the onubense Rocio Marquez and the man from Cádiz Bronchus rose last night with the award for Best National Album released in the already deceased 2022. Or at least that is how the around 200 members of Periodistas Asociados Musicales (PAM) have considered it, a group in charge since 2015 of delivering the noise award for the best musical production published in the year. And once again, as happened with the recent MIN Awards, Pamplona once again hosted a gala that was attended by some of the finalists of this edition such as The Ponds-Anni B Sweet y biznagawho performed live, and even the winners of the event themselves, Marquez and bronchuswhich left us wanting to see them interpret something from their acclaimed and now award-winning “Third heaven”.
The ceremony, with a previous appetizer of fraternization as happened in the old days, was led by Maialen Gurbindo from Navarre, more and better known for startle girlwho performed his recent “La Torre”, and who was accompanied by the actor and comedian from Alava Gorka Aguinagalde. Let’s face it, it wasn’t the duo’s night. To the already difficult task of presenting an evening before an audience like Baluarte’s was added the very clear lack of preparation with the script. Awkward moments mainly led by an Aguinagalde more concerned with making the umpteenth joke of inclusive language than with mentioning well some of the protagonists of the night. Because it can happen as a slip to call Luqui Joaquín Luque but to label a group already established and made up of four women as Los Melenas is not knowing very well what one is talking about. And this dynamic in fits and starts and with a visible lack of fluidity made the night completely lackluster, even more so in a celebration of more than an hour in which only one prize is awarded.
On the contrary, the live performances of some of the finalists of this edition helped to raise the spirits of the respectable in various sections of the event. biznaga They were in charge of opening the stage with the interpretation of “Líneas de sombra” and “Contra mi generación” from their album “Bremen Does Not Exist”managing to impregnate the walls of an auditorium unaccustomed to the genre with well-tuned rock. Annie B Sweet and Inigo Bregel, at the piano, did the same with “I’ve drunk so much / That I’m dead of thirst” and “Tu pelo de flores” in a confirmation of how well they bind their vocal registers even in a simple format. But if someone took the cat to the water in the live performance it was The silks with a selection of bass and electronic beats that provoked some seat dances in songs like “Zoriontasuna” and especially in “Itzulera”, with a descent into the stalls included.
Already at the end of the gala the discovery of the best kept secret of the night took place with the noise award a Rocío Márquez and Bronchio who competed with industry totems such as Jorge Drexler, Rosalía or the already more than confirmed Rigoberta Bandini. After revealing their surprise at receiving the award that rewards a work that was “totally experimental” in its origin and highly applauded by specialized critics, they explained that this recognition helps them “to continue creating music even when blockades or moments of doubt arrive” .
This moment, along with the appearance of Esther Al-Athamna, Tomás Crespo and María Ballesteros, from the board of directors of Periodistas Asociados Musicales, was one of the great moments of the night. The three of them, in a shared speech, made a plea in favor of the work of music critics, of musical and cultural information, and of its social importance in the face of the precariousness of the sector. It was an opportunity to remember the work of so many great communicators, critics and photojournalists who regularly cover musical information, with special mention for locals “Santi Echeverría, Ana Jiménez Guerra, Oskar Beorlegui or Javier Escorzo”among many others.
For this reason, and following the example, I would not like to dismiss this text without thanking all of them for their work, those who were there and those who will be there. Thank you for being the transmission belt of a way of working, living and dreaming that only music knows how to offer us. There are a few of us who enjoy their stories in the form of texts and images and there are many more of us who, by reading them, learn something new and improve in this trade, sometimes too thankless for the good work done. Thank you. We continue.