The Bunkers wanted to celebrate their return by playing at the National Stadium. That was the idea that finally could not be realized in March 2023 due to the non-availability of the Ñuñoa venue for the Pan American Games. And, in the long run, it was the best thing that could happen to the Penquista gang. After inaugurating the Come Here tour with two full houses at the Santa Laura Stadium and doing more than 50 shows in Chile, Mexico, Spain and other latitudes in Latin America, the finishing touch of the tour had to be in the biggest place. The one that hosted two concerts by Los Prisioneros at the end of 2001. And it took a little more than 22 years for another Chilean band to throw a double-date party on the back burner. And boy, the first night did all that and much more.
It was Pedropiedra’s turn to open the fires. A friend of Los Bunkers and a luxury musician with an extreme career, who with a luxury band warmed up his engines in his 45-minute set. The perfect preview to receive Fabrizio Copano marking another historic milestone. Nothing less than the first stand up routine at the National Stadium. By settling on the catwalk for 15 minutes, he managed to get the audience that was already beginning to fill the corners of the venue to listen to him with respect and respond to his humor.
With a five-minute countdown and a packed National Stadium, Los Bunkers began their set at 9 o’clock. And the opening song was “Come Here”, the one that gives its name to this reunion tour. They moved on to “You Dress Up and You Leave” and one of the first days, “I Sowed my Sorrows of Love in your Garden.” The band is impeccable, as has been their characteristic since the beginning. Francisco Durán’s dedication to the people who came from the regions to the National Stadium serves as the intro to “Canción de Lejos.” The recognizable reading for “Quien Fuera” by Silvio Rodríguez and “Under the Trees” followed.
An electrifying rendition of “Si Estas Pensando Mal de Mí” serves as the perfect link for the powerful performance of “ Ahora que no Estas,” with dueling Les Paul by the Durán brothers. By the way, Cancamusa is on the drums looking like never before. Her pulse provides electricity and groove in one of the rockiest points of the night. Natalia Pérez fills the position of Mauricio Basualto, to whom they dedicate “The Speed of Light.” A review of “Rey”, that song that was the first preview of “Noviembre”, preceded El Necio. A great hard rock reading for another Silvio Rodríguez classic. Full guitars and psychedelic effects to close a perfect first part. And this was just beginning.
The Bunkers had disappeared from the stage. Finally, they returned to Hatch number 8, part of the National Stadium site, National Memory. Wearing ponchos and playing acoustic guitars, their version of Inti Illimani’s “La Exiliada del Sur” sounds appropriate for the occasion. An emotional Mauricio Durán elaborates on the importance of memory before presenting “El Detenido.” A song that is almost 25 years old, and that, according to one of its authors, “maybe it was written to be played in this place.” Together with “Entre mis Brazos”, they sealed a section full of emotion and that felt totally necessary.
Another surprise came from 31 Minutes. Guaripolo’s fill-in while the band returned to the stage was the perfect hook for “Una Nube Cuelga Sobre Mí” and the puppets in full singing with Los Bunkers. A journey where the past went to the present and back again. «Si Las Cisas que Cambie y dejé por ti» took us back to Los Bunkers model 2002, «Noviembre» brought us to the present with timeless guitar arpeggios, where the classics live imperishable and eternal, like the version of «Ángel para un Final », written by Silvio Rodríguez and made their own by the quintet, with lights from each of the concert attendees. A beautiful postcard with the entire National Stadium illuminated by the public.
Pedropiedra returned to the stage to play keyboard in “El Mismo Lugar.” And as the set progressed, more hits came. “Lie” and “Nothing New Under the Sun” continued to sound fresh in the hands of skilled Bunkers, with Álvaro López sporting a picture of frontman to the maximum in Bailando Solo, crossing riffs with the dance floor. And to give a good closing to the block, “Miño”. The one that Paul McCartney liked when he heard it in the dressing room of the same National Stadium where the group arrived today in glory and majesty.
But there was still a surprise and that was brought by the encore with another emotional moment and the rescue of the cover of “El Derecho de Vivir en Paz” by Victor Jara, a song that they had not played for years, and that he himself accompanied them virtually. singer-songwriter on screen. The legacy of the past that never ceases to be present and that Los Bunkers know in detail and thoroughness, the same one with which they achieved a hymn of the stature of “Song for Tomorrow” and that in a full National Stadium takes on new meaning. Hymns that are sung with force and that are in our collective memory.
“Don’t Talk to Me about Suffering” and the final touch with “It’s Raining Over the City” framed what is a night that goes down in history. Three hours of show, 33 songs reviewing its entire history. And the certainty that the most important Chilean rock band of the 21st century keeps the flame alive. Curiosity, wisdom, melody and a sense of responsibility with history, theirs and ours. That’s what timeless classics are made of. And The Bunkers know it very well: memory is a blessing.
