A wonderful concert at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live!
I think it was the best ever, except for the absence of Canut, who is always greatly missed if he’s not there (present were Andre, Patchai, Nicolas, Tonino, Paco, and Paul; the usual members of the backup band were also there, including Pacheco and “The Professor”). The silver lining to Canut’s absence was that Patchai and Paul did more lead singing. After I got home I wrote down all the songs I could remember: A Ti A Ti (Nicolas, first song of the concert); La Dona (Andre); A Tu Vera (Paul, who was in Canut’s usual spot); Djobi Djoba (Paul); La Negra (Andre); Todos Olé (Patchai); Pena Penita (Patchai lead singer, and Paul); Sueño de Noche (a song that sounds new to many of us here in the U.S., but was actually on the European version of Compas, according to Forum member Meli); Un Amor (Nicolas, of course, sings it better every year); the new songs Samba and Caramelo; A Mi Manera (Nicolas); Volare (Nicolas, last song before the encore); Bamboleo (Nicolas; this was the encore as usual). There were also about five of Tonino’s instrumental numbers; I think three of them were new. The Nokia has the best acoustics I’ve ever heard at a GK concert. This is the first time they've played there. We were also fortunate to be in the first row of the orchestra, not in the center section but close to it. All of them looked GREAT, had so much energy and were having a wonderful time. Anyone who says “they’re getting old” or “they’re not getting any younger” should have seen this concert!!! I only wish that Nicolas had sung “Habla Me,” which he had sung so beautifully earlier this year in Minneapolis.
When Patchai and Paul started singing Pena Penita, I actually thought it was a brand new song; it took me a while to realize it was Pena Penita. This was because they sang it in such a new way (I wish I knew enough about music to explain how). This shows that they are continually evolving – even when they sing old songs, they never sing them like they did years ago, they are always growing as artists.
I don’t know how long it has been since Nicolas has sung A Mi Manera in concert. He was so great, the powerful way he sang the high notes near the end. When the song was over, he crossed himself three times. I’ve never seen any of the Gipsy Kings do this. He must have been really praying that he would sing the song well, and was grateful to God that his prayers were answered. This was such a touching moment. I was really upset the day after the concert because I was looking up videos of the concert on YouTube; I found a couple of Bamboleo and one of A Mi Manera. The person filming A Mi Manera was sitting very far from the stage, so that the GK all looked like tiny blurry figures. However, the person filming the video occasionally panned over to film the large video screen, which is HIGH DEFINITION – it’s so far beyond what the Greek Theatre and Grove of Anaheim have, it’s like day and night. The color and detail are incredible. The problem was, the person filming A Mi Manera only panned over to the big screen a few times for a few seconds, then went back to filming the faraway stage!! They could have visually captured the performance really well, including Nicolas’ crossing himself at the end, if they had just stayed on that big screen, but they didn’t, missing the opportunity for a much better record of a precious memory. This made me so mad I was in tears.
I hope that more people post videos of this concert on YouTube in the near future!
Amanda
. Only I hope that they come again. Take care Amanda!
and thanks for your kinds words. All the best Amanda!
I wish I had started going to their concerts earlier. They come here to southern California every year, and since Mexico is so close by, I hope they come back to perform in Mexico so you can see them. Where in Mexico do you live?