José-Manuel Thomas Arthur Chao is a
French-born artists of Spanish origin. He began his successfull career in the
mid-1980s with his first group, the Hot
Pants, but it is with Mano
Negra, a "multiracial" band founded in 1987, that Manu Chao
reached popularity.
"Mano Negra
started playing in a subway in Paris before the band started to be known and
selling records. We started in a subway for a living. This is what made the
musicians of Mano Negra. And so the people using the subway in Paris was very
eclectic. There was people from a lot of different countries, different
cultures. So we have to be able to play all kind of music to please all the
people in a subway. So that was a perfect school to learn a lot of different
style of music."
In fact, Manu Chao
and his band are influenced by many different music genres, such as punk, rock,
French chanson,
Iberoamerican salsa, ska, reggae and Algerian raï, that create a unique music
style appreciated in all the world. His songs and lyrics deal with immigration,
love, social problems and often carry a left-wing message. Moreover Manu Chao
sings in many different languages, such as Spanish, French, Portuguese,
Italian, English, Galician and Arabic, even mixing them in the same song.
His experience
with Mano Negra ended in 1995, and Manu Chao started his solo career in
Madrid with a new group, the Radio Bemba Sound System. In this new phase
José-Manuel wrote some of his most famous songs, like Clandestino (1998) or Me Gustas Tu (2001).
He considers
himself a citizen of the world, however he actually lives in Barcelona (even if
he rarely stays in Spain), a city that perfectly matches with his way of
living, full of live and energy. The people love him, and he loves his city, he even opened a bar in Barri Gotic, the Mariatchi,
and he owns a disco in El Hospitalet where he often performs.
This weekend, in
particular, he held two conciertos
clandesti in his disco, the Salamandra. Why clandestine
concerts? In Barcelona he often performs in secret concerts to avoid a huge
request of tickets (and resulting disappointements), so only if you're a
regular client of his bar, or if you are a true fan of him (if you are really
lucky too!), you will found out about his shows.
Yesterday, 5th of May, Manu Chao performed for more than two hours without any true break, more than 20 songs in his set list, and energy, really a lot of energy in every single song. This is, in fact, why Manu Chao is so appreciated by his fans, even at the age of 53 he seems a young, crazy boy on the stage, always singing and inciting the public that follows him singing every word and dancing at every song. Clandestino, El Viento, Desaparecido, all his best known songs, spaced out by Pinocchio and other crazy motifs, entertained a public of less than 1000 people in a quite familiar atmosphere. A lot of good music, but also social engagement characterized this concert, with a speech about the human rights crisis in Mexico, with the disappearence of 43 mexican people in mysterious circumstances:
¡Vivos los llevaron, vivos los queremos!
With his music kaleidoscope, you will feel lighter, happier, so if you are fishing in troubled waters, if you have some problems, and if you feel sad, just go to one of his concerts, and you will forget everything for the next three hours.
Pase lo que pase, sea lo que sea, próxima estación: Esperanza.
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