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I was really great. Genuinely exhilirating stuff. Couple of non flamenco friends came along and they were blown away.
He played all the classics! Only new one I recognised was Roma for the encore.
Opening mash up of reflejo de la luna and mezquita. (And maybe something else) I felt was really too fast and kinda messy. Perhaps some settling in nerves.
After that he smashed everything. Autorretrato was a highlight for me and also when the dancer dani navarro dancing buleria. (Forget which one)
Was also nice to hear tangos de la arco bajo too.
I spared a thought for devilhand about half way through. And recent comments about... "don't understand the hype" Go watch him live and come back to us. If you still don't get it. You never will
And you didn't say hi :D You could still do on Sunday if you're going to see that one?
The set was like this: Taranta/Soleá, Tangos del Arco Bajo, Autorretrato, Zapateado, new Buleria, new Rumba, Azules y Corinto, Sevilla (Soleá), new Bolero, another new Buleria, Requiem/Roma.
In general the technical ability was out of this world, the support by Rafael de Utrera and Paquito González was flawless, Añil's guitar was barely audible but was spot on. The bass I wasn't in peace with, it felt off many times. Dani Navarro just performed one dance, but it was magnificent.
The performance itself was a thoroughly professional one, I can't say I enjoyed it nearly as much as the last time I saw him. Something was lacking to me. Also, some pieces feel rushed, and he just forces picados everywhere, as well as his trademark slide/slurs. Not letting the music breathe anymore. But most likely that's just my problem :D
But missed the music under all the picado and speed.
Vicente was never known as a picado guy. Maybe he finally got it together and now can’t help it. That is actually how I feel now, approaching 50 I can do faster and cleaner picados than 10 years ago, so can’t help doing it a lot in some rumbas.
Vicente has just had an in depth interview with Davila Miura (de la ganadería brava).( Vicenti is an inconditional aficionado de los toros). He did not look healthy, his speech was slow. I hesitate to make the obvious conclusion, but I hope he is well
To be fair, he's always been very competent at picados, but it hasn't become his trademark. Now he just does it whenever he can :D Maybe it comes with age too, I remember a version of Daniel Casares who was playing them all the time but extremely sloppily, even on his recordings. These days he's much better. Practice does pay off ;)