Search - Enrique Bunbury :: Freak Show

Fair enough...

R. Suarez Giacoman | Mc Allen, Texas United States | 07/07/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The concept of this new album comes directly from Enrique's last European tour, the so called `Freak Show'. Bunbury invited some of his friends (the freaks) to accompany him on this tour: Ivan Ferreiro, Carlos Ann, Adria Punti, Nacho Vegas and Mercedes Ferrer. The idea was basically to take the concept of the old day's circus and take it into the band's tour. The applied concept is wonderful, the costumes and the makeup (Copi appears characterized as a clown) give the show an exquisite feeling that you are watching a show from old days.



The CD



The first disc contains 15 live tracks from the tour, the sound is not so good (you'll have to turn up the volume if you want a decent sound), but the mastering is awesome, the band sounds as clear as if they were performing in studio, the new renditions of Bunbury's classics will surprise you (Enrique re-invents himself performing a blues version of `Salome' from his first solo album) and he sounds clear and with no microphone popping (which makes you wonder if the voice is actually recorded live)



The album opens with an incredible instrumental piece performed by the `Huracan ambulante' called `Otto E Mezzo' and contains songs from his last album mostly, it might not be his best work but here we have the first live versions of those songs, the politically incorrect "Que no sepa tu mano izquierda lo que hace la derecha" is here, as well as "La señorita hermafrodita", "Anidando liendres", "El rescate" and also from `Flamingos' "Lady blue", "Sacame de aqui" and the beautiful vals "...y al final". All of them classics already and in the live versions we have fallen in love with.



But the real highlights of the album are the songs performed in duets with the Freaks; Carlos Ann is impressive singing "L'amour" from the album Enrique and him recorded together (Bushido) Nacho Vegas gives a pleasant surprise with a revised version of "Gang-bang", and Adria Punti adds a nice touch to the album with the polemical "Longui no. 13". Mercedes Ferrer is also present singing the melancholic "Fantasia", definitely one the best songs from the album and of course, the single "Lady Blue" with Ivan Ferreiro in a new version and with some new chorus.



The DVD



This is finally the long awaited "Freak show: la pelicula". A 2 hour documentary that compiles material from the tour and takes you to the very origins of the concept while recording "El viaje a ninguna parte". Here you will see why Enrique is considered as one of the most inventive and innovative artists from our days, taking an idea as crazy as this and materialize it is something to see. The interviews with all the people involved are very interesting, Enrique introduces his band and the freaks, and then each of them are interviewed individually. The information given in the interviews complements perfectly what we heard in the audio CD.



Like I said before, the highlight of the tour and the album is the presence of the freaks, the documentary contains several pieces performed live, but none of the freaks are there! We only get to see songs from Enrique singing with his band but not a single song with his guests. I personally felt disappointed as this was exactly what I expected to see; given that the tour never made it to America (and never will according to Enrique) the DVD was my only hope to see Enrique performing with Ann, Punti, Ferrer, Vegas and Ferreiro.



Something you will notice is that there is no lip synch when Bunbury sings (same as in `Una cita en Flamingos'), since the edit contains images from different concerts there is still a chance that this is truly a live album, but given what he has done in the past I don't doubt he re-recorded his voice, the sound is just too clean.



Overall, a pretty decent live album, though it could have been longer and with more contributions from the freaks; the movie will provide you with a lot of information and it is always nice to see Enrique's control over the scenario, a must for fans.

"

Pretty good!

tak1 | 09/27/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"After releasing a live concert DVD of the flamingos album and a live cd after the pequeno album, i figured what is the point to release another live CD/DVD!?

But i was wrong as this "freak show" combo is pretty damn good. The live CD focuses mainly on the "el viaje a ninguna parte" album with additional tracks such as a Bushido song and a contribution from singer Mercedes ferrer. The only old songs you'll find here are salome, sacame de aqui, and y al final.

The opening intro "otto mezzo" is very cool. It reminded me a lot of Fellini's film 8 1/2. If you've seen it then you'll understand why.

The DVD is not precisely a concert performance. It's more of a film documentary with footage of the preparation for this unique circus tour. It is interesting to watch but I'd say this is more for the hardcore Bunbury fans. What saves it is when some of the songs are finally performed live.



This is a nice thing to have."