Free schizophrenics

The show of Ca7riel and Paco Amoroso It is as schizophrenic, free and fun as its music, one in which trap and progressive rock fit equally well, a great song (which in Buenos Aires English would be ‘banga’) track-breaker with a funk nod to Prince and a poop, fart, ass and pee joke. It is a show totally free of prejudices in which the music at times sounds like Yes and Spinetta from Invisible while, above it, a Miranda-style pop melody plays! or a trap at full speed.

They are quite unclassifiable and a real whirlwind on stage, that must be admitted. A double scenario, because this is a concert but also a kind of theatrical show about a kind of mind and body rehabilitation center, in which they begin with several self-help phrases as schizoid as their music, in which the same is mixed with a quote from Cortazar with Gwyneth Paltrow and her intermittent fasting.

There is a master of ceremonies, or guru, who guides us through the 12 steps of the FREE SPIRITS center to the rhythm of the sound mixer of the Argentine duo that begins like a steamroller with ‘No meserve más’, a song that lyrically shows us where things are going, fatigue, frustration for the fame achieved and how their life has changed since their performance at the Tiny Desk “screwed up their lives.”

And these two Argentines, who met when they were six years old and began playing together in their teens, have been through everything together. Even by a progressive rock group called Astor that broke up in 2017 when Ca7riel decided he wanted to rap and Paco learned that his scratchy voice was perfect for singing. They immersed themselves in trap and urban music but without completely forgetting their past, and the mix finally exploded in the concert that served as a springboard to their fame. Something they have used in their lyrics ever since, both in ‘PAPOTA’ as in his recent ‘FREE SPIRITS’ that serve as the basis for this entire show.

When they sing that ‘Lady Gaga is Argentine’ in the second song, there is no one left sitting in the Movistar Arena. They say that nobody invents “nothing new” and they are proof that even their music, which sounds quite fresh, is nothing more than a huge pot of influences mixed together. Thus, the fun “Ay Ay Ay” combines Caribbean rhythms with neo soul and lyrics about having the best sex possible, another of its recurring themes, along with the impostor syndrome that is reflected in songs such as the celebrated “#Boobs.”

Of course, although there are few buts to say about the show itself, not all songs work the same. For example, halftime is not his specialty. “Vida loca”, with its light flamenco touches on the guitar, stays close to the ‘cringe’ and “Pirlo”, despite having one of the best phrases of his career (“that without you I am like Italy without Pirlo”), is a song that wouldn’t sound too out of place in Enrique Iglesias’ repertoire. Not to mention that that joke made into a song called “Culo con caca” is closer to Enrique and Ana than to the irreverent humor they usually display.

Of course, the show works perfectly at all times and when the best songs play, such as the melodious “Hasta Jesús had a bad day”, the instant “El día del Friend”, pure soul funk ambrosia, the dark trap of “La que puede, puede” or the hesitant “Dumbai”, everything is forgiven. We even have to give them extra points with that song built on the gigantic riff of “I Wish”, called “Bad Bitch”, in which Ca7riel performs a solo in the purest Prince style, or the phrenopathic song made into a song that is that “Ha ha”, which is the best example of his style, mixing Slow Jamz of R&B, rap, metal and samples of ‘La happiness’ by Palito Ortega.

They end in style with the unstoppable winds of “Beto’s Horns” turning the Movistar Arena into a “disco” of trance and wild techno. Then another 180 degree turn to end in ‘play back’ (I think there were more parts of the concert in which they used it for the vocals, something normal if we take into account the physical effort they put in) with the credits of the show and that nod to the melodic song from the 70s that is the “Hymn of the Mediocre” that Raffaella Carrá could have sung and Augusto Algueró could have arranged.

In case we were left wanting, Ca7riel stayed on stage trying to lead a collective karaoke with the final refrain of the song, that “Why am I going to do today what I can do tomorrow? If someone else can do it, much better” that everyone was already beginning to chant when he was interrupted, exclusively, by the song they released this Thursday, “Sexy Magic” with PinkPantheress… Of course the thing about mediocrity and not doing things cannot apply to them.