A Night at the Opera

by Queen

Squeezed uneasily between Sheer Heart Attack (IMHO the best Queen album, period) and A Day at the Races (the first Queen album I heard in its entirety so I can’t be objective), A Night at the Opera is that proverbial “second part of the trilogy”: grandiose but ultimately disappointing. Besides, it has a fatal flaw, for a prog-rock record anyway: a hit song that everybody knows, to the detriment of the rest of the album. (You might recall I said the same about Machine Head, and I’ll say it again.) Luckily for those of us who still listen to rock albums in correct order, you can stop it right after Good Company. Try it.

The opener, Death on Two Legs, is a diss track par excellence. I loved it before I could understand the lyrics. (Now that I do understand it, I prefer Rata de dos patas.) I’m in Love with My Car is a great number by Taylor (is that the “open car” he was asking for in Tenement Funster, I wonder). ’39 is a space shanty all future astronauts should learn in kindergarten. The Prophet’s Song is an epic. Cheesy lyrics notwithstanding, You’re My Best Friend actually has got soul — check out the Astro Samurai cover for that soul dimension. The same could be said about Love of My Life, except this latter practically asks to be made fun of by a barbershop quartet. This Russian-language parody from the 1986 Soviet TV show «Весёлые ребята» does just that.

My favourites though are the three retro songs (they were retro already 50 years ago): Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon, Seaside Rendezvous and Good Company.

As for Bohemian Rhapsody, it fared really well for a single, so I think that’s how it should have stayed. Perhaps naming a 2018 biopic after it was not the best idea but it perfectly illustrates that by now — and this “now” has started long time ago — it’s more a cultural reference than a song. There are zillions of covers but for me the Father Noel Furlong’s version and that by Chirigota Los Quemasangre are the best.

Bohemian Rhapsody

a film by Bryan Singer and Dexter Fletcher

Is this the real life or is this just Battersea?

Robert Rankin, Armageddon: The Musical

This Christmas day, Timur and I went to see Bohemian Rhapsody (in English) in Monopol. It turned out to be neither that good nor, and especially nor, that bad as I heard or read.

Of course, it would be naïve to expect a biopic to be 100% accurate. It is not the film’s historical inaccuracies per se, and even the fact that they were rather knowingly (as both Brian May and Roger Taylor were involved in the making) introduced for extra drama or something. Not that the story of the Queen-size band needs any extra drama. Neither it is that the film focuses almost exclusively on Freddie Mercury, as if the other band’s members did not have lives offstage, in spite of the mantra of “the family”. And it is not the happy, of the sorts, ending where “Mr. Bad Guy” finally gets his dad’s approval along the “good thoughts, good words, good deeds” lines. All this is forgivable but, unfortunately, also forgettable. And that is, in my humble opinion, unforgivable. I am not sure if Sacha Baron Cohen would make better Freddie (than Rami Malek’s), but I am quite sure he would make the whole affair funnier, more alive and outrageous and, as such, more truthful to the spirit of the band as flamboyant as Their Majesties.

On the bright side: Malek’s performance is brilliant, the other band members are not bad either, and the music is, well, by Queen.

Queen Symphony in Las Palmas

I hever heard about Tolga Kashif’s magnum opus, Queen Symphony (2002), until the concert of GCWO earlier this year. And there you go, two months later they’re back to Auditorio Alfredo Kraus together with the Choir and the Children’s Choir of Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria. Timur and I went to see the show. (Tamara excused herself saying that “It won’t be real Queen anyway”.)

As symphonies go, this is on a longer side, about one hour. It is as epic as one would expect, to the degree that at times I wished it was less so. Who Wants To Live Forever appears in three movements. The first time, in the third movement, as a beautiful interplay of violin (Preslav Ganev) and cello (Marisa Roda). It comes back in the fifth movement and lasts, well, forever (or so I thought). Then, when you’d think you’ll never want to hear it again, it is reprised in the final movement.

Live music in La Línea, October 2016

I spent September and October teaching English in La Línea de la Concepción. I was told that the town is famous for its flamenco singers. Why, Camarón de la Isla himself lived there for many years. Shame I did not hear or see any flamenco in La Línea, except an impromptu performance from one of our students one Friday afternoon. Apparently, there was a flamenco concert in Eden, a bar on Plaza Cruz Herrera which I visited couple of times because there were free dance lessons (salsa, kizomba etc.) on Fridays. Somehow I missed that show. Luckily, I discovered a great place for live music: Molly Bloom’s, an Irish pub at the very same plaza as Eden. Molly has great atmosphere but drinks are pricey, as one would expect.

• 7 October: Malaka Youth @ Molly Bloom’s, Plaza Cruz Herrera, La Línea
  An energetic reggae band from Málaga, featuring Nacho Meliveo (vocal), Edu Fernández (drums), Carlos Fernández (keyboards), Camilo Lagreca (guitar) and Antonio Rueda (bass). Sure enough they covered a couple of Bob Marley songs but mostly performed their own material. To my surprise, many punters knew the lyrics.
• 8 October: Jam Session @ Cortijo El Cartero, El Palmar beach, Vejer de la Frontera
  I did a bit of couchsurfing during these two months and, thanks to my wonderful CS hosts, was able to visit some amazing places not readily accessible by public transport. That Saturday, on El Palmar beach, I went for a sunset swim and then sat down at El Cartero to enjoy a drink and a jam session!
• 9 October: Edna Brezinska @ Iguana Bar & Restaurant, Vejer de la Frontera
  Edna, a singer-songwriter with fantastic voice and crazy hairdo, was accompanied by Fran Mangas and Jon Ayuga. Jazz, soul, blues, funk... even a song by Nina Hagen! Also, the food at Iguana was delicious (even though slow to arrive).

• 15 October: Winter Blues Fest @ Cortijo El Cartero
  Exactly one week later, I found myself in the same place at the 4^th edition of Winter Blues Fest. Here’s the programme:
  • 15:00, Smoking Alligators (Cádiz)
  • 18:00, Los Hermanos Roncha (Sevilla)
  • 21:00, Los Deltonos (Cantabria)
  I stayed there almost till the end, using the break for a swim (but of course). IMHO, the first act was the best.

• 16 October: La Reina: tribute to Queen @ Molly Bloom’s
  Strange but true: I’ve never been to any tribute band concerts. Until now, that is. In spite of the show being very late on Sunday night, the pub was packed. La Reina started with Tie Your Mother Down and stayed on the heavier, less obvious side of Queen for the most of the first half. And closer to the end, just for the hell of it, they played Highway Star. I can’t say the singer was quite up to the task but the rest of the band cooked it perfectly. (I think every decent tribute band, irrespectively of who they are tribute to, must know how to play Highway Star. It’s a benchmark.) For the encore, of course, they did Bohemian Rhapsody, which was fine. It would have been cooler though if they had opted for something else. By the way, I never learned where La Reina are from but I found them very andalú.
• 23 October: The Jungle @ Molly Bloom’s
  Another band from Málaga, playing a healthy mix of R&B, soul and hip-hop covers. With Julia Martín (vocals), Alejandro Berenguer (keys), Eric Pozzo (bass and vocals), Raúl Ranea (guitar) and Daniel Guzmán (drums). Uplifting!

Hasta pronto, Andalucía.