In 2018, Cecilio G. confessed to Carlotta Cosials that he had heard that Hinds were “a little bad live.” In 2026, the rapper’s career is still very similar to what it was back then, but there are so many changes that the Madrid band has gone through – only half of the original roster remains – that it is normal to wonder if they are perhaps the same group. It doesn’t matter, because now we are certain that Hinds have never sounded better.
The return of Cosials and Ana Perrote to La Riviera, led by Inverfest, has been one of those concerts that enchant on its own merits. The kind that start modest and surprise you little by little until they end up touching the sky. The occasion deserved it: “The end of an era,” could be read on the screens before Hinds stepped on stage. It was the farewell concert for what is their best album, ‘Viva Hinds’, so the excitement increased progressively during the set. It reached its peak with ‘Superstar’, a song they composed at the “lowest moment the band has ever been in,” “defeated.”
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With tears in his eyes, and just after some endearing words from Perrote to his inseparable companion (“It’s hard to find a friend like that”) before playing ‘Bamboo’, Cossials spoke with total sincerity: “No album has made me as happy as this one. There is no point of comparison. A publicist would say that the future always brings better things, but the present is super beautiful, and we start the album at the worst. For this reason, ‘Superstar’ was the emotional moment of the concert. Let us not forget that Hinds was actually on the verge of dissolving completely.
It was thanks to “our friends and families”, in Perrote’s words, that last night we were able to enjoy real great songs. ‘Boom Boom Back’ made it clear that Hinds maintain the garage sound, almost junkyard, in their guitars. The same reason why they began to stand out on the Madrid scene, although they found true success on the other side of the pond. If before the choruses of songs like ‘Riding Solo’ were chaotic, now they are a hoot. By the time ‘Stranger’ came on, the only thing I missed was for everything to sound a little louder. If my ears burst, it wasn’t a problem either. ‘The Bed, The Room, The Rain and You’ in turn demonstrated that Hinds have more than evolved from the days when their songs were based on three angry chords and little else. The intimate, dream pop touch of the performance was one to get lost in endlessly.
Not everything has been perfect. There have been mini screw-ups, like Cossials’ guitar “solo” in ‘The Club’. She is clearly wrong, she laughs at herself and the public doesn’t care. Normal. It’s a small downside to an extremely fun set, and in which its two frontwomen exude charisma. “May God catch us confessed, six turkeys on the fucking stage,” Carlotta says when inviting two girls to play ‘San Diego’ with them. “But be careful, don’t pick her up like that,” Ana tells one of the pit security guards. One of the quotes of the night came from Cosials, just before playing ‘Spanish Bombs’, an “anti-war” classic: “If Joe Strummer were here tonight, he would say ‘Free Palestine’.”
How beautiful when energy is contagious. The La Riviera audience started out timid, but by the time ‘En Forma’ arrived, it seemed like a Spanish pop classic. Things as they are: Hinds interpreted it as if it were. In addition to bringing about 15 girls on stage (“Where are our captains!?”), the passion with which the 4 artists – including María (drums) and Paula (bassist) – lived the farewell to the concert was worth repeating. All while we repeated the mantra of “look at me, I can’t take it anymore.” Who can’t identify with that?
