(Special delivery). With a show that cut the cold of the night and cleared the storms, La Renga literally rocked the quiet Uruguayan town of Maldonado. The band composed by Gustavo “Chizzo” Nápoli on guitar and vocals, Gabriel “Tete” Iglesias on bass and his brother, Jorge “Tanque” Iglesias on drums presented the themes of his new work: the post-pandemic Off the grid (released in February of this year).
Domingo Burgueño Miguel stadium filled its capacity with 17,000 people, despite persistent rain accompanied by freezing winds that threatened to ruin the evening.
Just after 9:15 pm, the power rock trio cathartically attacked a set of 31 songs that began with good pipe and strolled among emblematic and historical themes (the band celebrates 34 years of existence) with an overwhelming simplicity and freshness.
Meeting
“We haven’t seen each other for a long time”, Chizzo launched from the stage, as if to exorcise all the anguish that Covid has caused us. And a wavy carpet of flags (from Argentina, Uruguay and Chile the most infamous) waved by the LMDS (The usualsuch is known to his faithful followers) replied as if pushed by a giant spring.
But tonight there is no respite for anyone, and it’s about beating a storm.
The 34 years of La Renga rock from the stage with a fat and crackling sound. The trio makes no concessions or quits, e with an almost punk attitude they play one song after another. the letter of elephants pooping is in the poster: “What a great time to shake up tonight, the elephants poking around inside the car, the pin has already been removed from their trunks, while the band plays well at full blast.”
La Renga is a unique case in the Olympus of Argentine rock. They have achieved not only become a sort of “heroic force of rock”which denotes a capacity for organization and teamwork rarely found.
And holding high the flame of a hard rock and roll made of riffs, vibrant arrangements and a poetic neighborhood in his lyrics that perfectly describes the codes of a music made of blood.
People are a small ocean made up of heads that accompany the trio’s journey with an almost mystical participation. When it rings by your side‘(from the album “Detonador de Sueños”) 17,000 throats will accompany the hoarse voice of Nápoli all night long. There is a desire to shake off the cobwebs and dust off the desert that meant two years of virus.
Two years that La Renga have used to shut themselves up in their rehearsal-studio in Mataderos, inventing this album (the tenth of their career) which, in some way, gives them back to a more raw and cutting historical sound.
From the drums, El Tanque looks like a human computer that keeps the band’s pulse constant, never abandoning its time.
Tété (always around the stage as at the beginning) joins harmoniously and works by mounting on the bass drum with the precision of a Swiss watchmaker: is a rhythm surgeon and the blood bond with his drummer brother is the compelling explanation of the wall they both make up, so that Chizzo can insert those intricate designs with his viola Gibson Firebird.
The “machines”, as Pappo called his pedals for guitar effects, they got wet with the rain, the stage until a few minutes ago was a dangerous pool (a tremendous job of the stage managers) and the strong wind wanted to sweep away the giant screens. But tonight there is magic.
There is a vibration in the air that wards off all evil. The image of La Renga in Maldonado, fighting with the force of the storm against the storm, back to that of Neil Young when together with his Crazy Horse (Polo Field, January 2001, unforgettable) braved the same climate in Buenos Aires.
Motoralmaisangre, The wasteland, The devil and death, Galactic cannibalism, He who takes me, The rebel ….new titles and insurmountable classics intertwine in this Uruguayan encounter with unusual speed.
At this point it is necessary to underline a theme that is not minor in rock: and it is this special (and differential) sound that only a trio formation can produce.
Powers trios, an Argentine tradition
Argentina has a great history in rock trios, with high-end bands such as Manal, Vox Dei (a quartet that later became a trio), Color Humano, Pappo’s Blues, Polyphemus and Divididos at the helm. Y La Renga has always walked that catwalk with pride. But today they want, they have to prove it again.
Tonight’s recital in Maldonado will go down in history, not only because it brought Argentines and Uruguayans together again in a very special ceremony (and in a commune that had never had them before), but also because it highlighted, after a break forced, the “lame car” has a well tuned engine.
Leandro Quiroga Ferréres, director of the renowned Uruguayan Medio y Medio festival (25 years of good music in Punta Ballena) is the character who brought the trio here: “This is an unprecedented show for Maldonado, it has many spectacular spices. And the idea comes from afar.
“We met with the people of Renga before the pandemic, they wanted to go back to Uruguay and when the business returned they stayed very true to their word, so we decided it was time to do it. And we all shared a passion for motorcycles. , which in the case of La Renga is no small feat. We are very proud to have been able to do this show on such a beautiful campus “.
And this show, lasting two and a half hours, will then continue in the locker room, with family and friends (Gustavo “Pelado” Cordera, among others, came to greet us) and Chizzo, Tete and Tanque celebrate not just another appointment of the new tour, but victory over the weather that worried everyone.
Chizzo is particularly happy: “Rock and roll can never die, because it is ferocity, it is freedom and it is essence. It’s the best ».
The presentation of off the grid It started last February in Córdoba and has already passed through Salta, San Luis, Neuquén and Baradero. After this show the next meeting It will be at Newells Old Boys Stadium, in Rosario, on November 19th.
After six years of absence, the group returned to Uruguay to reconfirm their coats of arms. He did it with the category and that rough, punchy sound that is his trademark, with that rock root mixed with high octane gasoline.
In the middle of the era of the trap and reggaeton, the hosts of La Renga (which, mind you, are not just a trio but a real big family of technicians, managers and assistants that surround it) do not give up and aim for more.
And although many from the outside try to denigrate such a classic musical style within the rock subgenres, calling it rock head (Guys if at this point in the game you didn’t realize this is rock-heart …) the reality is that this style is alive and well.
He was playing in this Uruguayan night to remind us, among distorted guitars, (and here we return to Young) that rock and roll will never die. La Renga starts walking again.
CJL
Source: Clarin
