Vinicio Capossela – 28 November 2024 (Sala La Paloma – Barcelona)

Barcelona’s Christmas lights, a harbinger of things to come, had already been switched on that evening when Vinicio arrived at the sumptuous and magnificent La Paloma, the oldest dance hall in Europe, as Capossela himself would later remind us. What better place, now that it was once again hosting live shows, to celebrate Christmas than this wonderful place?

Vinicio Capossela, La Paloma Barcelona 2024 – Photo by Meritxell Rosell for Indieofilo^©

A Christmas party, yes, it was not for nothing that they started with ‘Bianco natale‘. But with the spirit of an end-of-year party, fun and mischievous always present, just a minute and a half into the song the winds were unleashed and Vinicio screamed his intense version of ‘White Christmas‘, combining it with the infectious ‘Voodoo Mambo‘, ‘Mambo italiano‘ and ‘E allora mambo‘ to get everyone dancing.

Vinicio Capossela, La Paloma Barcelona 2024 – Photo by Meritxell Rosell for Indieofilo^©

Did anyone want to rest after so much mambo? Sorry, but La Paloma was not the place to rest for long that night. Capossela swapped his hat for a monkey mask and slipped into the role of King Louie from The Jungle Book to sing ‘Voglio esere come te‘.. The night progressed to the rhythm of swing, mambo and Italian popular music. The intense ‘Notte Newyorkese’ was followed by the popular ‘Angelina / Zooma Zooma‘ and ‘La notte se ne’ andata‘.

Vinicio Capossela, La Paloma Barcelona 2024 – Photo by Meritxell Rosell for Indieofilo^©

A few minutes later, the arrival of the festive spirit was announced: the intimate ‘Charlie‘ and the warning ‘Santa Claus is coming to town‘ would serve as a prelude to the appearance of a Santa Nicola vaguely reminiscent of Capossela, who had left the stage a few minutes earlier. After an uplifting speech, Sante Nicola left us the gift of the delicate ‘Conforto e giogia‘, only to go wild with an inspired “Marajá” and a few allusions to the festivities associated with the Christmas holidays (‘All you can eat‘, ‘Agitta‘), before ending the party (spoiler: wrong) with ‘Sciusten feste n.1965‘ and ‘Dankeschoen‘.

Vinicio Capossela, La Paloma Barcelona 2024 – Photo by Meritxell Rosell for Indieofilo^©

Vinicio and company would return to the stage to introduce the band to the rhythm of a frenetic ‘Friscaletto‘, trying to organise a massive conga from the crowd by linking ‘Tico Tico‘ to the essential ‘Che coss’è l’amor‘. The magnificent evening ended with a tender tribute to Chavela Vargas on ‘Le semplici cose‘.

Vinicio Capossela, La Paloma Barcelona 2024 – Photo by Meritxell Rosell for Indieofilo^©

In short, at the end of November, the audience at La Paloma was able to enjoy a first farewell to the year, perhaps the best they have ever enjoyed, not in 2024, but in a few years’ time.