UNIVERSIMAD 2011. YOUNG FLAMENCOS. TRIBUTE TO MARIO PACHECO

New (and old) new flamencos  

Silvia Calado. Madrid, May 15th, 2011

Tribute to Mario Pacheco. Photo gallery, by Daniel Muñoz

Has new flamenco become old? What a nice little question. It is true that those youths who gave a name to that label which was hosted back in the ’80s by Nuevos Medios are now adults, individuals who shelved their group projects, musicians in search of other identities not always easy to associate with flamenco... And we’ve just seen it. What happened on stage which, in the setting of Universimad 2011, was organized to pay tribute to Mario Pacheco, gave a lot of food for thought about the state of affairs. And that, amidst tremendous sound-technician-state-manager chaos (but forgivable due to the event’s good intentions and how unrepeatable the lineup was), the blazing sun of nap time, allergies attacking amidst dust and pollen, and the aromatic waves of ditto.

Tribute to Mario Pacheco. Raimundo Amador (Photo Daniel Muñoz) Tribute to Mario Pacheco. Antonio Carmona and Raimundo Amador (Photo Daniel Muñoz)

“Legalization!” The crowd finally closed ranks before the stage with the war cry. And they sang songs in unison. And they bounced. And they shouted out loud that this is new flamenco… of 2011. Tomasito, Canijo from Los Delinqüentes and Muchachito were among the few to come out on stage with their homework done and warmed up, anti-pretentious as they are, touring together as G-5 over the past few seasons. Raimundo Amador got up with them to sing that anthem which was ‘Patapalo’. And flipping out with him, G-3 proved that the way initiated by Pata Negra and Veneno might very well be the liveliest of all the ones opened in that mixture of proposals which new flamenco was.

Also there was Miguel Campello, former singer of ElBicho, who draws another sizeable amount of that crowd that now listens to flamenco in a different way. But he had more room down among the audience than up on stage, where he could hardly intervene in the multitude which was ‘La alegría de vivir’, the song which closed the second block dedicated to Ray Heredia. The ingredients were all jumbled up, some as clashing as Jota from the group Los Planetas, who had to read the lyrics of ‘Lo bueno y lo malo’; and others as right-on as Sorderita, who not only sang to Ray, but also dedicated some alegrías to Pacheco which he accompanied on guitar, “because flamenco was what most motivated him about me”. There were only just a few touches of bare flamenco like that. The bulerías by maestro cantaor Ramón el Portugués accompanied on toque by Josemi Carmona (who would then play ‘Tangroove’ from his new album), the taranto by Diego Amador on cante and piano, and the impressive toque of Pepe Habichuela. And the audience reserved the olés for them. For the rest, there were wows and whistling. 

Tribute to Mario Pacheco. Sorderita (Photo Daniel Muñoz)

A mixture of both olés and wows was what the interventions got in the first part, the one directed by El Negri and the one which pulled more towards those latin courses which a lot of new flamenco ended up getting watered down in. With still few people at the venue, the session opened with the rumberos ‘Besos de caramelo’, which was a hit from the first installment of the series ‘Los jóvenes flamencos’.

Tribute to Mario Pacheco. Ramón el Portugués (Photo Daniel Muñoz)

And following the cante by El Portugués, bursting out on stage, raising those present to their feet, the great Raimundo Amador, timeless and incorruptible. Boyeré! It was hummed by hippies, trendy college students, neo-indies, pretty girls, fifty-something burnouts, handsome lads from the Rastro… and even the technicians who were rushing around on stage. And it was a great idea to strum his electric guitar in order to breathe life into the band, making it dialogue with Antonio Carmona - about to premiere his single with Nelly Furtado - and El Negri to the sound of ‘Vente pa Madrid’, that single which those of us remember who felt the call of new flamenco between the ’80s and ’90s and today are back to La Niña de los Peines… and not giving up being patanegristas and garrapateros; certainly not. And the thing is that if Nuevos Medios taught something, it was to coexist. Long live Mario Pacheco!

Further information The 'new flamenco' honors Mario Pacheco in Universimad 2011 Interview with Mario Pacheco, director of Nuevos Medios (May 2002) BLOG. Fallece Mario Pacheco, fundador de Nuevos Medios y padre del nuevo flamenco Nuevos Medios celebrates its 20th anniversary by releasing twenty compilations and doing a tour Visit the international flamenco festivals agenda www.flamencofestival.info