Ain't no concert like a Spanish concert...

Ain't no concert like a Spanish concert because a Spanish concert don't stop. Seriously. My friends (Katie, Kim and Jori) and I had seven hours of fun at Alejandro Sanz' concert. The concert was the last of his "El tren de los momentos" tour and the celebration of the centennial of the Real Betis fútbol club, so we knew we were going to have a great time. The Estadio Olímpico de Sevilla was abuzz with nearly 30,000 people adorned in green and white, the colors of Real Betis. Upon arrival, everyone received a free green or white T-shirt (and an In Touch magazine) by showing his/her concert ticket. On the shirt and our tickets, we realized that there were 13 amigos joining Alejandro, a native of Madrid or madrileño. We listened to the opening acts sing traditional Sevillanas songs, rap, pop and rock. When the traditional songs played, people in the stands and on the stage floor grabbed their partners and begin to dance the Sevillanas. (See the video.)


Between each song, the musicians would start a Real Betis chant. My favorite was:

"Junto. (Together.)
Siempre junto. (Forever together.)
Real Betis.
Siempre tuyos. (Forever yours.)"

All the verdiblancos would jump around with their banners and proudly display their affection for the soccer team. (Sidebar: Verdiblancos is the nickname for the fans based on Real Betis' colors, verde, or green, and blanco, or white.) Being an ultimate dork, I joined in, knowing that I would stick out like a sore thumb. But noone minded. Everyone was content while drinking Cruzcampo beer or smoking a cigarette every 45 minutes. Between the dancing and the soccer chants, I have never seen such a display of patriotism or love for history as I did Saturday night. (Sidebar: The next concert I go to in the States, I'm determined to start a Tar Heels chant.)

When the opening acts finished and the lights turned off, Katie and I had just finished a bathroom and refreshment break. So we tried to weasel through the crowd to get closer to Alejandro and our friends. We lost Kim and Jori, who ended up merely 20 feet away, but all enjoyed ourselves nonetheless. Alejandro played his greatest hits like Mi amiga mía and Quisiera ser and his newer hits like Te lo agradezco, pero no. Unfortunately, I have no idea what the songs are about. That's okay, I'll figure that out later. But the music was simply awesome! He had multi-cultural, international band of folks from New York, Argentina and Spain, of course. And he had more guest artists joined him on stage. Again, I have no idea who they were. But if they're friends of Alejandro, they're good with me. For his encore, the crowd shouted "Aaaa-le-jan-dro (Clap. Clap. Clap, Clap, Clap)," and "Otra. Otra. (Another song)" Then he came out, sang two more songs and pranced around with the Real Betis banner on his shoulders. (Sigh.) In the words of Frankie Valli, "Oh, what a night!"

My next ventures: learn the meaning of Alejandro's songs, attend a soccer game and marry a Spaniard who can sing Alejandro's songs to me. (Sidebar: I'm just joking Mom, Dad, aunts and uncles.)

(Sorry. Taking a photo of the screen was the best I could do.)

(Katie and I amidst the post-concert debris.)

(A picture of a lady's bum, which was taken while my friends and I were in line to get free T-shirts. Her jeans read "Don't touch," and she doesn't have to tell me twice.)