Miguel Bosé reconnects with Barcelona

Miguel Bosé grabs his package. He grabs it to raise and lower it once, twice, three times, four times. It happens when he sings "but how brave!" in the underrated El hijo del Capitán Trueno , that reflection of Bosé who dressed differently, liked to wear rings and earrings, and "had a reputation and a very strange appearance."

The gesture isn't gratuitous or crude. It's provocative. He seeks to break the fourth wall with the audience as early as the third song. But it's something more: a feigned display of virility that he uses to ironize stereotypical courage. And at the same time, it's his way of acknowledging his courage in the face of his father, the bullfighter who refused to accept his son's strange dress and his straying from what he considered a full-fledged man.

On stage, the Miguel of improbable theories fades away and only space remains for Bosé the artist.

It's an action Bosé performed yesterday at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona. It's nothing new. He's repeated it throughout the Importante tour. It's part of a choreography unchanged since his first concert, accompanying a virtually unchanged set of 23 songs in just over two hours. Sometimes it's 24, if he includes Por ti , as he did yesterday in Barcelona.

It had been eight years since he last performed in Catalonia (his notorious vocal problems...). "It took a while, but it's here," he said. This Thursday, he returned to a devoted crowd of 8,500, the vast majority of whom were over 40. He was first seen dressed in white, then in red, and finally in bright yellow. He moved around the stage with ease. Bosé's presence alone is enough, but he made an effort alongside three vocalists and five musicians, including Mikel Irazoki, the tour's musical director, also present on bass.

Duende and Nena were played immediately. Then, in one go, Hacer por hacer (Doing for the sake of doing), Como un lobo (Like a wolf) and the peace anthem Nada particular (Nothing particular) ("Why is there war? Because it's business; peace isn't," he emphasized), before later displaying his anti-war streak once again with Partisano (Lorca's Sevilla imitating the step of costaleros), and Amiga ( Amiga ).

Morena mía delighted the audience. Its risqué lyrics contrast with a simple choreography that could have been written by El Tricicle as a continuation of that gag in which three mimes illustrate the lyrics of "Soy un truhan, soy un señor " by Julio Iglesias. But Morena mía is more than erotic. It's porn—that's not an impression; Bosé wrote it in Historia secreta de mis mejores canciones (The Secret History of My Best Songs) . And since it is porn, he once again incarnated himself as the son of Captain Trueno to repeat the genital adjustment at the end of the song. Bosé, at 69, doesn't want to stop being sensual. Or provocative. And yet with Bambú , another highly erotic piece, he had refrained from the gesture. You don't have to be very perceptive to realize that "I'll give you bamboo" isn't something to feed a panda. Amante bandido , Te amaré , Don Diablo and Por ti served as a farewell in Barcelona.

All of these are topics he has taken up again to reconnect with his followers, but even more so with himself after his denialist arguments and the hoarseness that has plagued him for years.

There are two Miguel Bosé. Or rather, one Miguel and one Bosé. It's Miguel when he's on the right track, when he's irrational in his reasoning and embraces implausible brother-in-law theories. But it's Bosé when he launches into song to leave the character behind. The former remains hoarse. The gallinaceous skirmishes in his voice when he speaks to the audience are evident; on the other hand, the latter, the one who sings, sounds good. His intonation isn't excellent, but good.

Even so, the difference between the two voices is so great that a theory has spread that Bosé uses a pre-recorded track to partially complement his voice during difficult parts. This would amount to a backing vocal, and is common among other artists as well.

It's preferable and plausible to think that Bosé and his speech therapist have worked hard, that Bosé has learned to sing with a hoarse voice, even though he's nowhere near the five octaves Axl Rose could reach. But it's clear that the Spanish singer-songwriter, unlike the American, is on the mend.