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“I love that we are a band that is over 30 years old but that we are only interested in making new music,” confesses Diego Tuñón in The abstract of musicthe recent documentary by the Argentine filmmaker Julian Lona that spies fragments of Babasónico’s last tour in Europe and the historic show they gave in December of last year at the Campo Argentino de Polo. That statement contains one of the group’s greatest virtues: They have known how to build a legacy by reinventing themselves across contexts and leading the future with a versatility and avant-garde sound capable of crossing spaces, times and generations. And all of this is reflected and translated not only in his work, but also in each of his live performances.
Through a setlist of 30 songs in which they covered their discography, oscillating between a review of their latest album, classic hits and the exoticism that characterizes them, on Friday night they returned once again with their visual-sensory experience to the Movistar Arena, that stadium in which who have been choosing to play at home for some time now. The repertoire began to roll with a powerful version of “Tajada”, continued by the techno-pop ballad “The Left of the Night”, the romantic sequences of “Enprivate” and the savagery and rock rawness of “Sin mi diablo”.
The transition through its different eras and aesthetics took shape throughout the show, without a specific order, but guided and sustained by the coherence and eclecticism that they have maintained throughout their career. The delays and guitars of “Adiós en Pompeya” were mixed with the agitation of “El colmo” and the almost whispered sensuality of “Lujo”, led by the movements of Adrian Dargelos who, with his charisma of showmanembodies the wit and originality of the lyrics with a singular presence and style, bordering on the arrogant and the charming. He connects with the audience almost wordlessly, fusing the songs like an extension of his body.
In an essence similar to what they have been presenting in their latest shows, the staging deserves a separate mention. Designed by Sergio Lacroix, it was responsible for combining lighting landscapes choreographed from music with an LED wall structure, where large-scale projections of the musicians were interspersed with psychedelic and abstract images that are part of the group’s imagination.
Faced with the risk of repeating themselves, they somehow manage to renew themselves, stay current and relevant, surpassing themselves in each show through production, the construction of the set list, their cheeky attitude and, obviously, their songs. “Anubis”, “Bye Bye” and “Microdancing” integrated the most electro pop block, with a danceable and complicit game between Dárgelos and Diego Uma, which added choruses and an electrifying dynamism, accompanied by the precision and solidity of the band.
“Thank you for so much but not for what is coming, you have to show me,” Dárgelos challenged those present, before a series of stainless hits began to outline the end of the show. This is how “Mare”, “The Question” and “So What?” They lit the last pogos of the night, transforming the Arena into a kind of large crowd karaoke.
“One’s work transcends. That is, the human is born and dies. “Music can last forever,” says Tuñón towards the end of the documentary. That’s what they’re looking for. Popular and cult, Babasónico moves through time, avoiding labels, revolutionizing itself with an eye toward the future, but always also carrying the past with which it has built its history.
