Rosalía's powerful voice and mastery of eclectic styles give her an aura like no other

The German philosopher Walter Benjamin defined the quality of ‘aura’ as the unreplicable presence of an artwork. As much as a photograph can capture the likeness of a painting, it can never capture the sensation of standing in front of it and feeling its magnitude. Likewise, a recording, be it mastered in studio or hastily recorded from a concert-goers phone, will never offer the same experience as hearing the music live.

Standing on stage at Barcelona’s Palau Sant Jordi on Monday night in the first of her four-show stint in her hometown this week, taking the applause from thousands of awestruck fans whose hearts were ceremoniously left thumping at the energy provided by the small orchestra arranged in the shape of a cross, accompanying the dulcet celestial tones of her operatic new era, it was impossible not to feel the pure aura of Rosalía take over everyone in the arena.

The Catalan superstar swapped sauvignon blanc for a penedès, an empordà, and a priorat, and delivered everything from smiles, tears, and laughter in a resplendent night, filled with as many emotions as genres on her latest album, Lux, released last November. 

Few artists could ever fuse as broad a range of styles and genres of song, beat, arrangement, tempo, and pull it off as masterfully as Rosalía. In a goosebump-packed two-hour set on the Lux tour, you’ll get everything from gentle heavenly operatic hymns, neo-flamenco, grimey hardcore techno, delicate euphoric melodies, Catalan rumba, flavours of full-on fiesta reggaeton, pop rock ballads, and anything else she wants. And it’s all pop, because that’s how Rosalía Vila Tobella defines it. 

Rosalía boasts a power to her voice that, in each new album she produces, she enjoys dearly experimenting with new directions. Many fans before the show pointed ot Mio Cristo Piange Diamanti as a song that always induced tears, and Rosalía herself started the song already crying, after taking a couple of minutes to speak about how much it meant to her to be playing in her home city, and the nerves she felt for playing for her own people. 

The choreography of arms, playing with light and dark during La Perla, was another joyous highlight, set up with a an invitation for local actor Yolanda Ramos into the confession box to talk about the ‘perla’ in her life, in a dialogue that drew fits of laughter from the crowd. 

Frankie Valli’s ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off You’ was the cover of the day, sang through a painting frame, making her look like the Mona Lisa standing before the sacred Montserrat mountains of Catalonia, all performed in front of a score of fans pulled on stage from the crowd. 

The Lux tour continues in Barcelona on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. Then, up to 18,000 fans will get the chance to bask in the aura of one of the world’s most interesting and eclectic artists each night.

Fan excitement

Rosalía performs four sold-out shows in her home town of Barcelona this week, and fan elation is reaching celestial heights in Catalonia. 

Hours before the 8.30pm concert, fans started gathering in their hundreds in the vicinity of the Palau Sant Jordi venue to secure the most advantageous spots. 

As is practically a requirement for the Lux tour, Rosalía devotees dressed up for the occasion, with most opting to show their purity in almost all-white outfits. Rosary beads, head veils, dyed halos, and glamorous crosses were some of the most commonly seen accessories, in a night of religiosity that may rival the Pope’s visit to Sagrada Família this June. 

“I’m very nervous, I think I'm going to cry a lot," Joop from the Netherlands told Catalan News. He can also be thankful to the powers above that he checked his ticket this morning and found out that he had tickets for Monday’s show, instead of Wednesday’s as he had believed. He got off work early and was one of the first dozen people in the queue. 

The appropriately named Alma was present with her family, and she told this outlet she was “really excited” for the show. “The show, the spectacle, the whole setup she brings. And her, always her,” she explained when asked about what she was most looking forward to. 

For her, Rosalía’s last album, Lux, is a “work of art,” and one in which she especially appreciates the “fusion” of so many styles, “with so much symbology linked to art and religiosity in such a beautiful way.”

Montserrat and Laia said they were “nervous” as well, and avoided watching anything online from the Lux tour up to now. “We didn't want to spoil it on ourselves,” they said. 

They’ve seen Rosalía in the singer’s last two tours, and repeat once again for Lux. For them, the latest album is “the most emotional” of all, compared to the more “structured” El Mal Querer” and the “full-on fiesta” of Motomami.

Kris and Dimitur were in Barcelona from Bulgaria specifically for the concert on Monday as they wanted to see Rosalía performing in her own home town. "We want to see if there's going to be some kind of surprise for her own people."

They agree Lux is "more complex, musically" than any of the rest of the "amazing" work the Catalan superstar has produced so far. "Lux has a different aura, if I can say it like that," Kris said. "It's very spiritual and the songs are just pure magic."

"There's not a song that should be skipped in this album," Dimitur said. "Sit down and listen to it carefully one song after the other, it's amazing. She's trying to mix classical with techno and trying out different styles, it's amazing."

Ana, from Portugal but living in Barcelona, was especially excited for the "vocal techniques" Rosalía employs in her latest album. "To be able to listen to her live, especially now that she's bringing opera techniques into her new singing, to be able to witness that live, is exciting."

Meanwhile, Pol, from Catalonia, was very "nervous and excited" to go to the show, even if he was attending alone. "I hope for both a vocal and visual impact. In Motomami, the impact was quite big, but now I expect something totally different, more instrumental and vocal. 

As a local, he's also particularly pleased to see a Catalan make it so big in the world of music. She has always been a reference point, a leading singer in the city, and she has always been like the Catalan artist par excellence. I'm quite proud of what she is achieving."