He is a popular musician in every sense of the word, as he is well-known and his music is rooted in what sounds familiar to us, seeming to have arrived with our first purees. Consequently, growing older can only benefit him; time grants authority, words sound wiser, and the songs grow larger, as the audience has had even more time to make them their own, link them to their lives, and turn them into catechisms of neighborhood life. Like a contemporary Lazarillo de Tormes, his songs reflect the cunning and charm of someone who needs both to live, and his phrases, written with poetry sometimes tender, sometimes roguish, always with the spark of a simple phrase, go through life in slippers, treating it with domestic familiarity. Kiko Veneno is 74 years old, but his songs have no age. On a new tour, he passed through Barcelona debuting some new ones that will be part of his next LP, clearly showing his vitality, also his character, and singing those great pocket truths that make him unique. Kiko Veneno is a reflection of how we were, the photo of times that are capitulating, their humanity run over by speeds that do not allow us to see.
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But he is still there, fresh, with a repertoire so full of gems that there is always one left in the bag. Watching him on stage with his band, it was clear that the concert was not on autopilot, so not only was it not identical to previous ones, but the moment dictated variations even on what was planned. It started with new material, six songs among which the compositions closest to the ballad stood out, Guitarrica, an ode to his companion in hardships, and Puentes romanos, a performance he interrupted with a grace not lacking firmness, requesting silence from an audience whose bars were encouraging them to raise the volume of their conversations. His work deserved the respect of being listened to, he seemed to say. From then on, silence prevailed, especially when he was left alone with his guitar to sing La casa cuartel, a simply wonderful love song with the biographical background of a military father. And the audience quietly sang the chorus… ”and he just wants to go far away/take her by the hand and run away.” Needless to say, the audience was in his pocket, they had already entered the concert inside him. The harvest of ’92, the year of Échate un cantecito, was immediately uncorked with Lobo López and as the ranchera says, everything rolled and rolled until the end.
From this album, only three other songs were played, Echo de menos, En un Mercedes blanco, and Superhéroes de Barrio, without Joselito or Me siento en la cama, although Veneno was played, from the legendary and eponymous album with the Amador brothers, or a thunderous, surreal, and at times psychedelic Traspaso that gave way to the romantic Dice la gente, where dying of love is something everyday. Kiko Veneno’s songbook has so much depth that each of the people who filled Paral·lel 62 must have their own ideal repertoire, so something is always missed at his concerts. The one that has not been missing lately is Los tontos, that little rumba, one more, that he sang with C Tangana to boost the meaning of phrases like “you thought that because I’m good/you could walk where I mop,” which in the older, well-nourished audience must have recalled the times before the mop, when women knelt on rags or, the more modern ones, foam rubber pads, to leave the floors spotless. It is these street-level observations that make one believe that writing well is easy, that reveal a detailed way of looking that fits the emotional meaning of times now happily chained to nostalgia into a few words.
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With an impeccable band enriched with guitars, percussion, backing vocals, and keyboards, Kiko flew over Barcelona, which he paid tribute to with La rama de Barcelona near the end of the recital, where, despite the rules, someone brought marijuana notes. As in each of his concerts, Kiko was true to himself without reaching the apathy of someone who sings automatically or because he has nothing else to do in this life. As long as he keeps his gaze, his observational ability, and that rascal tenderness, Kiko Veneno will still bring more joys. Life can be a dark corner, but Kiko will always have a match to light it, a fire as shy, humble, and popular as his own songs.
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