Izal leaves it at the top with an exciting concert in Madrid

It was an exciting, vibrant concert. closed with the woman in green, a theme that talks about the vulnerability of the human being, who, appealing to the survival instinct, tries to grab someone (something) to get him out of the darkness. The woman in green, each to their own. Poor one who doesn’t have it. The group dedicated it to the toilets, “who saved our lives during the pandemic”, and made a defense of public health. The people chanted it to the point of hoarseness.

izal He leaves it with two concerts (yesterday Friday and today Saturday) at the WiZink Center in Madrid, the city where they were born in 2010, with sold-out tickets: 15,000 spectators per night. There are several precedents of Spanish bands breaking up at the height of their popularity. Without much thought, the names of Future RadioThe last on the line, The crazy’s song or Sloth. The reasons are usually the same: the leader’s ambition to launch himself alone, as well as internal tensions of a higher or lower level depending on the case. You don’t have to have privileged information to assume that Mikel Izal, brains of this group, will start a solo career. We will see it in the coming months… However, the most difficult thing is not to leave it at the top; the complicated thing is to resist resurrecting the dead, a possibility that will come with the passage of time.

From the bottom of the room the image was aesthetically attractive last night. Elevated above the musicians’ heads hung five huge picture frames (simulating the cover of their latest work, the excellent Home) They served as screens. In them, images of the members of the group alternated, creative designs that referred to the song they played, or nothing, which also had its visual appeal.

Everything gravitated around Mikel Izal, a guy 1.95 tall, with curly hair and a beard, who faces the stage without costumes: black jeans, a short-sleeved T-shirt of the same color and sneakers, as if he were going to walk the dog. That lack of pretense fits with an unstylish attitude when it comes to operating on stage. And that is precisely where his charm lies. It’s like seeing your colleague (the tall one) on stage, dazzled to 15,000 people. You are happy for him, you are moved that it is precisely him. You even apologize for talking too much between songs, cutting the rhythm of the recital at times. In a discreet background are the other four izales, concentrated on their instruments and acting as a powerful and elegant band. To highlight the work of the guitarist, Alberto Pérez, one of those priceless instrumentalists who extract gold from the picking economy. Short solos, beautiful arpeggios. Great job of yours.

Izal offered two hours of those songs of his that harden you emotionally. Disasters await just around the corner, we have the ability to resist. Mikel Izal writes with a certain logical reasoning, but ends up running into emotional arguments. The word “fear” or equivalent sensations are repeated throughout a songbook to ruminate leisurely. Although last night people came with the lesson learned and what they wanted was to dance in this penultimate act of the group.

An audience, with the majority of thirty-somethings, dedicated and determined that the entrance seat in the stands would not differ at all from the one on the track, standing up. Nobody sat down last night at the WiZink Center, nobody reserved energy. Few concerts in which all (and literally) the songs are sung. They sounded in the first section The holeCopacabana, Meiuqèr, I’m back (probably the best song in his repertoire)… In little big revolution The guitarist spoke: “This song makes me very excited because five months ago our second son, Alberto, was born. It is dedicated to all those who have changed their lives by being parents. The theme was written by Mikel Izal at his time for his niece.

The singer spent the entire concert thanking them for their luck: “Thank you all for joining us and jumping into the pool without knowing there was water”, “it is a luxury for us to finish 12 years of career in this way” or “it has It was the most amazing adventure of our lives”. Effectively, twelve years of career and five albums that have propelled them to the first division of Spanish pop. A group for which festivals sigh: for its convening power and for its intense and intelligent proposal. It will be difficult to replace them. Already in the final stretch they played How good, where the group went down to sing among the public. No one grabbed them and there were no scenes of hysteria. Your colleagues, you know.

Today Saturday will be the last concert. End of Izal’s story. Only that his story does not end there: the songs remain, they always remain.