Contrary to the overloaded scenographies, Rosalía, megastar of the new pop, bets on the blueprint to serve the power of her show, like at the Vieilles Charrues, on the night from Saturday to Sunday. “This artist is the planetary sensation that everyone is talking about, but few have seen her on stage, it’s a chance to receive her at the Vieilles Charrues in an archi-complete evening, it’s going to be volcanic”, explained Jérôme Tréhorel, festival director, before the concert.
To read alsoRosalía, Aya Nakamura, Red Hot Chili Peppers… The crazy line-up of Vieilles Charrues 2023
During her one and a half hour performance, the Spaniard alternated between eruptions and respites before new tremors. All in a simple box. The English language has the right expression, “less is more”, “to do less is to do more”. With eight dancers and a set consisting of two giant rectangles and a slightly sloping backdrop, the 30-year-old can give free rein to her creativity. A device worthy of Fashion Week in Paris, a universe she knows well, since in January, Rosalía had paraded for Louis Vuitton.
Beyoncé, when she performs in stadiums, arrives on a flying horse – like the cover of her latest album Renaissance – and changes outfits ten times. Lana Del Rey, for her recent concert at L’Olympia, yet an intimate venue, took the stage with four musicians, three singers, six dancers, not to mention the scripted appearance of a hairdresser and two swings. Rosalía does not launch into such a riot of effects reminiscent of an arms race. The interpreter of Despechá appeared in front of the 70,000 spectators of the Vieilles Charrues, in black leather like a biker, shoulders covered with a piece of fabric all in length and spectral whiteness. An accessory created by her, which she “wears for the first time”, as she assures the public in French? Coquetry or thoughtlessness, her fans had noticed that she was already wearing it at Coachella in May.
The hits follow one another – Beso, Tuya – and the artist reveals all the facets of his talent. The public, very young, knows the anthems of the one who has exceeded 2 billion views on YouTube with the clip Con altura, sung with J Balvin, megastar of reggaeton. When she slides along the first rows, Rosalía takes the opportunity to make the spectators sing. This clever fan in the FC Barcelona jersey is entitled to the microphone, the musician being from the suburbs of the city of Catalonia. The club signed in March 2023 a collaboration with the artist inscribing the logo of his third album Motomami on the front of the FC Barcelona shirt.
Rosalía proves vocally as comfortable in club pieces as in a ballad played alone on the piano. She enjoys moving from choreographies inspired by flamenco to others from reggaeton. During the interludes, the Catalan plays on her acting skills in shots filmed by her dancers and projected on the giant screens that surround her. Way to remember that she made an appearance in Pain and Glory (2019) by Pedro Almodovar.
In a painting, her dancers come together to form a human-motorbike, which she rides to perform Motomami (“motorbike-girl”), the title track of her latest album. Released in March 2022, this third opus is undoubtedly his most intimate. The themes of sexuality, feminism, spirituality and self-respect are discussed. At the heart of the project, a symbol: the butterfly, born from a chrysalis before spreading its wings. The singer even wore this insect as a jewel placed on a tooth for certain visuals of the disc. In Saoko, she also sings: “I transform myself”, “I contradict myself”, “I can be everything”. Rosalía proved it on the Vieilles Charrues stage.
