The sound of a melodica, that noble and simple instrument that popularized Augustus Pablo in the 70, It was the beginning of one of the most anticipated reunions in national music, the one that took place this Saturday 5 of September, in front of a Bicentennial Stadium in La Florida packed to the brim.
While the notes of “Jah Children” spread in the air - emulating the harmonica that in its original studio version recorded Joe Vasconcellos almost 30 years-, The musicians came out on stage to give everyone in attendance a show full of energy and positive vibration..
There were also airs of nostalgia and memories of those moments in which reggae reached one of its maximum popularity points., pushed precisely by Gondwana - which with Quique Neira in the voice- became one of the main bands in the country and a reference for reggae in Spanish, status that the group retains to this day.
had to wait 23 years to see them together again live and, although the wait was quite long, The show met and even exceeded expectations..
And practically every song in the repertoire was a hit at the time and many of them endure in the collective unconscious., obviously from the public that came to the Florida venue that lived through that golden era of reggae, but also of that youth that was present and that surely never saw Quique sing with Gondwana.
A gale of successes
After the start, the chords of “Reggae is Coming”, the song that opened Gondwana's first album, the namesake of 1997, They represented just that., reggae is coming and warned of what was coming.
A light show broke out there., fire on stage, hypnotic visuals and the characteristic depth of the bass played by I-Locks, captivating viewers from the beginning.
The gale of successes did not stop, with “Verde, Yellow and red”, “Pidigueño”, “Smile Souling”, “Harmony of Love”, “Sweet love”, “Antonia” and “It was Langa”, chanted throughout the stadium, to which were added others perhaps less known such as “Feel again”, “Dime”, “Firmament Clouds” and “Our Dreams”.
World-class attendees
In addition to this reunion, the renowned sound engineer, Errol Brown, was in the mix of the concert, while Jim “Lion” Fox, who mixed the three Gondwana albums with Quique Neira, He was in charge of recording the entire show.
Completing the triad, another renowned reggae producer, Doctor Dread, founder of Ras Records, who worked with some of the most recognized groups of the genre such as Inner Circle, Steel Pulse e Israel Vibration, among others, He also attended the show and was in charge of presenting the reunion.
Doctor Dread was the producer of the albums Gondwana (1997), Praise (2000) y Made in Jamaica (2002), taking the group to record on the island, in which it was ultimately the last one Neira recorded as the band's vocalist.
The audience enjoyed each of the songs and also expressed themselves in each silence between songs with the shout “Chúpalo Kast”, already at this point a classic in mass shows.
The intimate moment of the night
During the second part of the show, Quique Neira had an intimate moment, accompanied only by the guitar and by the members of his family who reinforced the band, like his eldest son, Balthazar, and his sister, Italy “Beat it” snow, who served as chorus girls, besides his brother-in-law, “Big Touch”, who was the keyboardist during the show.
He started with the Spanish version of the classic “Redemption Song”, adaptation by Eduardo Gatti, and then he took advantage of playing some excerpts from his own songs -“one smoked”, in his own words- as “Give me a little bit of you”, “Good things”, as well as his latest single “What we do not live”, song dedicated to his recently deceased father and whose unreleased video was projected on the stage screens before the show.
Then it was the turn of another classic of Chilean music, as “The Cigarette”, followed by “I remember you Amanda”, which the band covered on their third album, at the moment when the Gondwana musicians returned to the stage to perform it.
A medley with songs like “Proud Mole”, “Faith Dealers”, “Holy Books” and “It's only true”, led to the end of the presentation that included “Praise” and “Pincoya Calypso”, a tribute to the town where the group emerged in the mid-80s′.
A splendid closing
“On behalf of everyone, A huge thank you is the best way to reflect this beautiful and unforgettable moment that we have lived. We hope we have met your expectations and that you have had a moment that will stay here in your heart., how is it happening to us”, said Quique Neira almost at the end of the show.
After those words came “Happiness”, a song written by Neira for another of her children, and the final encore, how could it not be otherwise, was “Original feeling”, an enduring classic of national music.
Those deep notes, Hypnotic songs with the characteristic groove of the bass made the Bicentennial explode, sealing one of the most anticipated reunions in Chilean music., maybe, why “love exists”.
With more than two and a half hours of show, Gondwana went through the three albums in which Quique Neira was its vocalist, perhaps one of the best reggae albums in Spanish, on a day in which once again the green, yellow and red was in style, like in those glorious times of reggae in Chile, with an audience that mixed generations, those who saw Gondwana live and others who did it now for the first time.
El debut de Third World
The prelude to this historic presentation already foreshadowed what was to come, with a high-level show by the historic and renowned Jamaican reggae band, Third World.
And although the years go by and its members have been renewing themselves, The musical quality is still there and that was what the group showed to the public in La Florida..
Obviously their main classics played, as “1865 (96° in the Shade)” or “Now That We Found Love”, as well as some covers of different musical styles, as “Time To Say Good Bye (I part with you)” or “Sweet Dreams”.
In the middle of the Jamaicans' presentation it was possible to see, on the side of the stage, I-Locks with a relaxed smile, enjoying and dancing your dream night. An image that reflects the character of the night, solo “positive vibe”. Irie.
