Like Rarotonga, Café Tacvba makes the Alhóndiga de Granaditas its own

This time there was no slam like 14 years ago when Café Tacvba played at the Alhóndiga de Granaditas. At eight o’clock at night, María’s chords began the evening that the natives of Ciudad Satélite prepared especially for their fans on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Cervantino International Festival.

From an hour before the concert, the five thousand seats that had been assigned for this concert -1,450 that were with paid tickets and 3,500 free with prior reservation-, were occupied by fans who gathered from different parts of the country.

Café Tacvba’s set for this evening was divided into three times: the first was acoustic, where Diente de León, Trópico de Cancer, El Metro, Bar Tacuba, Las Flores and Chica Banda were the songs in charge of warming up the atmosphere in the Alhóndiga de Granaditas, and that for many reminded them of their student days.

“What a joy for us to be on this stage, which is already a classic,” said Rubén Albarrán, who moments before, during the soundcheck, said that Guanajuato had played an important role in the construction and reconstruction of the band.

In the second set of the night, Café Tacvba followed with the company of the Oaxacan group Los Bronces, with whom they performed La Muerte Chiquita, Olita de Altamar and Futuro.

The stellar set came when the Symphony Orchestra of the University of Guanajuato made its appearance on the stage of the Alhóndiga de Granaditas.

“Now we present to you the Symphony Orchestra of the University of Guanajuato. Roberto Beltrán, thank you very much”, Rubén Albarrán said into the microphone and was later backed by the chorus of “UG, UG, UG” shouted by the audience.

The chords of El Aparato made those who were sitting stop, dance those who were standing and shout those who were waiting for the moment to do so.

“This has already caught on, we are going to hit it, don’t let it fall,” said Ruben Albarrán and then La Locomotora continued on the list, from his album that has become a cult, Reves/Soy, due to its scarce availability in the market.

The evocation of José Emilio Pacheco came with the song Las Batallas and that made those who were inside and outside this venue merge into a single voice.

The ecstasy, seasoned with the chaos that was already in the environment by then, increased when Rarotonga sounded louder, even than the previous songs, and although it was not Tuesday, but the, them and the attendees made it theirs, as the lyrics say of this classic from their first album in 1992.

That night, Medio Día, El Forastero and Chilanga Banda, the latter by Jaime López from Tamaulipas, continued on set and by then Café Tacvba had already taken over the night. They were putting out their best songs and they weren’t holding anything back.

Starting over and El Puñal y el Corazón were the previous tracks before Café Tacvba threatened to leave the stage, and although they did so for a few minutes, it was only to take a breather and return with El Espacio and De este lado del camino .

The concert was coming to an end and Café Tacvba reserved for then Volcán and Aviéntame, two songs that made a deep impression on more than one, since both were sung with one voice at the Alhóndiga de Granaditas.

“The karaoke song”, as the Tacvbos called Eres, was the most recorded with the five thousand cell phones that were inside the Alhóndiga.

I want to see and El Baile y el Salón were the songs that meant the end of the Café Tacvba concert, 14 years after what was until then their last presentation at the Festival Internacional Cervantino.

Café Tacvba returned to please their fans and the chords of I hope it rains coffee sounded, with which they concluded their presentation and where they threatened to return soon to this stage that has seen them grow in their 33-year artistic career.

note published in The Sun of Leon