This Friday, the Basque-French vocalist Anne Etchegoyen (Saint-Palais, 1980) participated in the ‘Gertutik’ cycle at Sala BBK, where she brought together 170 souls who enjoyed a septet concert (she, two guitarists who sounded like movies plus the four members of Les Voix Basques, a polyphonic choir) lasting 88 minutes for 13 well-structured pieces so as not to repeat themselves: there were developments of the two guitars, an exclusively choral moment that received the most applause (‘Goizeko izarra’), the permanent interaction of the showgirl with the audience she intended to make sing, her bilingual explanations so that no one would miss anything. And her sharp vocal improvisations between new age and artistic flair, with certain lapses slightly out of tune (for example, the ones she used to delay Violeta Parra’s ‘Gracias a la vida’).
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She did not perform the feminist song ‘No es no’ (she recorded it with the collaboration of actress Itziar Ituño), although she did ‘Isilik’, «about the silence of the victims of domestic violence» (and it stayed with her as a transitional Basque singer-songwriter , since it was the third on the list and even this one acted in a trio, without the choir). From the first piece on Friday, ‘Lau haizetara’, Anne encouraged the audience to sing and clap, although the most squeaky moments came later, in the pantheist ‘Pachamama’ (“your landscapes are my body”) and in the philocommunist and pamphlet ‘No pasarán’ (dedicated to Dolores Ibarruri, La Pasionaria), both quite tacky in their own way.
Greetings after the encore.
Oscar Cubillo
The rest of the repertoire, most of the thirteen performances, was very good and even contained beautiful moments. ‘Maite’ by maestro Pablo Sorozábal was the first milestone (with flamenco guitars), ‘Xalbadorren heriotzean’ by Xabier Lete was beautiful (dedicated to Xalbador, a shepherd and poet, like the cantaor El Cabrero, Miguel Hernández…), and the two related to the Camino de Santiago came out special: ‘A date with me’ (flamenco and with hums and whistles at the end) and the countryfied ‘Buen camino’ (pilgrim friend).
It has already been said that the moment of the four male choristers was huge, and much later Anne said goodbye with her great hit ‘Hegoak’, that is, her version of Mikel Laboa’s ‘Txoria txori’, with introductions by her two guitarists, one Mexican and another rumbera. And for the encore she reserved ‘Il est un coin de France’ by Luis Mariano, a very communal piece thanks to its onomatopoeic refrain of “airetun chikitun airetun laïré”.
In the past, Anne used to get very nervous and shy on stage, but this Friday she was happy and confident on stage (she directed her companions with gestures), and everyone left Sala BBK satisfied. Next Friday, March 10, the Biscayan trilingual pop singer-songwriter Maren will close the Gertutik cycle.