Energetic and disarming: Rosalía sings with tireless passion in Afas Live

To cry. Tears run down Rosalía’s cheeks during ‘De Plata’, an older song forwhich she just got a black dress with a train of at least ten meters thatcovers the entire stage. We don’t know where the tears came from – maybethere’s a special meaning to her behind the intense song, or it’s the gruelingtour, maybe she accidentally enchanted herself a little. In any case, she wasnot the only one who was hit on Saturday night in the Afas Live in Amsterdam.

The Catalan singer, who already moves like a chameleon between genres andstyles on her albums, switched just as easily between different moods live. Ina fairly bare decor – a white background with a troupe of dancers and twolarge screens – she was free as a bird. Very seductive at times, crawling onthe floor, buttocks in the air, exciting look in the cameras buzzing aroundher. Then again unapproachably tough and strong, sitting on a motor formed byher dancers with their bodies. And also very disarming how she addressed heraudience, and how spontaneously she dealt with a sudden marriage proposal froma Hague fan to his girlfriend (she said yes). And you saw how she sometimesseemed to realize for a moment: it worked. The mission of the girl who, at theage of eight, already made family members cry with her voice, was ridiculed onnational television and worked hard to be where she is today, a globalsuperstar. And so, perhaps that’s why, sometimes fragile as a freshly pickedpoppy.

Read also: Rosalía mixes styles and genres like a musical alchemist. Who isshe?

Unbridled energy

Her radiant personality on stage largely made up for the somewhat unbalancedhall sound, in which her vocals sometimes drowned. The sound could also haveused some depth from live musicians. The balanced setlist that leaned fully onthe unbridled energy of the last album Motomami It did help, as did theaudience: probably not so many Spaniards have been together in the Netherlandssince 1588. Even before the concert started, three-quarters sang along withthe Aventura classic ‘Obsesion’, played in the hall, and the atmosphere couldnot be broken anymore . During the concert, the audience regularly rose abovethe singer, with songs such as the explosive opener ‘Saoko’, ‘Malamente’, ‘LaFama’ and the yearning ‘Hentai’, with Rosalía alone behind the piano. It’salso wonderful how it reacted to the cleverly tied together songs ‘De Aquí noSales’ (from 2018) and the beautiful, newer ‘Bulerías’. Even the spoken’Abcdefg’ – an album snack in which she lists an abc of matters important toher – became a great moment live, partly thanks to that experience in thehall.

Two hours later, what Rosalía does is quite incredible: despite the intenseshow she just put on, she sings the delicate “Sakura,” in which she comparesthe fleetingness of a pop star’s success to momentarily blooming cherryblossoms, deep from her toes. “You’re not a pop star forever / You can’t keepshining like a star,” she sings with improbable, tireless passion. She may beright, but that message is lost to the enchanted hall.

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