Madrid (EFE) , many of which he has broken tonight.
It had been six years since the American musician had set foot on Spanish soil, since his last performance as part of the line-up for the Azkena Festival in Vitoria, and more than double -thirteen- since he did not stop in Madrid, then as part of an extensive tour of the country.
90-minute repertoire built “from the heart”
As summer does not seem like the best context to unleash the Christmas carols from his most recent album (“Everybody Knows It’s Christmas”, 2022), nor was there another urgent job to promote, in the coolness of the Alfonso XIII Royal Botanical Garden. He has arrived with a 90-minute repertoire built “from the heart”, with some “risks” and many classics, including versions of his idols that he has made completely his own.
His low rate of releases in the last stage and therefore his lower media presence, together with his growing taste for rock and soul with an older flavor, have had a notable consequence on the average age of the nearly 4,000 people who they have almost exhausted all the capacity: the voice of “Wicked Game”, that success of 1991, has become one of the great forgotten among the youngest and it was hardly possible to see anyone under 40 years of age.
At 65 summers, he still looks like a gallant and rebel without a cause
Let no one be mistaken, however, because in contrast to his taste for a musical genre that has long been considered dead on the commercial charts, his live show (here preceded by Puerto Rican singer-songwriter Gabriel Ríos) brims with humor, good vibes and as much life as the musician himself enjoys, who at 65 summers still looks like a gallant and rebel without a cause, as well as a prodigal throat in brilliant falsettos and clean notes.
Added to this are the more than three decades with the four musicians who accompany him live, a close relationship that is perceived both in the complicity on stage and in the constant jokes on account of things like the white costumes with brilliant inlays at the Elvis Presley style that he has sported.
“Before I came out here I was scared to death. I haven’t played in Madrid for a long time and my Spanish is terrible. I only know how to say: ‘Pass me the butter’.
But when I saw everyone smiling, I wanted to say thank you.
If I didn’t come to support live music, I would now be wandering the streets dressed in this suit with which you can only be a bullfighter or a rock and roll professional”, he said to the laughter of the audience.
After “American Boy” has taken over “Somebody’s crying”
It was shortly after starting his late performance in Madrid very punctually, at 10:30 p.m., with “American Boy” from his album “Always Got Tonight” (2002), which was replaced by “Somebody’s Crying”, another of the essentials of his “shows”, or
“Don’t Leave Me on My Own”, with which he has won over the attendees again with a walk among them.
Concentrated on the show, few will have noticed on the clear night of this Thursday that at that moment a kind of ethereal train was crossing the sky of the capital, actually part of the latest Starlink satellites launched by Elon Musk’s company that previously they had been sighted in February.
As coordinators, immediately after and following the tradition of their live performances, we didn’t have to wait to enjoy a “Wicked Game” with which they have shown that they maintain the intensity of their aching falsettos almost intact and that the song also retains its magnetism.
“Oh Pretty Woman”, as celebrated as if it were played by Roy Orbison himself, has served him to close a very dynamic first block in style, followed by a more melancholic one with the whole band sitting in front and composed of songs like “Forever Blue”, the necessary “Two Hearts” or “Blue Spanish” (which he has confessed that he composed the first time he set foot in Spain).
“Life is too short”
“Life is too short: don’t be shy about showing love”, he recommended after encouraging couples to cuddle up in the warmth of another reinterpretation completely absorbed by their DNA, Elvis’ “Can’t Help Falling In Love”.
Next, the cinematic “Blue Hotel” with all its inherent passionate drama has once again put the quintet on their feet towards the conclusion of the concert, with other milestones in that final stretch such as “San Francisco Days” or the sinuous “Baby Did A Bad Bad Thing” in which, as a surprise, he has cast a song in Spanish: “La tumba será el final” by the Mexican band Los Invasores de Nuevo León.
Now, after breaking and rebuilding the hearts of the people of Madrid, Isaak will head to the BBK Bilbao Music Legends Festival this Saturday and, in July, to the Jardins de Pedralbes in Barcelona on the 12th.