Sanz Sound Deafening in Big Arena
Alejandro Sanz’s 1998 live album, Basico, displays a simple but telling photo of the Spanish performer sitting in the spotlight in front of a microphone, guitar on his knee. The unadorned shot captures the essence of what made Sanz popular to begin with: superb guitar skills and a gravelly, flamenco-styled tenor. Fans and music writers often refer to Sanz as a musical poet whose intimate, intense lyrics, covering everything from love to politics, cut much deeper than the shallow, manufactured pop anthems of his contemporaries.
Unfortunately, that intimacy was nowhere to be found on Saturday night at Miami’s AmericanAirlines Arena, the first stop on the American leg of his No Es Lo Mismo (It’s Not The Same) tour. The location wasn’t a good fit for his live blend of flamenco, pop and hip-hop. Even though Sanz and his 13-piece band gave stellar performances, it was unnerving to hear music described as poetic sounding more like an attack on the eardrums.
After a thunderous medley/intro of his older hits, Sanz, clad in a sleeveless shirt, jeans and his ever-present mischievous grin, offered a new song from No Es Lo Mismo, also the title of his most recent album. The track, 12 por 8 (12 by 8), garnered a lukewarm reception and immediately distinguished the diehard fans from the casual ones only familiar with his radio hits.
It wasn’t until Labana, a song about the plight of Cubans exiled from their homeland, that the crowd of more than 7,000 fans got to their feet. The floor-level seating area became an impromptu salsa club (over the protests of security) and Sanz himself shyly cut the rug on stage. The song received one of the evening’s numerous standing ovations and featured an amazing trumpet solo by Cuban producer-musician Lulo Perez.
The highlight of the evening was when Sanz played fragments of songs written by a man he described as a philosopher from his hometown of Cadiz, Spain. Sitting on an extension of the stage that placed him closer to the audience, Sanz accompanied his raspy voice on the keyboard, sounding better live than on his studio recordings. Sadly though, the high-pitched shrieks of “Alejandro, !te quiero!” every six seconds, ricocheting off the arena walls, cheapened it.
The raps on Try to Save Your S’ong were nearly unintelligible without the liner notes and the cavernous arena made horn solos sound like car alarms. More than a few fans covered their ears during the electric guitar solos.
While the show had its spectacular moments, thanks to smart arrangements and tight production, the sound problems bring up the dilemma that arena acts must always grapple with: Quantity, or quality? The Latin Grammy-winning success of Sanz’s 2001 MTV Unplugged, recorded at the University of Miami’s 600-seat Gusman Hall, suggests an answer. In March, Sanz did an eight-day stint at Mexico City’s National Auditorium, whose seating capacity is about half that of AmericanAirlines Arena. It would have been nice if he’d done something similar in South Florida.
Originally published in the South Florida Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL) April 27, 2004 Tuesday Broward Metro Edition SECTION: LIFESTYLE; Pg. 3E
