Silvio Rodríguez dedicates 'El necio' to AMLO at Auditorio Nacional and remembers his friend Vicente Feliú

June 7, 2022

The Auditorio Nacional was practically full, and Silvio Rodríguez appeared right at 8:40 in the evening. The audience had been calling him with applause for ten minutes.

The audience, mostly between 40 and 60 years old. There was the occasional confused teenager, like the one sitting next to me, who came to discover Cuban trova and the songs her mother used to sing when she was a university student.

Silvio in jeans, black t-shirt, denim shirt, red socks and his characteristic khaki-colored beret. He started right in, after a "¡Viva México!", guitar in hand, accompanied by his musicians, including the transverse flute so characteristic of Cuban music, performed by the magnificent Niurka González.

Silvio Rodríguez at the Auditorio Nacional His same sweet and raspy voice sang new songs, some by Cuban poets he admires, like Rubén Martínez Villena: "La pupila insomne". The night started slowly, Silvio warmed up his audience, starting with newer, lesser-known songs. And little by little the mood rose; people began to timidly sing along, although the shouts of: "¡Viva Cuba!" and "Silvio, I love you!" never stopped sounding.

By the time he started with "Te amaré", the Auditorio was devoted to listening to and feeling every word of the song, ending in a huge ovation. "Óleo de una mujer con sombrero", "La Maza"...

"These have been times when we have lost beloved and dear people. This song I made in another circumstance I want to dedicate to a recent loss; there are losses that are irreparable like that of a person I knew came to my concerts, and lost his life in these circumstances: Héctor Migue. For everyone, especially for him: 'Mi unicornio azul'."

Silvio continued, deeply moved: "This year I lost a friend of 60 years of friendship"; they met when they were 14 and 15 years old, in the early days of the Cuban Revolution, he recounted. "I found the guitar in the Armed Forces, and I started making songs, he in other circumstances: Vicente Feliú". Silvio Rodríguez at the Auditorio Nacional (Ariel Ojeda). And Vicente's niece, Malva Rodríguez, came up to sing with Silvio the song "Créeme". And then with Malva at the piano and Silvio at the microphone they performed "No es fácil".

"Everywhere there is machismo and abuse against women, that's why I made this song: 'Yo te quiero libre'". "Rabia" ignited spirits, to continue moving the audience with "En el claro de la Luna". "This is something I made during the pandemic, it's a danzón: 'Danzón para la espera'". "Quién fuera", "Eva".

"Canción del elegido" arrived and the entire Auditorio sang it, some with tears in their eyes. Silvio let the audience accompany him and sing alone several parts of "La era está pariendo un corazón".

Before saying goodbye with this song, he said: "I once sang it to Fidel, today I'm going to sing it to Andrés Manuel (López Obrador)" and launched into "El necio".

After the shouts of "another, another", he returned to sing in chorus with almost 10 thousand souls "Soy feliz". Silvio Rodríguez showed us tonight that it doesn't matter if he accompanied the rebellious and idealistic years of university or if he only recently reached the ears of a 13-year-old teenager, his voice, his notes, melodies and lyrics equally reach the heart.