It took more than six farewells from French singer Manu Chao for the thousands of fans who gathered at the Serrano Aguilar stadium in the city of Cuenca to be calm and satisfied with the end of the presentation of the Ecuador stop of the La Ventura tour.
Since approximately 4 p.m. on March 21, long lines of people began to be seen outside the stadium, amid a festive atmosphere and positive energy, waiting for the order to open the doors of the presentation venue; meanwhile, they gathered strength so that the continuous drizzle that had frequented the capital of Azuay would go away for a few hours.
After 7 p.m. the public began to enter the stadium and an hour later the presentation began with the group Ayawasca (Macas) and Guerrilla Clika (Quito), who opened the concert, to immediately give way to Calle 13.
The audience vibrated and enjoyed Calle 13, but the energy of the attendees overflowed when the La Ventura 2012 show started at around 10:40 p.m. Manu appeared before the thousands of attendees, always thanking them for their presence and dressed in the characteristic colors of Rastafarian culture (green, yellow and red). Precisely the first song was Mr. Bobby, directed at the legendary Bob Marley, who would later sing Iron, Lion, Zion, produced in the 70s by the Jamaican musician.
The show, which lasted approximately two hours, featured songs in Spanish, Portuguese, English and French, and included productions by the now defunct Mano Negra (Señor Matanza, King Kong five) and more recent ones such as: Mentira, Minha Galera, Politik kills, Por la carretera, Bienvenido a Tijuana, Clandestino, among others that were added with their characteristic style of modifying the original version and mixing them as a remix.
The X4 formula of the 2012 La Ventura Tour (Manu, Philippe -drummer of the defunct Mano Negra-, Gambeat -who with his beatboxing and his sound box gives the unique touch to Manu's productions- and Madjid -who played a couple of songs with his father's guitar, as announced by Manu himself-) won over the two-hour presentation the applause of the attendees who demonstrated their affection and respect for their artistic production.
The global character of Manu's music was also reflected in the audience, who were mostly from Cuenca and Guayaquil (among other parts of the country) but also from France, Canada, Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Austria, Chile and Argentina; who united their voices in a single song to survive and live in this "mondo difficile."
REJECTION OF MEGA-MINING
Consistent with what was published days ago on his official website, Manu made his position public by mentioning: "Our rejection of mega-mining in Latin America." This announcement, like the one made minutes ago by Calle 13, received a standing ovation from the public. (See attached video)
After 00:30, and after several extensions at the end of the show, La Ventura made his "final" farewell. The satisfaction could be felt among the public leaving the stadium and those who repeated that hopefully "we won't have to wait another 12 years to have Manu Chao back" on Ecuadorian soil.
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