the artist. In any case, Chambao as we know it was saying goodbye on 13 of January 2018.
I checked the weather. After the previous weekend’s snowfall, I was worrying that I can get stranded even before reaching the capital. Friday 12 January was crisp and sunny and the forecast for the following week was likewise bright. It was only Saturday and Sunday when the sky above Madrid was weeping, probably also feeling emotional. I didn’t mind that.
So... Was it worth flying from Gran Canaria to Madrid just for that night? Of three solid hours of music that I love? Hell yes. From the opening theme, Chambao from Endorfinas en la mente, straight to the grand finale of Ahí estás tú, which saw all the guest artists on stage and sounded as epic as Led Zeppelin’s Kashmir. And speaking of guests: what a thoroughly stellar company we had! I never saw Ojos de Brujo live while they were active — and here they were, Max and Marinah! We just said goodbye to Canteca de Macao, but look, Anita and Chiki turned up! And I totally didn’t expect Jorge Pardo to be there, for on Friday he was playing in Las Palmas at the V Festival Flamenco Romí (I hope he didn’t fly with Ryanair as I did). But probably the biggest surprise was the very first guest: Pepa, La Mari’s mum. I think their duet didn’t leave a single eye dry.
As for the venue: compared to Palacio de Vistalegre, WiZink Center is an improvement. More space, no drunken brawls, but, annoyingly, still a lot of pot smokers in da house (should I stop writing about that? It increasingly looks like a new norm here.) The acoustics could have been better too. I appreciate the audience singing — why, I was doing it myself, to the degree that when I woke up Sunday morning, I thought I was about to lose my voice — but it shouldn’t be louder than the band! Ah well. Nothing is perfect.
Thank you, Chambao, I’m sure we’ll meet again, no matter what’s your name. Didn’t you promise us that?
volveré a encontrarme con vosotros
volveré a sonreír en la mañana
volveré con lagrima en los ojo
mirar al cielo y dar las gracias
(in partially alphabetical order, with apologies to those whom I forgot to mention)
- Antílopez
- Arcángel
- Miguel Campello and Víctor Iniesta (elbicho)
- Josemi Carmona, Carles Benavent and Jorge Pardo
- Sandra Carrasco
- Mario Díaz
- El Langui
- Rosario Flores
- Amir-John Haddad
- Anita Kuruba y Chiki Lora (Canteca de Macao)
- Maui
- Max and Marinah (Ojos de Brujo)
- La Mari’s mum Pepa and sister Toñi
- Toni Romero and Roberto Cantero (they were the members of Chambao when I went to see them in Santander
- Amparo Sánchez (Amparanoia)
- Ander Valverde (Green Valley)
- Vinila Von Bismark
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