Continuing the streak that's lasted all summer, the A.K. of last Monday August 24th was another eclectic and tremendously intense show. The antikaraokian performers interpreted songs by all kinds of artists, from Patsy Cline and Julie London to Pantera and The Ramones.
Among the great stars of the night we should definitely cite chanteuses such as Garret, Blimunda and Cakau, and gentlemen like Madskoti, Chilo El Heavy, Dani Metal or Lord Vader.
The show had an unusual beginning. Rachel opened fire with nothing other than Stupid Girl by Garbage, while her sexy "cousin" Tweeny Queeny danced sensually. Those who arrived late missed one of the most interesting numbers of the evening..
As I said, Garret was one of the great stars of this A.K.
She made the Cranberries hit Zombie her own, infusing it with her own personality and captivating the attention of the audience from start to finish. Brilliant.
Cakau, who debuted in AK just a few weeks ago, slayed once again with a majestic performance of Aretha Franklin's Respect.
This is the beauty of Anti-Karaoke: out of the blue appears somebody like Cakau, and she becomes one of its biggest stars in just a couple of weeks.
Muffy Michelle debuted in A.K. this night with a funny number with Tweeny Queeny.
It was hilarious to see Muffy singing I Love RocknRoll while proudly donning a black dildo.
Fania offered her best Anti-Karaoke performance to date with an astounding interpretation of "Sweet Child O' Mine".
El Guerra, the definitive rapper of AK-Barcelona who we unfortunately haven't seen for about a year, returned to delight us with the song that we most associate with him: "Bring Da Noize" by Public Enemy/Anthrax.
Excellent interpretation of You Oughta Know by Alanis Morissette in the hands of Blimunda, who took charge of the stage like a pro.
Chilo El Heavy hit us full in the face with a thunderous performance of Pantera's Fucking Hostile.
It's evident that Chilo is one of the most exciting performers in A.K. these days.
The story of Jacobo, The Tiger of Pedralbes, is interesting. He performed in the very first Anti-Karaoke ever, when the show began at the Café Teatro Llantiol five years ago. Not only did he sing in the first show, but also in the ones that followed during that time period, when the audience consisted of about 12 people.
Thanks in part to Jacobo and the few performers that formed part of those incredibly freaky nights, Anti-Karaoke exists today. In his emotional return to the show, The Tiger of Pedralbes delighted us with an excellent version of Sympathy For The Devil by The Rolling Stones. The Tiger rules.
Embraced sang What A Feeling, the super kitschy hit by Irene Cara that served as the central theme for the movie Flashdance.
Madskoti is another of the great stars of A.K. nowadays.
In his performance of Born To Run by Bruce Springsteen, he sang his heart out.
Pirata del Caribe, proud member of the most metallic sector of Anti-Karaoke, paid his respects to Phil Anselmo and Dimebag Darrell with a potent version of A New Level, one of the most ripping songs of the magisterial Vulgar Display Of Power.
It's strange to think that Pantera are now a legend, isn't it? I remember when that album first came out, and Pantera was one of the new groups of the moment. Today, Dimebag is no longer with us and the band doesn't exist, but its music remains very much alive in Anti-Karaoke.
Barbarah called back another marvelous band from the 90s that has also since disappeared: Blind Melon with its beautiful classic No Rain.
Shannon Hoon would have been proud of Barbarah if he'd been able to witness her extraordinary performance.
And continuing with the classics from the 90s, El Gran Manel sang Lithium by Nirvana.
Danglam went farther back in time and interpreted the old 70s Kiss anthem, Love Gun.
In the first half of the show, Rachel sang Song 2 by Blur.
El Artista Anteriormente Conocido Como Enrique offered a very special performance.
His mother was in the audience, and he dedicated a gorgeous Bohemian Rhapsody to her.
We've heard Julie London's Cry Me A River very few times in the show. I can remember Susie Esposito's astonishing performance of this song at A.K. Madrid months ago, but few others. On this occasion, Carolina and Helena were in charge of rescuing this great song from oblivion.
Another song that almost no one has ever sung in A.K. is Crazy by Patsy Cline (the Queen of Country, bar none). From Ass To Mouth rose to the challenge with this old classic, fusing it towards the end with a song by Julio Iglesias. Disturbing.
Rocksales didn't think of Julio Iglesias this night, opting instead for a resounding Back In Black by AC/DC.
Wonderful to listen to those impossible falsettoes that Rocksales does so well.
The classic shower of Jack Daniels over the first rows didn't fail, as Rachel interpreted New York, New York.
Ennio de Roma made the entire club move with a very entertaining version of Im Gonna Be (500 Miles) by The Proclaimers.
Frank SinAnthrax rocked hard with Breaking The Law by Judas Priest and let Rachel hold him in her arms.
Impressive interpretation of Metallica's Sad But True by Lord Vader.
We can say the same of Dani Metal, who left us speechless with an evocative Somebody To Love by Queen.
Rachel sang the definitive grunge anthem, Smells Like Teen Spirit, Her "cousin" Tweeny Queeny accompanied her onstage, dressed as a cheerleader like in the famous music video.
We also heard this evening: Free Falling by Tom Petty (Txus & Mr. Eddie Harris), Rocket Man by Elton John (Solo),
Ace Of Spades by Motörhead (Iván),
The KKK Took My Baby Away by The Ramones (Duro De Oído),
Enter Sandman by Metallica (Samurai Xavi & Crowsta),
and Dancing In The Street by Martha & The Vandellas (Rocko & Kenta).
Towards the end of the show, Vato & Co. sowed the seeds of chaos with an extremely crazy Anarchy In The UK by los Sex Pistols. The performance almost ended in tragedy when one of the audience members who accompanied Vato onstage accidentally fell backwards off the stage.
In the video you can see the strange fall.
Roser reigned like only she can, with an absolutely glorious Highway To Hell.
Rachel and Chilo El Heavy together sang a Killing In The Name charged with fury.
Fabri, nowadays the biggest star of A.K. Barcelona, offered us another one of his guttural symphonies, assisted by Iván.
The chosen song? Pantera's Cowboys From Hell, of course!
And Rachel closed the show with the customarily wacky Kids In America.
I'll take advantage of the space here to relay a message from Rachel: whoever truly desires to sing in Anti-Karaoke should arrive when the show begins at 22.00 h. and sign up then. The show has a time limit of three hours, and those who sign up halfway through the show, logically, will have less of a chance to get onstage.
More photos from August 24th! (Marco Quiroga Marazzato)