The concerts of the legendary Julio Iglesias – the idol of generations of women the world over – took place in five different Spanish cities during August as part of the singer’s world tour. During the course of the 40 years of his musical career, the singer has recorded more than 70 albums. EuroVisionary attended the final concert in his native country.
Julio Iglesias shot to fame in 1970 when he was the Spanish representative in the Eurovision Song Contest where he achieved a 4th place with the song Gwendolyne. Since then, Iglesias has gained fame and popularity and achieved numerous hits on the national and international music charts, establishing him as one of the world’s most charismatic and most popular recording artists. He has just recently finished his summer tour around Spain bringing enjoyment to the audiences with his greatest hits. EuroVisionary was at his last concert in Spain which took place in Ávila and we could see first hand that he remains one of the most successful artists among his compatriots.
This show in Ávila was the last of his Spanish summer tour after performances in Aranjuez, Cap Roig, Lucena and Gandía where the popular singer brought to Spain five warm summer nights filled with a romantic atmosphere. But Ávila’s concert was probably the most special because it was thanks to two of his fans who, through a website, had been collecting signatures for two years to have the internationally famous singer perform in their city.
The concert was scheduled to begin at 21:30 but the first chords of the last concert of Julio Iglesias in Spain were not heard until 23:50, two hours and twenty minutes after the scheduled time. The reason for this delay was a heavy storm and due to torrential rain the show was about to be postponed due to technical issues. At the gates of the Adolfo Suárez stadium, more than 7000 people who wanted to hear his idol were looking at the blackened sky, waiting for the storm to blow over.
Despite the weariness of the audience, when the artist entered the stage, he was greeted with applause and cheers ten minutes before midnight. He began singing Quijote and continued apologizing to the audience for the delay and talking to them about the songs of his life. Iglesias appeared on the stage dressed in his trademark sleek black suit, waistcoat and tie. He also had four female backing dancers dressed in black who were on the stage during all the danceable songs. The band consisted of two bass players, two guitar players, a keyboardist and two drummers. The staging had the classic tone of a melodic concert with stunning lighting and two big screens on either side showing in detail what was happening on stage.
More than two hours of nice songs was what was served to the thousands of people listening this very pleasant evening. For this world tour, Iglesias offers to the audience a fabtastic compilation of his greatest hits including songs such as Ni Te Tengo Ni Te Olvido, Nathalie, La Gota Fría, Un Canto A Galicia, Me Olvidé De Vivir, De Niña A Mujer, Manuela, Crazy, La Vida Sigue Igual in addition to the fan favorite Hey, which brought the audience to its feet. Almost thirty songs, most of them sung in Spanish but also in English, French, Italian and Galician.
One of the most original parts of the concert was when Julio Iglesias sang A Media Luz which was accompanied by dancing from an Argentine couple, Hernan and Soledad. Between songs, he praised his country, he said that he was grateful for having the chance to sing in Spain again and he promised “to sing here” until he dies. Me Va was the final song of the concert and the artist sang it with a Spanish flag draped over his shoulders while the audience cheered tirelessly.
This impeccable artist continues to delight audiences all over the world. He crafts each song note by note, studies each word until he reaches the effect he wants. No one puts such passion, such feeling into music that with each breath, the audience trembles. It is no wonder that every thirty seconds one of his songs is played on a radio station somewhere in the world.
Over the course of his 42 year career Julio Iglesias, former Real Madrid player, has sold over 300 million albums world-wide recorded in a multitude of languages, released more than 70 albums, collected more than 2600 Platinum and Gold record awards, performed more than 6000 concerts across the globe, garnering the love and affection of millions of people, beloved for his playful personality as well as a voice and a way of phrasing songs that truly draws out the romance and mystique of love.
