A weather alert sent to mobile phones from all over Catalonia after 14:00 significantly altered the development of Cruïlla’s Saturday. The notice recommended avoiding displacements until 9:00 p.m., although a second notice sent at 7:30 p.m. deactivated the initial alert; So Cruïlla was forced to postpone the opening of its doors until that time and to delay the beginning of their concerts.
The updated schedules revealed dramatic cancellations such as those of Gutiérrez brothers -who played that same night at Montjuïc home; In Cruïlla they were scheduled at 18: 30- and one of the main dishes, Kaiser Chiefs. Finally, the British could act at 4:30.
On Instagram, many regretted the lack of information arrived at 9:00 p.m., while others asked the reimbursement of their entries, or even the cancellation of the event (!!), unable to move from outside Barcelona due to the suspension of the train service, which lasted for three hours. It is not easy to reprogram a whole day of festival in hours, and I am sure that Cruïlla did everything he could in record time.
Despite the setbacks, the final data speak of success: 82,000 people have attended the four days of Cruïlla, 25,000 to their last day, headed by the concerts of Alanis Morissette and Love of Lesbian + Amics.
The Parc of the Fòrum was visibly full than the previous three days at 9:30 p.m. Benavente León They presented their ‘new symphony about chaos’ in a crowded Western stage that enthusiastically received their songs full of electricity and existentialist lyrics. Abraham Boba, arranged for the Apocalypse, cried ‘how cruel’ before the microphone as if it were his last chance, knelt on the ground or melted with the public in ‘Yesterday I left’, and it was always impossible to remove his gaze. ‘Being Brigade’ was one of the most chanted songs.
The main course of the entire edition of Cruïlla 2025 is called Alanis Morissette. She maintained her original schedule – the 23: 00- although the concert began five minutes before for that tribute video to herself that my partner Fernando García describes on her chronicle of Mad cool. A video that seems up by a fan on YouTube with the title «Alanis Being Ionic for 5 Minutes» or that seems like a Tribute of the MTV. Your only meaning? Remember Cruïlla’s youth that, before Olivia Rodrigo and Taylor Swift (which come out in the video), Alanis was.
Alanis began to sing ‘Hand in My Pocket’ from outside the stage and, when he emerged, it was like witnessing God on earth. Next to his band, Morissette sang without rest, linking a song with another instrumentally or through fragments of other songs (he really recovered ‘Man’, even if it were briefly?) And interacted with the public just as he express that she was delighted to return to Barcelona or to return to the fans the “you want” that they sent him from the stage.
Alanis transmitted an overflowing energy throughout the set, physics and vocal. Physics because it was running from one end of the stage to another, circling on itself as a centrifuger or prostrated on the ground, depending on the song. Whether at the beginning with ‘Hands Clean’ or later with ‘Ironic’, Alanis’s energy reflected that of its beginnings in the 90s. However, he also spoke of today: Alanis sang with a shirt that had printed the word “perimenopausal.”
But Alanis’s vocal power left me speechless. Throughout his set I wondered how he was able to maintain that vocal level for so long. She is a vocal athlete and demonstrated it in the acoustic part of the set, my favorite because of the way she let her voice look in all her power. He dazzled singing to the piano the jazzy ‘rest’ and in ‘Mary Jane’ let out the vocal beast inside, holding a high note for long seconds. Surely I am one of the few who prefer this alanis to the guitarrera. Therefore, I missed interpreting ‘That I Would Be Good’. It will be again.
The concert continued with ‘All I Really Want’, with Alanis delivered blowing the harmonica, and with ‘You Oughta Know’ arrived the next peak. Above all ‘Jagged Little Pill’, but in a lesser extent ‘Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie’ (1998) and ‘Under rug Swept’ (2002), formed the basis of a nostalgic set, novelty to the medulla, but still included the occasional – and deserved – Capricho. ‘Thank you’ closed accompanied by images and tweets expressing gratitude for various reasons.
The scenario of Long live Sweden I was surprisingly full, as much as Alanis or more. The type of full rock concert of Viva Sweden, sustained by a scenery composed of visual light and colorful blocks, simply connects with an audience that is attracted to the beautiful epic that transmit their songs.
The Murcian group, which will later participate in the special concert of Love of Lesbian, offers in Cruïlla the expected heroic pop-rock dose, including the occasional Synth-Pop or eighties saxophone accent. The repertoire runs through all his successes, com ‘the good’, ‘The naked king’ or ‘everything that matters’ (Ellyella will also save his set in Cruïlla after the initial cancellation) and the recent ‘blood’ sounds like a song destined to remain in his setlist for a long time.
Many are still wondering why Love of Lesbian have played twice in a row in the Cruïlla. The reason is that Cruïlla wanted to pay tribute for its 15th anniversary, valueing one of the most popular Barcelona bands at the state level, a band that has grown parallel to the festival. The question was if the concept of concert with friends would translate into a show worth seeing or if, it would simply be a parade of artists without much sense.
Taking into account how complicated it had to be to organize a special concert with guests from various parts of Spain, on a day marked by the temporal alert, the Love of Lesbian concert was a success. Maika Makovski could not sing ‘Thesis’ with them (Maika’s was one of the canceled passes), but most confirmed artists could participate. Marc Dorian came out in ‘When you don’t see me’, Valeria Castro in ‘Where we used to shout’ and Alizz in ‘John Boy Fans Club’.
The best versions were adjusted to the style of invited artists, simply by contributing something different from the already known compositions. Maria Hein looked vocally in ‘Giant struggle’, although it seemed somewhat nervous on stage; Cala Vento translated ‘the magnetized girl’ in her punk-rock style and Maruja Limón converted ‘snow fires’ into a fun Flamenco Rumba party.
Other performances did not convince so much, as of Valeria Castro in ‘Where we used to shout’, perhaps because his tremulous voice, so suitable for folk, does not just married the type of Love of Lesbian song. Alizzz, hidden behind his sunglasses, defended ‘Fans Club of John Boy’ all how well he could, but gave the impression that he is not a type of song in which he feels vocally comfortable.
The entrance to the stage of a huge yellow cake for the 15th anniversary of Cruïlla marked the end of a show that was again a euphoria lesson, only that, this time, the euphoria seemed like a tuft more turned off than usual due to the circumstances. Balmes, who explained that the group had spent all day in the enclosure, had words of support for Cruïlla for its excellent organization of an unpublished crisis in its history. He also celebrated having avoided a “Mazón 2”. Surely the 28,000 people who attended the festival this Saturday, agree.
