MEDINA AZAHARA
Ozzy Bar - Bogotá, Colombia
March 27 2014

Performance:  4,5/5
Lights:             2,5/5
Sound:            4/5
Atmosphere:    5/5

Medina Azahara is one of the most legendary Metal bands from Spain.
They were formed back in 1979 and, in spite of several line-up changes, they have never stopped.

Surprisingly, this was Medina Azahara’s first visit to Colombia, so fans have been waiting for this moment for quite a long time. This was also my first Medina Azahara concert.
The event was supposed to be held at Teatro Ecci, but it was moved to Ozzy Bar a few days before.
Some 300 fans showed up for an intimate concert. Expectations were high, and they definitely were met by the band!

Medina Azahara has a long career and so many albums and most of their hits mate it to the setlist.

Quite surprisingly, they didn’t play a single song of their latest record, La Memoria Perdida, released in 2012. But that didn’t upset the crowds, and most people sang the words of every song.
Solo Y Sin Ti, Velocidad and especially Necesito Respirar were particularly amazing.

But the boys also paid tribute to their influences and from time to time they played snippets of some all-time classics songs, like Black Night by Deep Purple or Enter Sandman by Metallica.

Medina Azahara is composed of five very talented musicians, and they all were ready to rock.
Manuel Martínez’s voice is incredible, he sings with the soul. But he is also a great frontman, that knows the right gestures, and knows how to talk to the crowds.
Paco Ventura is a very versatile guitar player that knows about fast solos and melodic parts.
Keyboards have an important role in Medina Azahara, and Manuel Ibañez does the work perfectly.
Juancho Cobacho gives a lot of energy and strength to the band with his bass guitar.
And on drums Nacho Santiago is pretty impressive, he even blinded his eyes with a scarf during his solo.

Asides some minor sound problems with the keyboard, the band had a very good.

As soon as they went off the stage, after Necesito Respirar, everyone started to shout “Hey Medina Así No Se Termina”, which means “Hey Medina This is not how it ends”.
So, Paco came back alone and played a virtuoso guitar solo that included fast and slow parts, as well as excerpts from Deep Purple’s Smoke On The Water, Tomasso Albinoni’s Adagio, and some Malsmsteen.

There was still time for a couple more hits, and Todo Tiene Su Fin is a song that everyone was expecting.
Manuel let the crowds sing the whole first verse, just like Rob Halford does during Breaking The Law. It was amazing!

The last song was a long version of A Toda Esa Gente, when Manuel Martínez thanked the crowds and stated that playing in Colombia was a dream that finally became true.
He even invited the organizer on stage to thank him personally.

Manuel also introduced the band members, and they played a snippet of the Mission:Impossible theme during that.
He was introduced by Paco, who asserted that Manuel is the man been carrying on this project for 3 decades, uniting ideas and souls.
Then, a girl couldn’t resist and climbed on stage to hold him in her arms!

The concert ended at 11:25pm, after more than two hours of high quality Rock.
Everyone was emotional and excited and some fans kept shouting “Hey Medina, así no se termina!”, hoping that the band would play another one.

I hope the next concert will be before another 35 years!

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Setlist Medina Azahara – Ozzy Bar – Bogotá, – March 27 2014

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Medina Azahara band Line-up: