So, I took the A train to Barcelona on Friday, November 25th, to check out the last show of the European tour of Dave Holland with Pepe Habichuela, Josemi Carmona, Juan Carmona and Bandolero.
The A in the train here stands for AVE – the fast trains running through Spain and connecting the major cities. Madrid Barcelona is a bit more than 3 hours on the train – 4 stops in-between.Tremendous!
As stated earlier this month in my little blog, the Madrid concert of the group was really amazing, so it came as a huge surprise that Barcelona was even better – as this was the last night of a full month tour, everyone was relaxed and enjoying the moment – and therefore creating music at its best:
Dave was swinging and dancing figures on his bass like an ‘old’ flamenco player – especially in the tune with only the percussionists performing with him. Pepe was in a league on his own that night – his solo piece just incredible (with loud shouts of ‘OLE’ in between from the excited audience), Josemi playing jazzy without leaving the tradition of flamenco and Juan and Bandolero being everywhere and especially where needed rhythmically.
And smiles all around and an encore and applause and more smiles and they were deserved, as this was an evening of rare beauty and musicianship.
Good that they are talking about looking for new repertoire and to continue the journey together next year with a new album and tour. Thanks!
Dave Holland with Pepe Habichuela, Josemi Carmona and the percussionists Juan Carmona and Bandolero at the Palau de Musica, Barcelona
